Why Women
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Giving birth at home or in a free-standing birth
center has become an attractive option for
more and more expectant mothers. Why are families choosing to give birth in
their homes or in birth centers? Though each couple may have their own reasons,
most plan home births or birth center births because they believe that, in the
majority of cases, pregnancy and childbirth
are normal functions of a healthy body - not an illness that requires a
surgeon. Click for more information about the
Bellingham Birth Center.
While Licensed Midwives keep a close eye on the health of the mother and baby, they do this in an unobtrusive manner that enables the laboring woman to follow her own instincts and rhythms. The involuntary process of birth progresses best with a minimum of interruptions. Midwives are the experts in normal birth and only work with women who are having normal pregnancies and births. This excludes women with a variety of conditions such as epilepsy, twins, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Midwives are trained to monitor for and recognize the early signs of complications and can distinguish between urgent and non-urgent complications. They carry several emergency medications and can administer oxygen. One of the hallmarks of midwifery care is the appropriate use of technology. |
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Failure
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The routine interventions that can occur in
hospitals (IV's, the fetal monitor, routine rupture of membranes, routine
inductions) bring about many of the complications ("failure to progress,"
"fetal distress," etc) that result in an excessive number of Cesarean sections
and other perceived emergencies. "Failure to progress," the most common
reason given for performing C-sections, is often a "failure to wait" on
the part of the attendant. Statistics indicate that planned home births and birth center births with a trained attendant such as a Licensed Midwife have lower infection rates, lower C-section rates, lower episiotomy rates, better Apgar scores, and fewer medical interventions in general than hospital births. (1,2) Furthermore, there is no difference in infant mortality between midwife-attended and physician-attended births for low-risk women. (3,4) |
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World Health
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Most of the world's birth attendants are midwives,
and those countries with the best birth outcome statistics use midwives
as their main maternity care providers. These countries, such as the Netherlands,
Sweden, and New Zealand, have significantly lower infant and maternal mortality
rates than does the U.S. Despite the fact that the U.S. spends more money
per capita on health care than any other country in the world, we rank only
24th for infant mortality. For these and other reasons, the World Health Organization has repeatedly urged the U.S. to return to a midwife-based system of maternity care. |
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| 1. Schlenzka P.F. (1999). Safety
of Alternative Approaches to Childbirth. (Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford
University). 2. Olsen O. (1997). Meta-analysis of the Safety of Homebirth. Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care. 24(1):4-13. 3. Janssen P, Myers S, et al. (1994). Licensed Midwife-Attended Out -of-Hospital Births in Washington State: Are They Safe? Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care. 21(3):141-148. 4. Stewart. (1981). The Five Standards of Safe Childbearing. p. 241.
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