Midwifery and Midwives Explained

Pregnancy and the act of labor and delivery, although joyful, also a source of pain.Obviously there is joy because of the newborn baby, but any woman will tell you, 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 delivering babies which is tied in with using drugs to kill the pain, and sometimes c -sections to finish 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 the exact opposite of the medical model which is usually used.  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 performed by a group called midwives. Midwives San Diego are generally woman, who attend the birth, often times at the mother’s home.This midwife would help the woman try to deliver the baby as naturally as possible without the use of drugs.

Against most popular beliefs, not using medicine during labor actually allows the labor to happen quite a bit faster because drugs usually slow down the labor.

The midwife is a professional with a regulatory board that certifies and licenses the individual. 

Although usually not a nurse or doctor, a midwife can be a nurse as well.

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 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 reduced the need and use of a c-section.  Doesn’t allow you to be subject to invasive hospital procedures such as episiotomys.  Less medical management like breaking the water or using drugs to slow or speed up the pregnancy.And the part woman love the most, usually labor and delivery happen much faster 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.