The Unnoticed Merits of Having a Midwife During Pregnancy
In the classic novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which takes place in early-20th-century New York, a midwife attends the birth of the desperately poor Francie Nolan. Later, Francie's aunt insists on having a doctor at her birth, evidence that she's moving up the economic ladder.
But as a recent New York Times piece suggests, it seems midwives are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, becoming "a status symbol" for the "hip." Choosing to deliver with midwives present, the article claims, is "no longer seen as a weird, fringe practice favored by crunchy types, but as an enlightened, more natural choice for the famous and fashionable," including for high-profile moms such as and Gisele
Bundchen.
Well, in the United States, anyway. In other developed countries, being attended by a midwife is thoroughly ordinary. Four years ago, I gave birth to my second son at Forth Park Maternity Hospital in Scotland, with a midwife. In the UK, doctors typically attend only births that are considered "high-risk," and whereas I'd been classified as "high-risk" with my first pregnancy in the States, in the UK, practitioners are much slower to use that label.
The Times article seemed to assume that birthing with a midwife is somehow inferior—for why else would it be newsworthy that rich and famous women are choosing midwifery? It betrayed a certain cultural prejudice against midwives that's uniquely American. When U.S. doctors entered birthing rooms in the 19th century, it was with suspicion of midwives, who were mostly poor, uneducated, immigrant women and regarded as "dirty," "ignorant," and likely to be "dangerous." This despite the fact that the major killer of mothers in the 19th and 20th centuries, puerperal fever, was spread by medical doctors at much higher rates than midwives. In addition, doctors tended to "interfere" more extensively in births with the use of forceps and other instruments, so they had higher rates of injury and lacerations. Nonetheless, because of the "danger" of birth (sometimes caused by them), doctors came to regard their presence at births as indispensible.
It's that notorious interference—or intervention—that has more women today choosing midwives. Having benefited from medical advances that can make childbirth as safe as it is in the United States, many women are also realizing that typical Cesarean rates are unjustifiably high (one in three American mothers now delivers by C-section; in 1965, it was 1 in 22), and that birth is something that we do as whole people, not just pelvises and abdomens. Delivering with a midwife, even at home, is for many women just as safe as delivering with a doctor. But choosing a midwife represents not only a flight away from the highly medicalized birth but also a movement toward reclaiming the emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of giving birth.
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Melanie L Bowen
Hi there! I have a quick question about your blog! Please email me when you get a chance. Melanie
Julie
all this 'natural birth is a move towards a more spiritual experience' crap is completely irrelevant when your life or your child's life is on the line. i am a nurse and most hospitals are trying to find ways to reduce the c-section rate, but there is no doubt that these interventions have saved many, many lives. in fact, my own was saved by an emergency c-section only four weeks ago. thanks to God's provision through modern medicine, my daughter and i are alive today. had i used a midwife we both would have likely died as time was an imperative concern. saying a natural childbirth is more spiritual, or that using medicine and technology is less trusting of God, is completely ridiculous and insulting. God cares about the heart and our hearts can be in the wrong place (or the right place) regardless of what kind of birth experience we choose. women are getting far too caught up in all this stuff..natural vs medicated, breastfeeding vs formula, working vs being a stay at home mom. these are decisions that are not made in a vacuum and not all situations are the same. all it does is heap enormous amounts of guilt on women and families who make choices (or have to make choices) that go against what the current popular trend is, both in Christianity and nationwide. women love their children and make decisions based on what they believe is best for them. birthing a child and caring for a new baby is an enormously emotional and exhausting experience and people who elevate one experience as 'better' than another are pathetic.
Rumala Morel
Guess being a medic & in Sri Lanka my experience is rather different. My aunt, who is a Christian Consultant Anaesthetist gave me epidural anaesthesia so I had absolutely pain free labour! She also sat by me with my husband & talked of what it was like when she sat by my mum when I was born! So having my 1st baby in hospital was a wonderful experience! Although the Obstetrician was not a Christian we could thank God together for the wonderful miracle of birth. But I do realize that I was privileged. Just wanted to make the point that having a hospital birth - totally painfree - as mine was - can be an advantage....
