Our midwives also work at hospitals. During pregnancy, if nothing is wrong, you have few appointments with a doctor and many more with midwife.
Suzir I wish I gave birth in your country. I was fortunate to have fairly uncomplicated pregnancies and preferred to labor naturally.
That is just me, no judgement on folks with different opines.
My first was hard, laboring naturally was really frowned upon. Hubs was supposed to be my coach and the nurses told him to go in the waiting room and get some sleep, it would be a long night! So, I was left alone all night during the most intense parts of labor. There were no midwives available in the 70's, just doctors who were used to medically managed birthing.
In the hospital, I wanted to be able to move about as labor intensified. This bothered the staff, as they are trained to record contractions and babies heartbeat with a belt on your belly hooked up to a monitor. When I gave birth it was routine to be forced to lay in bed as labor progressed, hooked up to monitors and iv.This made laboring naturally extremely uncomfortable, the nurses would come in and offer an epidural, then role their eyeballs at my refusal. It felt more like baby factory central, tiny sparse labor rooms, then one was wheeled into a delivery room to deliver.
I labored at home with subsequent pregnancies, as long as I could, knowing that the hospital would confine me to a bed and hook me up with an iv, pronto. It does not help the baby move down into the birth canal, flat on your back, it is very uncomfortable and anti gravitational, really. Walking, standing and rocking, or sitting on a labor ball, is the way to go when laboring without epidural.
It is not that I liked birth pangs, but did not want a routine epidural as I had read it actually slows and complicates the course. I read a lot about conventional hospital births. Maybe too much, lol.
There is a high rate of c- sections attributed to epidurals.
Pitocin to hurry labor up is also another routine in the hospital. It seems there was an expected time frame to give birth and if labor slowed, pitocin was given to increase the intensity of contractions. This can also cause complications. It is very difficult to labor naturally with pitocin, it can cause contractions to become too strong, prolonged and stress the baby. The contractions come in huge peaks with little rest in between.There are studies now on adverse side effects of pitocin use on newborns.
It is a difficult profession, being an ob/gyn, with two lives to be responsible for. Their insurance is astronomical. I understand the pressure on doctors and hospital staff.
There have been a great many lives saved by modern standards and medical intervention.
I do think that women should have a choice, pregnancy and birth is not an illness. If a woman wants a less medically managed birth, and is able to have that, it should be supported.
There has been a return to some of the old ways, with family allowed to be with laboring mothers and attend births. Doulas are becoming popular, people who are trained to assist a mother throughout the process.
I have been blessed with helping a few of my friends, sister in law, niece and my daughters through birth, as a labor coach. I have seen very medically managed births that led to c-sections. One of my friends was induced early because the doctor estimated the baby to be too large from an ultrasound. She was induced, her labor did not progress and she ended up having a c- section, her baby was only six pounds.
My sister in law had an epidural, labored on her back hooked up to monitors and ended up with a c- section.The baby was not stressed or anything, it seemed that the doctor felt it was taking too long. This was my sister in laws first baby and she was at about the six hour mark when offered the c-section. I was mortified and thought it was uncalled for. I'm no doctor, but honestly six hours then straight to a surgical birth?
My niece, a much smaller hipped woman gave birth naturally to all three of her babies. Albeit, not easy deliveries, her second child was difficult to push out, her doctor allowed us to improvise and my niece successfully delivered
standing up.
My daughters second child was thought to be high risk due to ultra sound predictions of over nine pounds. The doctor suggested c-section from the get go. We talked and she acquiesced to at least let my daughter try to give birth vaginally. Daughter ended up laboring and delivering without complications. She also went the natural route as her first delivery she was given an epidural and my grandsons heart rate dropped dangerously low soon after. That was scary........
The most peaceful birth I attended was for a dear friend. She was free to move about and remained upright for most of her labor. Just before delivering she sat and rocked on a birthing ball, this helped to move the baby down. I focused with her on breathing exercises, as another friend applied constant pressure to her lower back. Her baby came into the world, wide eyed and hungry, put right to her breast and began nursing. The lights were dimmed and we had classical music playing softly.
I used to watch a show years ago about a midwife and her practice. She had a full staff, and a home type setting in her clinic. Of course, in order for a woman to be able to give birth with this scenario, one has to have an uncomplicated low risk pregnancy. These women labored and gave birth in birthing tubs. It was beautiful. So different from the hospital with all of the monitors and equipment beeping, the constant checking for dilation.
In ancient Hawaii, the stories of old tell of the entire family being involved in birth. The women, grandmothers, aunties attending to the laboring mother, massaging and helping her through the process.
I am glad that hospitals now have family birthing centers, and encourage families to assist mothers in labor. I like the idea of midwives being available in hospitals, that seems to be a win-win for those who want a more natural birth as opposed to medically managed........
It is an intense and beautiful thing to watch a child come into this world.
leafy
