Midwives urge role in combating medical misinformation as patients reject blood based on vaccine myths

Midwife Mara Evans, based in North Carolina and faculty at Georgetown University’s Berkley School of Nursing, writes about her experience in a Nevada delivery room. She describes the careful handling of the placenta and the constant vigilance for postpartum hemorrhage.

During a prenatal visit in 2021, Evans encountered a patient who would refuse any blood transfusion unless the donor could be proven unvaccinated against Covid-19. Hospitals do not track donor vaccine status because there is no known transfusion risk, and the patient’s stance persisted despite medical facts.

Evans argues that midwives occupy a unique position in the U.S. health-care system to address misinformation. Rather than trying to change minds outright, she suggests planting seeds of accurate information to gradually shift perceptions about vaccines and medical practices.