Your Baby! Your Body! Your Birth! Birth With Midwives

What do Pamela Anderson, Kelly Preston, Demi Moore, Cindy Crawford, and Ricki Lake have in common? We may have already given it away by naming Ricki Lake but in case you haven’t guessed, they all gave birth to their babies with midwives! Ricki Lake recently released “The Business of Being Born” a documentary that reveals the benefits of employing a midwife during birth.

Some think of home birth or birth center births as “alternative” while in all reality more babies in history have been born out of the hospital than in. It is nice to live in an era where women have many choices. We have choices in fashion, choices in careers and choices in where we give birth to our babies. Women who birth at home benefit because not only is their home a comforting place, but midwives bring the equipment and medications that are found at a birth center to the home. Doing this makes the home a temporary birth center.

Research has proven that in a low-risk pregnancy, homebirth is a safe and affordable option for families. In Texas, the rate of medical interventions including episiotomies and caesarean sections, are greatly reduced in midwife-assisted births.  Women who have had a previous caesarean section have the option of having a vaginal birth with subsequent pregnancies when using a midwife.

Below are some of the principles women who are seeking a successful homebirth experience share:

•  They believe their bodies are designed to birth without unnecessary interventions.
•   They feel out-of-hospital birth will satisfy their choices for birth. 
•  They like knowing their midwife will be with them from their prenatal care through the postpartum period. 
•  They enjoy choices such as water birth and/or hypnobirthing.
•  They like having the option to breastfeed their baby immediately following the delivery.

Midwiferytoday.com and gentlebirth.org are excellent resources when investigating home birth.  Local midwives can also assist you in finding the information and research that supports a variety of birthing options.

Many state governments have recognized the practice of midwifery and have established educational and licensing programs to establish accountability and credentialing criteria for midwives.

A Licensed Midwife, LM, and a Certified Professional Midwife, CPM, are midwives who have met educational criteria and have been trained in clinical skills to meet the credentialing requirements set by the state.

As you search to find the midwife to meet your birth requirements, here are some questions you might consider asking:

•  What is your experience in caring for pregnant women? 
• What are your protocols in an emergency?
•  Do you offer waterbirth? 
• What care will I receive after the birth?

Your birth experience is one that you will remember for the rest of your life.  Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore and Kelly Preston did their research and decided that midwife-assisted birth met their needs. Do your research and find a healthcare provider that fits your needs and remember - - This is your baby, your body, your birth!