Thursday, January 20, 2011

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.

7 comments:

Mandy said...

That's awesome! I am doing natural childbirth, too. I don't have a midwife- but my doctor and hospital are super supportive of natural delivery, so I feel pretty confident with them- otherwise I would want a midwife.

I am excited to read your updates on your pregnancy!

Love,
Mandy

Jessica Velez said...

Wow that is awesome... with my first son I wanted a Natural Birth, but unfortunately got stuck with a meat cutter doctor and ended up with a c-section. This time around with my 2nd pregnancy I'll be having a c-section again. I hope you have a great experience with your midwife, i wish I would've looked into it more with my first pregnancy.

Megan Barley said...

I have total confidence that you will be able to deliver Baby Ace naturally.
want to give any love to some nurses?? like me??

Anonymous said...

Nurses Rock!!! ;-)

Leslie said...

I'm excited that you're going the midwife route. I watched that documentary too and it was very eye opening. Shawna was a doula for someone in WF and recommended this book, you might check it out. http://www.amazon.com/Ina-Mays-Guide-Childbirth-Gaskin/dp/0553381156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295620860&sr=8-1 I look forward to following your pregnancy journey!

Eli+1 said...

I don't have a midwife but I totally agree with you about doing natural. That's the way I'm planning on doing it too, unless there are any complications. In most countries outside the US they don't even know what an epidural is and everyone gives birth without any medication...my mom also did it and just like you said then so can we. God made us able to tolerate that pain...although I've heard it's bad! lol I pray for you everyday (and my mom does too, she has you in her pregnancy list ;) and that the pregnancy continues to go well. We are really excited for you guys! Congrats once again... can't wait to start seeing that belly grow weekly!

CASPERNBETH said...

Right on! I love your choice to go Natural! YOU CAN DO IT!

I read the Book "Birthing From Within" by Pam England and Rob Horowitz and "Guide to Childbirth" by awesome midwife Ina May Gaskin
... which were both really great!

They are very artistic books that call for painting and drawing and poetry exercises. There are classes that go along, too but we didnt take them for finincial reasons.

The most important thing I got out of the books was the exercise to accept and prepare for everything to go NOT as planned. That really helped me when a lot of things we planned didn't happen the way we wanted.

Keep on rockin in the real world ;)