Labor and Delivery with Midwifery
Labor and delivery; it brings joy but also pain for the woman.Obviously joy is involved with the new baby, but if you ask most woman, they will also describe it was a source of unspeakable pain.
Well because of the pain that woman go through, there are two different schools of thought on how labor and delivery should happen. 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 in stark contrast with the medical model. 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 help with some techniques that help the woman go through labor as naturally as possible without drugs.
Contrary to popular belief, the non-use of medicine actually allows the labor to happen much faster because most pain killers actually slows the labor down.
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 this describes what a midwife is and what midwifery is about in relation to pregnancy and delivery.
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 intrusion will be used such as drugs to speed up or slow the pregnancy or the breaking of the water. And the best part of all that a woman will love, generally labor happens much quicker naturally.
Hopefully this article sheds some light on the benefits of midwifery and having a midwife for your pregnancy. At the very least, hopefully it gives you more options to explore. Remember this is first hand knowledge from a San Diego midwife.