The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has launched its first nurse-midwifery program in the state. The program will train nurses to specialise in midwifterery, which can help fill a health care gap in Arkansas amid a doctor shortage and some of the poorest maternal health outcomes in the country. The World Health Organization has called for a global expansion of midwiftery care, stating that routine or excessive use of forceps creates short and long-term health risks. The master's degree can be obtained in two and a half years, faster and cheaper than training doctors. Midwives will be trained to identify when a patient needs higher level of care and work in teams with ob-gyns and maternal-fetal medicine specialists at hospitals.