THE BABBLE TAKE
The question of whether to have a doctor or a midwife attending when you give birth has much to do with your personal preference and what you expect from the birthing experience. Experts say both doctors and nurse-midwives have excellent overall results at deliveries. If you have a high-risk pregnancy, a certified doctor will need to be involved. If yours is a low-risk pregnancy and you're interested in keeping medical interventions during childbirth to a minimum, a midwife may be the way to go. Midwives tend to take a more holistic approach to pregnancy and childbirth, and emphasize the mother's ability to deliver a baby without medical intervention. One study of low-risk births revealed that women who choose nurse-midwives for their deliveries have much lower rates of C-sections and episiotomies and receive less anesthesia during labor than women who choose doctors. Those who'd like a midwife to attend their birth but want the added security of medical backup might want to follow the example of one blogger, who chose to have her baby at home with a midwife, but also visited an ob/gyn throughout her pregnancy.
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Doctor's Guide
"Low-risk patients who choose nurse midwives for their obstetrical care have fewer Caesarean sections, receive less anesthesia, have a much lower rate of episiotomy and incur less expense, compared to similar women who choose physicians for their care. At the same time, obstetricians, family physicians and nurse midwives all achieve excellent results."
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Modern Wife
"I come from a medical family, so naturally my parents were very concerned about my decision to have my baby at home with the help of a midwife. As a compromise, I am also seeing a medical doctor, an obstetrician-gynecologist, in case of an emergency."
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Pregnancy Info
"There is a growing trend in North America for women to choose a midwife as their primary care giver during their pregnancy instead of a medical obstetrician. [...] A midwife is [...] trained to help women give birth as well as look after her from the beginning of her pregnancy to six weeks after she has given birth. [...] The World Health Organization has recognized the importance of midwives, noting that women who give birth with a midwife often have shorter labor times and usually don't need as much medication."
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American Pregnancy Association
"The term midwife reflects a philosophy of care; one that is more specifically directed at the woman and her individual reproductive needs. A midwife usually offers a variety of options and seeks to eliminate or minimize unnecessary interventions."
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Childbirth.org
"Many more American women could avoid Caesarean sections by [...] choosing nurse-midwives, says a study published Monday by Public Citizen's Health Research Group. While almost one-fourth of U.S. babies are born by C-section, the rate was less than 12 percent for those births attended by nurse-midwives in hospitals, the private group's study found."
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