Labor and delivery; it brings joy but also pain for the woman.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.

There is one other model, though not as common or accepted, but for those that practice it and believe in it, consider it a safer alternative for the woman.

That model is called the midwifery model.That model is the exact opposite of the medical model which is usually used.The medical model is where you rely heavily on medicine, while the midwifery model 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 a profession practiced by 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.

Contrary to popular belief, the non-use of medicine actually allows the labor to happen much faster because most pain killers actually slows the labor down.

The midwife is a profession that has a regulatory board that oversees, certifies, and licenses the individual. 

Although a lot of the times they are not a nurse or a doctor, a midwife sometimes is a nurse also.

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 in regards to pregnancy and delivery this is what a midwife is and generally what midwifery is about.

Their goals are to let the labor and delivery happen as naturally 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 intrusion will be used such as drugs to speed up or slow the pregnancy or the breaking of the water.  And the best part of all that a woman will love, generally labor happens much quicker 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 minimum, maybe it gives you some other options to think about and look into.  Remember this is first hand knowledge from a San Diego midwife.

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