Child Birth - Huge Medical Emergency?

Vikki Voles, a mother of three in Ontario, Canada, once said, "So many people nowadays act like birth is this huge medical emergency and in most cases its not. Our midwives were AMAZING!! The care we got was phenomenal, no way could we have gotten that with an OBGYN. Prenatal care, labor and birth and for six weeks after we got one on one care. The care we received went way above and beyond our expectations. The midwife even came to visit us on a Sunday after the birth, just to check up on us and make sure we were still doing okay with breastfeeding and everything."

Many women choose a hospital as the location for their birth because they are comforted by the presence of medical technology and doctors that are trained to anticipate emergencies. The problem then becomes the fact that in anticipation of emergencies, physicians often rely on unnecessary procedures and interventions. These interventions can lead to otherwise unnecessary cesarean sections, health problems for the mother and baby, and emotions ranging from disappointment in oneself to severe anger at the medical community, all of which may have been avoided by giving birth in the comfort of one's own home with a knowledgeable midwife.

Jackie Michel of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada said, "I had a home birth with a pool and a midwife. During my midwife's prenatal visits and the group class, I realized something very important to me about birth. Everyone is coming into it looking for something different. Some women wanted an empowering experience. Some women wanted to have a natural childbirth. I just wanted to have my baby without a lot of fuss. And that's what I got." The medical community had attempted to satisfy desires for non-medicalized births by funding alternative birth centers staffed by nurse-midwives and creating on-site "birth centers" with a home-like setting.

These birthing centers give women who would normally shy away from a home-birth, the control to choose their method of delivery. Women who choose this option may be comforted by the homey environment, but in fact, these births are often still highly medical, as they are being attended by medical personnel in or adjacent to a hospital. Realizing this contradiction, many women choose to give birth in their own home, attended by a midwife. Natasha Jagger of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who had an unassisted home birth, said, "I think it's much more offensive how people just take a doctor or nurses suggestions as "gods word". It is a shame how many birthing mothers are not informed.

My husband and I took prenatal classes offered through a nursing service. All the information they gave said that not using drugs and birthing vertically was the best outcome for baby and mother, but yet in the same breath they would say how you wouldn't be able to do that in hospital?? Why is the safest way to have a baby crazy ?" While doctors and mid wives generally dislike unassisted home births, there are no laws against it.