Midwives, Birth Centers, and Natural Childbirth...OH MY!

Chris and I have pretty strong opinions about pretty much…everything (SURPRISE!!!). That’s not to say that we’re inflexible or unable to make concessions, but once we’ve done our research (and we love to do research…see my reading list at the bottom), we’re pretty set in our ways.I've been asked and questioned a lot, so I thought I'd get it out into the open.
BIRTHPLAN: (God willing) I will give birth naturally at a birth center (Childbirth Services, owned by Thalia Hufton, LMP, CPM) with midwives.

QUESTION: ARE YOU CRAZY?
ANSWER: No.

FOLLOW UP Q: Why no OB/GYN and delivering at a hospital?
ANSWER: I'm stubborn and I don't want to ;-) I am a healthy woman in a low-risk pregnancy. If I had lots of health issues and was in a high-risk pregnancy, would I be doing the same thing? No.  

FOLLOW UP Q2: But aren’t midwives just crazy hippies without medical training?
ANSWER: No. Many began as nurses and then went to midwifery school/apprenticeship. Some are direct-entry, but still go to  midwifery school and do an apprenticeship. They use natural methods for pain management and laboring, but have things like oxygen, IV for antibiotics/fluids, etc on hand if needed.

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I’d like to first summarize the birthing situation in the US compared to other countries. The US, while spending more money per capita on birthing women than ANY OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED NATION, has THE HIGHEST maternal and infant mortality and morbidity rates.

Fun Fact #1: Countries with lowest infant mortality rates have midwives attending over 70% of births, while the US has midwives attending only 7%.

Let’s stack the US against the Netherlands, the nation with lowest maternal/infant mortality rates.

	US	Netherlands
% midwife delivery	7%	70%, 1 in 3 at home
# deaths per 1000 born babies	6.71	3.5
c-section rate	20%	5%
Episiotomy rates	33+%	10%

The Netherlands also has higher “maternal satisfaction rates” for births and much lower percentages of malpractice lawsuits related to births. Obviously, it’s hard to exactly compare countries with different socio-economic factors, but the point here is still clear. There is data that compares apples to apples though. 

Fun Fact #2: After controlling socio/economic factors, for Nurse-midwife attended births, the risk of infant death, neonatal mortality, and low birth weight delivery was 19%, 33%, and 31% lower, respectively.  

There’s more to my decision to use a midwife than some “fun facts” though, and I’d like to share the more personal side as well. The idea of being chained to a hospital bed hooked up to an IV and continuous monitors and being on a hospital time clock sound like a nightmare to me. I want to walk around if I want to walk around, sit in a corner if that sounds good, take a bath if that helps with pain. I want to eat and drink whatever I want whenever I want. I don’t want to be hooked up to anything (they check fetal heart rate every 15 min). While I won’t be eating a steak dinner (I don’t even really like steak much) while giving birth, I will have the freedom to birth the way I want to birth, as long as the baby has a steady heart rate, whether that be in the water, on a bed, squatting, on my side, standing up…whatever (although, truthfully, it makes sense to let gravity help…probably no handstand birthing…LOL)

Who knows?! Using a midwife gives me the freedom of choice and doing what feels best for baby and my body at the time. And I know that it will be MY birth experience, not the hospital’s cookie cutter formula for what, when, how, and how long a birth should be. I have the freedom to be myself. 

I have loved my “check-ups” at the birth center (a house), about 5 minutes of clinical stuff, and then 25 minutes of sitting on a bed and talking and asking questions about birth stuff or natural supplements or even cloth diapers…really getting to know the women that will help support me throughout labor and delivery. 

I also love knowing that midwives believe that all births are normal unless proven otherwise and that giving birth is not a sickness, it’s a natural part of women’s lives. I love knowing that they trust me and my body to work efficiently to get G out. I love knowing that they will be there the WHOLE time and be as involved or uninvolved as I want, encouraging me and giving me personal suggestions and feedback. I love that they’ll teach Chris how to catch the baby and that as long as she’s breathing; she never has to leave my side once she’s born, unless I want Chris to give her a bath. 

To sum up, I believe in low-tech birth (midwife) for low-risk pregnancies. It’s cheaper (about $3000 for midwife care vs. about $10,000 for vaginal hospital birth) and more holistic. I’m not saying that our choice is the “right” choice for everyone though.

Do I agree with medical interventions if they are medically necessary? YES!
Do I believe home birth or birth center birth is for everyone? No, but I DO think it’s right for my family!
If there are complications in the birth, will I hesitate to go to the hospital for intervention? NO!

I know our decision and views aren't the norm, and that's okay--we have educated ourselves well and I'm confident that we've made the best choice for us with the research we have done and the information available.

Oy vey, there’s lots of other things to talk about…like pain and placenta encapsulation, but I think this is enough to chew on for one day from the Rendall crazies. :-)

Reading List:
The Business of Being Born (actually it’s a movie…available online on Netflix), NaturalChildbirth the Bradley Way, Husband Coached Childbirth, Baby Catcher, GivingBirth, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, any midwifery website, including local birth centers, midwiferytoday.com, American College of Nurse Midwives