Thoughts on Midwifery

I have had a lot of thoughts about midwifery swirling through my head recently. I feel so passionate about what I do and how women are treated during pregnancy and childbirth, that even my children get sick of me moaning when I hear of ANOTHER woman having a cesarean. I can NOT understand why more people are not outraged at the FACT that the rate of cesarean birth is out of control! Why are women, men, health care workers and the general population of people NOT raising their voices in outrage? The lies are perpetuated when women are told that the only thing of importance is that they leave the hospital with a healthy baby.

I recently had a homebirth client that I transferred to the hospital for fetal distress. When I arrived at my clients home this baby was clearly in fetal distress and the mom needed to be transported to the hospital. She was ready to go, as she had instinctively felt something was wrong with her baby and this is why she had called upon me to come to her home and listen to her baby. (Mom's are wise that way.) I called the hospital, talked with the midwife on call and they were expecting us when we arrived. My client was treated with respect and genuine care. I was grateful for this. The midwife explained everything to my client, her feelings mattered and she was listened to. She was cared for. A decision to do a cesarean was made quickly and I felt it was the right decision. I am not against cesarean. I was grateful for the midwife's care and the doctor's skill in performing a surgery that gave this family a healthy baby. There were some moments that made me angry, but overall this was an ideal transport.

Recently ACOG (American College of Gynecologists) put up a survey on their website asking healthcare workers to submit homebirth stories gone bad! They quickly changed the page to be password protected. Not surprising, since I'm sure that the midwifery community went wild posting positive stories. Since I no longer have access to this page I won't waste time posting a link, and my memory is not great, but I do remember that it seemed that the most pressing reason for this survey was the fear that doctors were being sued by patients who transferred into their care from a planned homebirth. It is my experience and understanding that the bottom line for most hospitals and doctors is the prevention of litigation. If the decisions for YOUR healthcare are being made based on whether or not your doctor could be sued by you how does this make you feel? This is not the way to keep a person healthy. If decisions are made based on what's best for the doctor, how is this best for the patient?

You can go here to read an article that was posted on the Huffington Post about ACOG's recent stunt.

It is unfortunate that the medical community can not get together with the midwifery community to build a bridge of common understanding. In my community there are amazing women willing to put themselves on the line for this cause. I am thankful for them and the work that they have done. I believe it played a part in the recent transport that I had.

If women (PEOPLE) were treated with respect concerning their health care what could happen in our country? I wish the medical community realized that women (PEOPLE) can and do have knowledge about their bodies and healthcare. They can make educated decisions based on evidence. They can be TRUSTED to make the RIGHT decision for themselves, their babies, their families, their health. I wish the medical community trusted alternative health care and the approach of HEALTH and the role that preventive care, nutrition and mental well being play in the overall health of a person. I wish that WE could ALL stand up for ourselves in the medical community and make sure that we have all the information concerning our health care before letting doctors take control of our bodies.

I have had more moments in the last year than I would like to admit where I have seriously condidered why I am a midwife. Sometimes the sacrifice is SO great that I can not even describe it. I dream of not being on call, of going to bed at night with no concern for whether or not I will sleep all night, of taking weekends away with my family, of not having the responsibility I do for another human's life. But in spite of the sacrifices, I can not deny the high I feel when observing a laboring mom, of witnessing a wet baby slip out of her mother's womb and into her father's hands, of laughing and crying as siblings greet siblings with respect and honor and love. As much as I can't describe the sacrifice I find it difficult to describe the awe of witnessing a family being born. I am blessed to be invited into the home of a birthing family for such a private moment. I do not take this lightly. And this trust is what gets me through the rough times. This magic is what keeps me coming back for more.