Labor and Delivery with Midwifery
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Pregnancy and the act of labor and delivery, although joyful, also a source of pain. Obviously joy because of the new baby, but ask any woman, and they will tell you a source of unspeakable pain.
Well because there is that pain involved, two schools of thought have come about on how to deal with labor and delivery. 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 delivering babies which is tied in with using drugs to kill the pain, and sometimes c -sections to finish the delivery.
There is one other model, though not as common or accepted, but for those that practice it and believe in it, consider it a safer alternative for the woman.
That model is called the midwifery model.That model is the exact opposite of the medical model which is usually used.Where you have the medical model which depends a lot on medicine, midwifery prefers to rely on the natural.Midwifery philosphy believes that pregnancy, labor, and delivery should happen as naturally as possible because it is a natural process.
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.
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 is a professional with a regulatory board that certifies and licenses the individual.
Although a lot of the times they are not a nurse or a doctor, a midwife sometimes is a nurse also.
Even though they are not a doctor or nurse, they do carry with them some medical equipment, such as resuscitation devices and suturing equipment.
So this is what a midwife is and what midwifery is in regards to pregnancy and delivery.
Their objective is to let the labor and delivery to occur as naturally as possible.This reduced the need and use of a c-section.Does not subject you to hospital procedures that are invasive such as episiotomys. Less medical management like breaking the water or using drugs to slow or speed up the pregnancy.And for the woman the best part of all is that labor and delivery usually happen 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 least, hopefully it gives you more options to explore. Remember this is first hand knowledge from a San Diego midwife.









