Why I love Midwives

This week I had my first "official" get together with my awesome midwife. She is wonderful! I adore the midwifery model of care. Appointments with a midwife are so much more personal than the typical OB appointments. A midwife usually takes a minimum of an hour and sometimes up to two and a half hours with a mom. Midwives usually become good friends with their "moms"- which seems important since they'll be catching their babies; A very intimate and special thing. Not just simply a business transaction.
We did a good bit of discussing about what should be expected over the next six-ish months, and what should be expected and not be expected at our birth. We will be having a home birth, a decision Danny and I are beyond excited and confident in. Since Amaus' incredible, natural water birth nearly four years ago, we knew that our next baby would likely be born at home. Home birth is an awesome option for women, since birth is not a medical event and outcomes are ions better when interventions are low and things are left well enough alone. I have had the privilege of doulaing at a handful of home births, all of which were absolutely beautiful.
A midwife is trained to watch for red flags and is trained to handle anything dealing with a normal birth at home. In our state, only low risk moms, who were deemed so by an obstetrician can give birth at home with a midwife in attendance. Hopefully that will change in the future and more VBAC and twin deliveries will be happening in the home setting.
In the industrialized countries where midwives handle the majority of maternal care, the outcomes are immensely better. In those countries, lots and lots of babies are born at home and in birth centers, and OBs are available for high risk cases. The maternal and neonatal mortality rates in those industrialized countries are so much better than in the US, where now, one in nearly every three moms is given a cesarean section. Obviously, there isn't a glitch in God's creative design called birth, and while some of the cesarean sections are necessary, many are not.
Can there be a problem in birth on occasion deeming intervention necessary? Sure. Just like on occasion someone has a heart, kidney or lung problem. The trouble is, if every human was treated, tested, and received surgical intervention for a normal human function, "just in case" they might have one of those occasional problems, lots and lots of people would suffer even more severe repercussions because of the unnecessary interventions. The same is true for maternal care in the US. Fewer and fewer doctors are trained to care for women, and what real birth looks like all over the world. Ie: delivering breech babies and twins without surgery and allowing women the freedom to move around during labor.
There are serious repercussions to treating every woman as high risk, or a potential lawsuit. We are reaping the results of these actions in our incredibly high section rates, and our neonatal and maternal mortality rates.
Many practices that I thought were necessary and normal with my first two births, unfortunately were not. Some of them, such as constant external fetal monitoring which usually requires a mom to lay on her back throughout the entirety of labor and birth has been proven to show worse outcomes in moms. Even the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has released a statement that EFM doesn't improve birth outcomes. It's simply an easy way for a nurse's station to monitor lots of moms, and it also offers a record in the event that a patient might decide to file a lawsuit against her doctor. Truth be told, laying on the back to give birth is the most terrible and painful position to labor and birth in. It's no wonder little progress is made without the help of drugs like pitocin (which has its own list of repercussions) and when that doesn't do the trick, another cesarean section is done. The mom does not have gravity working on her behalf. She is also laying on a major aorta, and has her pelvis positioned in the most terrible way to give birth. Just by switching over to a hands and knees position, a mom's pelvis opens dramatically making birthing a baby much easier. America is actually one of the only countries in the world whose maternal system requires its moms to give birth on their backs. Anytime birth is seen in its uninhibited state worldwide, women are never found laboring or giving birth on their backs.
Another of those practices that still goes on in many hospitals, is taking the baby from mom for four to six hours for observation after birth. There is no medical organization that backs this practice, yet many hospitals stick to it. The American Academy of Pediatrics has even made it clear that a healthy baby is better off with mom. Period. The baby warmer is an archaic practice for healthy babies that is proven to cause dehydration and is not conducive with a new mom breast feeding her baby. Kangaroo care- where the baby is placed skin to skin on mom's chest, has been proven just as adequate in maintaining baby's body temperature. And where do you think a new baby who just left the comforts of utero desires to be? With it's mama, instead of screaming it's head off in a warmer. The observation period required by many hospitals is continued usually, due to more fear of litigation in the hospital setting.
All of these things, and a whole lot more, were my own personal red flags with my first two births. When I became pregnant with Amaus I began doing my own research because I wanted some different options. When I was told 'no' at every turn at my local hospitals, I refused to have another factory birth. We decided to drive the hour and a half when I went into labor, to a city close by where I could be seen by midwives. The hospital was very supportive of natural birth, even water birth.
Amaus' birth completely changed my perspective. It was an amazingly peaceful water birth. He was was 10 lbs 11 oz and was born without a problem. I was pushing 42 weeks pregnant when I went into labor on my own. He was right on time.
I love midwives, because usually, they are accustomed to seeing birth in its uninhibited state. They are trained to watch for red flags without expecting them or treating women like problems are imminent. I love midwives because they typically offer customized care. They do their best to help the mom achieve exactly what she desires in a birth. I love midwives, because they typically let birth happen like it was meant to- rather than trying to rush it, force it, push it, or control it. (Even on a holiday. Even on Friday evening when they had a big weekend planned. Even when birth comes, or stalls at the most inconvenient time for them.)
I really appreciate midwives and the amazing work they pour themselves into.
What's not to love?