This Sunday (May 5th) is the annual International Day of the Midwife, an event spearheaded by the International Confederation of Midwives to celebrate the work and profession of midwifery across the globe.  In celebration of the event, I wanted to share why I chose midwifery care for my daughter’s birth.

IMD

Growing up, I never wanted to be a mother.  Even into adulthood, having children seemed like a distant thought on the very bottom of my future “to-do” list.  So when I found out I was pregnant, you can imagine how completely unprepared I was for the challenge ahead of me (read: childbirth).

If the scenes I had witnessed on TV and in movies were to be believed, I was in for the most painful/terrifying/exhausting ride of my life.  And if I had dreamed of motherhood the way some of my friends did as kids, then I’m sure the actual birth portion of my imaginings would have looked something like this:

Water bag bursts suddenly and unexpectedly in a completely inopportune place, such as the grocery store or an elevator with co-workers.  I am rushed to the hospital in a speeding car, imploring the driver (probably a co-worker again) to HURRY.  At the ER doors, I’m plopped into a wheelchair and raced to the delivery room, all while screaming curses at my beloved husband.  Flat on my back, I do my best to p-u-s-h at the doctor’s request with my knees spread high in the air.  I break my husband’s knuckles as he squeaks out encouraging words with a look of terror in his eyes, trying not to look over my protruding belly at the goings-on below.  Minutes  hours later, after one final push, I hear the gurgling cry of a new human being and collapse into my crisp hospital pillow, exhausted and hungry for Jell-O. 

But let’s be honest.  How often is that really the way things go down?

Regardless of my immediate expectations, after the initial shock of pregnancy wore off, I knew immediately that I wanted to stay as far away from a hospital as a possible.  I’ve had many women tell me since that they just feel safer and more comfortable in the hospital setting, knowing that if anything did go wrong they would be in good hands.  But for me, hospitals had always carried the association of disease and death, not to mention the gory labor scenes I had witnessed in the media.  I knew there had to be some way for me to bring my child into the world in an environment that suited me.  Something quiet, peaceful and serene.

And that’s when a friend told me about Ina May Gaskin.

The great Ina May Gaskin, the mother of midwifery in America.
The great Ina May Gaskin, the mother of midwifery in America.

I devoured Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth twice in the first few weeks of my pregnancy.  The words of America’s first modern midwife spoke to my heart in a profound way, and I suddenly found myself looking forward to childbirth.  That’s right.  I actually wanted to feel contractions and experience transition and all of the nuances of a natural labor.

And I was struck by the statistics.  The U.S. is at the top of the list for Cesarean deliveries at more than 30%.  The World Health Organization has warned that C-Section rates have reached “epidemic proportions” globally, which is contributing to higher medical costs and lower maternal health rates.  I had trouble balancing this information in my mind against the fact that women had been having babies for thousands of years.  As Ina May puts it in Spiritual Midwifery, “It is important to keep in mind that our bodies must work pretty well, or their wouldn’t be so many humans on the planet.”  (It is also worth noting that Cesarean rates among birthing centers is significantly lower than the national average – around 6%.)

Ina May’s words empowered me to believe in the power of my body, and my ability as a woman, to give birth without medical assistance under the care of another woman who understood what my body was made to do.  Because of that, I chose a midwife.

I received all of my prenatal care, labor care and post-natal care from certified midwifes at the Austin Area Birthing Center.  And today, Harlow’s birth is one of the few experiences in my life I can look back on and think, “That moment was perfect.  I would not change a thing.”

I have my midwives to thank for that.  Through them, I received encouragement, understanding, and sincere care.  In many ways, they were more than care providers.  They were mothers, friends and sisters to me throughout my pregnancy and birth.  They taught me to trust my body and to embrace my womanhood.  And as someone who began her journey to motherhood not wanting to be a mother in the first place, that lesson was crucial.

For many women, natural vaginal birth outside of a hospital may not be an option.  I also know many women who have loved their hospital experience just as much as I loved my experience outside of one.  And for those who want best of both worlds, most hospitals either staff their own midwives or allow patients to be accompanied by one during labor.

Personally, I am not sure I would have received the same level of care and attention from a doctor that I received from my midwives.   But what I am sure of is that the experience I had with my midwives profoundly affected the way I saw myself, my body, and my role as a mother.

 

Did you or anyone you know have a midwife-assisted birth?  What was the experience like?  Would you choose a midwife if you could do it over again?

 

 

 

 

1 COMMENT

  1. April, I actually laughed out loud (and startled my sleeping dog) when I read your article above. I remember my choice of a midwife as a fairly radical step for me at the time. I didn’t know anyone who had chosen a midwife. She did an excellent job with my care, and my birth was memorable. As a midwife now myself providing care to mothers I try to remember your words about birth and how your experience “profoundly affected the way I saw myself, my body, and my role as a mother”
    Thanks!

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