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 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 delivery which is associated with drugs to kill the pain, and sometimes cesarean to complete the delivery.
While there is another model, which though not widely accepted, for those who believe in it and have experience it consider it much safer and natural for the woman.
That model is called the midwifery model. That model is in stark contrast with the medical model.The medical model is where you rely heavily on medicine, while the midwifery model relies 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 profession that has a regulatory board that oversees, 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 goals are to let the labor and delivery happen as naturally possible.This makes the likelihood of a c-section less likely. 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 for the woman the best part of all is that labor and delivery usually happen quicker naturally.
My hope is that this information has given you more information on the benefits of midwifery and using a midwife in 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.