Why I Chose a Midwife

Many of you may remember a blog post I wrote several months ago about some of my favorite documentaries (I’m a documentary junkie!). In that list I included “The Business of Being Born.” This documentary was integral in making my decision to go with a midwife for this pregnancy...but even before I saw this movie I knew I wanted something different from the “norm” when it came time for me to have children.

I’ve always been iffy on the epidural thing. My mom had natural births with my sister and me and I’ve always thought that if she can do it, so can I. She’s a big fan of lamaze and says that if you prepare your mind and body for what is to come you will definitely be able to give birth without the use of drugs. I have to say, that I agree with her. The way I see it, pregnancy and child birth are natural processes. They do not require medical intervention unless there is a high-risk situation. Women have been giving birth for centuries...it’s natural...it’s how life happens.

Midwives are trained in natural childbirth. They see childbirth as a beautiful part of life. I’m not knocking on doctors. I am thankful for doctors who are trained to act quickly if something goes wrong. I am glad they know how to remove a baby via caesarean if things are not flowing as they should. But again, I don’t want to be rushed to make any rash decisions. I don’t want to be pressured to take pitocin or pain meds or hurry my labor along so the doctor can get home in time for dinner. Again, I’m not knocking on doctors...I know there are some very caring OB’s out there who would never dream of pressuring their patient into doing anything they’re not comfortable with. But for me, I’d just rather go with a midwife who I know shares in my birthing philosophy

Every pregnancy is different, every woman is different, every baby is different. So if you disagree with anything I’ve said and you want the pitocin and the epidural and the induction, that’s fine with me. It’s your body and the beauty of living in this country is that we can all decide for ourselves what is best for our pregnancy. I’m just saying, if you’re low-risk, want a natural childbirth with as few interventions as possible, want someone to take care of you who will be more of a partner than a director, then maybe you should consider getting a midwife. In my opinion, they’re more personable and I know she will be my advocate during my birthing process.

In a later blogpost I’ll write about why and how I chose my specific birthing team here in Denver. In the mean time click on over to babycenter’s momformation blog and read this post about choosing your birth team.