University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus

When Amanda Tam told her mother that she planned to have her first baby with a certified nurse-midwife, her mother asked a simple question: "Why wouldn’t you go to a doctor?" That response was mild compared to those people in Tam’s family who told her she was "crazy."

Today, more than three years, two babies and 19 hours of labor later, Tam is a true believer in the advantages of bringing a baby into the world with a midwife.

Tam made a personal choice, but she is part of a growing trend. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, midwives attended the births of 8.1 percent of the country's babies in 2009—a record high.