Tamra Spencer Larter
My comment on Bowing To Your Birth Ball Her.meneutics post and I believe my comments there also apply here. This is a discussion that is near and dear to my heart. I believe that Christ came to bring possibilities. I believe God wants to REDEEM birth. I believe more is possible that many people want to believe. Natural birth is not ONLY JUST severe excruciating and unbearable pain. Please see my posts on the other article. I'd be interested in your response
Birdie
I have a close friend (a trained doula) who delivered her first child in a midwife-attended homebirth last year, and I've learned much from her. Unfortunately, for as much passion as she has for women making educated birth decisions, and as much as she may say she respects each woman's right to choose how and when to give birth - the same openness that allowed her to make her own choices - I have seen and heard how shaken and upset she is when someone close to her chooses something different. I'm all for making an informed choice and removing as much of the fear and mystery surrounding birth (for Pete's sake, be empowered and know your options!) but in no way to I subscribe to the notion that home birth or hospital birth is right for EVERY woman across the board. Having the ability to choose is a blessing. Trying to scare, intimidate, or shame other women into going the route that you, yourself chose is not okay. As far as my friend and I - I do genuinely worry that when I have a child someday, she will talk negatively to others in her 'natural mama' circle about my choices if I do something other than a midwife-attended homebirth. My husband and I are open to the idea, but I have way too many friends who have had emergencies involving their placentas rupturing or an unexpected sudden loss of blood (one friend lost a full pint - 1/5, I think, of what her body holds), and had they not been in a medical setting (either a birth center or hospital) they would have died. It's not more Godly or less Godly of me to decide one atmosphere over the other. If I have done the research, prayed, and discussed with my husband how and when we would like to bring our child into the world, that is enough for me. Bottom line: bullying another woman over something as deeply personal and private as birth has no place in the Christian community.
Elaine
Unfortunately quoting the wax study is flawed. The data listed unassisted births with midwife assisted births thus changing the truth of the data (if you are using it to argue the safety of midwife attended home births) Thank you for a lovely, well written article. I greatly appreciate honest perspectives that open ones thoughts to others experiences. We need to learn to encourage and support one another in our decisions. I for one listen very intently when someone shares why they were led to birth at home. I also listen with the same heart to someone led to birth in the hospital. God is ultimately in control and we cannot add or take away a day that He has given. If you feel safer realizing that truth at home or in the hospital that is your choice. There are many stories that support each persons decisions, and it should be just that, each persons decision. again thank you for a lovely read... Blessings..
Tim
I know I'm coming at this from the perspective of a male, but please indulge me. Moms, moms-to-be, dads and dads-to-be, parents together and individually, have such hard jobs and awesome responsibilities. I know everyone here is aware of that. In 25 years of marriage, raising two children, working in children's ministry and youth ministry, continuing to care for young families in our lives - parents and children - I have come to the conclusion that I rarely understand how my own family has made out so well, let alone do I think that somehow I can figure it out for another family. Moms and dads have a hard enough job without being judged for the decisions they make to raise healthy, happy and mature children. If something works for one family, that is wonderful that they have experienced it. That does not mean it is in any way prescriptive for another family. To this dad, it looks like the mommy wars are alive and kicking at the prenatal stage. It makes me sad. Blessings, Tim
Rahab
Robyn, I hear your pain, and I'm so sorry. Your July 13 post was brave and tender, and rich with love. Hearing about those who surrounded you and brought you through your experience is joyful and comforting to all of us. Of course we need each other--we all do. If that kind of love is not available to us, then God himself will mother us and lift us, but certainly the hands and hugs of God's people are exactly what Jesus intended when he washed the feet of the disciples and told them they too must be willing servants of one another. You were richly blessed in your birth experience. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Rahab
Robyn, I hear your pain, and I'm so sorry. Your July 13 post was brave and tender, and rich with love. Hearing about those who surrounded you and brought you through your experience is joyful and comforting to all of us. Of course we need each other--we all do. If that kind of love is not available to us, then God himself will mother us and lift us, but certainly the hands and hugs of God's people are exactly what Jesus intended when he washed the feet of the disciples and told them they too must be willing servants of one another. You were richly blessed in your birth experience. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Rahab
Robyn, I hear your pain, and I'm so sorry. Your July 13 post was brave and tender, and rich with love. Hearing about those who surrounded you and brought you through your experience is joyful and comforting to all of us. Of course we need each other--we all do. If that kind of love is not available to us, then God himself will mother us and lift us, but certainly the hands and hugs of God's people are exactly what Jesus intended when he washed the feet of the disciples and told them they too must be willing servants of one another. You were richly blessed in your birth experience. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
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