Attitudes and views on chiropractic: a survey of United States midwives.

Objective: A survey of midwives' knowledge and views about chiropractic.

Design: Cross-sectional descriptive survey.

Setting/location: An anonymous on-line self-administered survey.

Participants: United States midwives.

Outcome Measure: Respondent demographics, professional training, personal and professional clinical experience, opinions on safety of chiropractic, and scope of chiropractic practice.

Results: A total of 187 midwife respondents completed the questionnaire resulting in a superficial response rate of 2.1%. Responders were certified nurse-midwives and had some form of training regarding chiropractic. The responders were aware that chiropractors worked with "birthing professionals" and attended to patients with both musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal disorders. A vast majority indicated a positive personal and professional clinical experience with chiropractic and that chiropractic was safe for pregnant patients and children.

Conclusion: There is great awareness of and positive personal and professional experience with chiropractic on the part of midwives who participated in this survey. We encourage further research in this field.