Midwifery and Midwives Explained
Pregnancy and delivery; a source of joy and pain for the woman.Obviously there is joy because of the newborn baby, but any woman will tell you, it was a source of unspeakable pain.
Well it is because of that pain that there are two schools of thought on how pregnancy and delivery should be carried about. I am going to offer some perspective on one particular school of thought that I have gained first hand experience with by being a homebirth midwife San Diego.
There is the medical model for delivery which is associated with drugs to kill the pain, and sometimes cesarean to complete the delivery.
While there is a lesser known model, not as widely accepted, for those that have experienced it and believe in it, they consider it a safer alternative for the woman.
That model is the midwifery model as it is called.That model is the exact opposite of the medical model which is usually used. Where the medical model relies heavily on medicine, hence “medical”, midwifery relies on the natural. Midwifery believes that pregnancy and delivery is a natural process and thus should be allowed to happen naturally.
This model is a profession practiced by midwives. Midwives San Diego are generally woman, who attend the birth, often times at the mother’s home. This midwife would then assist the woman in trying to get through labor as naturally as possible without medicine.
Against most popular beliefs, not using medicine during labor actually allows the labor to happen quite a bit faster because drugs usually slow down the labor.
The midwife as a profession does have a regulatory board that licenses, certifies, and oversees the individual.
Although often not a doctor or nurse, some midwives can be nurses.
Even though they are not formal doctors or nurses, they will have some medical equipment for emergencies like resuscitation devices and equipment for suturing.
So in regards to pregnancy and delivery this is what a midwife is and generally what midwifery is about.
Their objective is to let the labor and delivery to occur as naturally as possible. This reduces the likelihood of a c-section. Doesn’t allow you to be subject to invasive hospital procedures such as episiotomys. Less medical management like breaking the water or using drugs to slow or speed up the pregnancy. And the best part of all that a woman will love, generally labor happens much quicker naturally.
Hopefully this was informative and helped you understand some of the benefits of midwifery and having a midwife there for your pregnancy.At the very minimum, maybe it gives you some other options to think about and look into. Remember this is first hand knowledge from a San Diego midwife.
