pregnancy, breastfeeding, childbirth, homebirth

Prenatal Care Information

What you want now is true prenatal care information. You want to know what is best...not just hear say....not just opinions...but the truth and nothing but because you know your baby's health - as well as yours - could be at risk. And your health and your baby's are what matters to you the most...not political correctness.

You know the importance of prenatal care as well as the consequences of having mo prenatal care.

We will give you what you want: the best prenatal care information.

And it will be backed up by research.

We also know that you are very smart and that a lot of people say a lot of things...some true, some not. When it comes to your family and your unborn baby, we are sure you are just like us...a mama bear!

So here it goes...

As far as prenatal care information goes: first let's destroy the very entrenched myth that more technology in birth is safer. Hum...that goes against the grain so is that just our opinion you ask?

You just asked an awesome question and...the answer is no, it is not just our opinion but a fact!

Prenatal Care Information

What the World Health Organization Has to Say

Understanding the potential danger in the overuse of childbirth technology, the World Health Organization has repeatedly implored the U.S. medical authorities to return to a midwife-based system of maternity care as one way to help reduce our scandalously high mortality rates.

Mothering, Jan/Feb, 1990

What???

Did you read this quote correctly? Midwifery-based maternity care?

To many, midwifery means a lesser form of prenatal care, something that was done before the advancement of medical technology. Sadly this assumption is false.

Did you know that Midwifery care is the standard for maternity care in many countries around the world? You may be surprised to find out that this is the case in many developed countries such as the Netherlands, Japan, etc.

In the United States, the Native Americans were not unfamiliar with midwifery care. Neither did the pioneers, after all the Mayflower boasted one midwife on board.

Unfortunately, in the United States, their survival has been threatened for over one hundred years. They have truly been - very successfully - demonized. The bulk of our society has a tendency to picture them as either flying on a broom stick or as rejects from the hippy era..."wanna be" doctors who just did not have the brain power - or the skill - to make it into medical school.

Again this assumption would be wrong.

Prenatal Care Information

What is a Midwife?

Midwives are by no means uneducated backwoods women who could not make it to medical school. On the contrary, midwifery education is complete and thorough. There are many accredited midwifery programs around the country.

Midwives are indeed experts in healthy and natural pregnancies. They are trained on preserving and maintaining your health and the health of your baby through superior nutrition and prenatal care.

No matter the training, direct entry midwives - also referred to as DEMs - are still not legal in all states, even though nurse midwives who - usually - practice in hospitals are.

What Is the Role of A Midwife?

mid = with and wif= woman

Midwife = "With Woman"

A midwife's role is to ensure the best possible outcome for you and your baby. Midwives are servants at heart and they are passionate about women's power in the birthing process. They believe - as we do - that you were designed to nurture your unborn baby, birth your child with minimal assistance and parent your baby at the breast.

Science and research prove them right.

In every study ever done, midwifery care has proven to be superior to the medical model of maternity care.

Prenatal Care Information:
Studies on the Superiority of Midwifery-Based Care

Superior to the medical model? Really?

Yes, it is the truth and here are some examples of the many studies which have been done in the U.S. - and abroad. Know that these studies are by no means a complete list:

Arizona Study

British Studies

The Frontier Nursing Service, Hyden, Kentucky

The Farm, Tennessee

Part I

Part II

Worldwide - the work of Marjorie Tew

The Dutch Model

The Catholic Maternity Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Madera County, California

The data for midwife based care versus doctor based care - at least the way it is practiced in the United Sates - proves that doctors are more dangerous.

According to Dr. David Stewart, there are three fundamental reasons why this is the case.

According to the World Health Organization:

Midwives are responsible for the low incidence of infant deaths in the countries where their services are most often used.

Prenatal Care Information

What Doctors Have to Say

Doctors' first line of defense has been character assassination, which we must say has been very successful.

The second line of defense is to deal with the criticisms about their standard of care with such explanations as:

1. We deal with high risks.

2. We handle a greater proportion of complicated cases.

3. Results seem worse with a doctor because if there are complications in labor the midwife will bring the laboring woman in to a doctor.

4. We keep more complete and accurate records.

5. We have better pregnancy outcome today than ever before...thanks to OBGYNs.

6. Midwives do have lower mortality rates but higher morbidity rates. ***

***Mortality Rate: It is a measure of the number of deaths in some population. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year.
Morbidity Rate: It refers to the number of individuals in poor health during a given time period.

Sadly, these statements are untrue and misguided.

Prenatal Information

So Are You Saying That All Midwives Are "Good" and Doctors "Bad"?

Of course not!

If you use this definition - courtesy of Dr. Stewart:

Prenatal Care Information

A midwife is a practitioner who attends births with an attitude of respect for individuality, support of nature, promoting health, and the preservation of normality by little or no - unecessary - interventions .

If this is the case, some men and even some physicians will fall in the category of midwife - even though they are few and far between.

Some men, like French born Drs. Michel Odent - author of Birth Reborn - and Frederick LeBoyer author of Birth Without Violence - or Australian doctor John Stevenson have done much to advance the field of midwifery worldwide.

Prenatal Care Information: So Now What What Do I Do?

Wouldn't you say that - in light of the evidence - not having a more extensive midwife-based model of maternity care in the U.S. is a detriment to American women, their babies and their families?

Ultimately, not embracing the midwifery model is a loss for our communities and our country as well.

However, you do have options.

If a hospital is the birth place of your choice, you still can benefit from midwifery care with a nurse midwife - CNM. And by now you do know that:

Knowledge is power and power is freedom.

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