Why I Don't Want A Midwife At My Birth
I've given birth four times in the hospital and twice at home, unassisted - with no midwife or doctor. That was my personal preference. I contemplated having a midwife at my first homebirth, but discovered that my birth philosophy was such that I did not feel a midwife was necessary and that just by her mere presence, a midwife could potentially interfere with my birth experience. About The Collective of midwifery services you need to find which one is suitable for you.
- I'm grunting, I'm groaning, I'm sweating, I'm moaning,
- I don't want a midwife at my birth.
- I'm focusing, I'm concentrating, I'm primal, I'm letting loose,
- A midwife would only inhibit me.
- Natural Childbirth at its core is sheer physical power and force,
- An intensely private act.
- And for me, I would prefer only one other person's presence - my dear husband.
I devote a whole chapter to the topic of midwives in my book UNASSISTED HOMEBIRTH: AN ACT OF LOVE. I'd like to briefly list reasons why I don't want a midwife to attend the birth of my baby.
1. Since I view birth as something that is private, I don't want to feel as if I am "performing" in front of others. I don't want a room full of other women watching and helping me birth a child.
2. An agreement with a midwife is a temporary contractual arrangement. You pay for services. Some women bond too closely with their midwives, as do women with their doctors - it's not completely healthy (psychologically) and is often an unequal perceived friendship.
3. Midwives are bound by state laws, some of which are arbitrary or enacted because someone thinks there is an increased risk or possibility of danger.
My sister-in- law had a midwife attended birth in the state of Virginia recently and if she did not produce the baby within 18 hours of the amniotic sac / water breaking, she would have to be transported to the hospital.
Some women take up to 25 or 30 hours; some unassisted birthers have been known to have 41-44 weeks gestation before the baby decided to be born.
4. Some midwives act as "medwives," bringing some of the medical procedures done in the hospital into the home. Childbirth, in my view, is not a medical procedure. We need doctors and midwives in certain circumstances, but not for normal, routine births. You can check this post to understand about maternity services.
5. Having "strangers" at your birth can inhibit the birth process, thus interfering with the "normal" unfolding of events. Each birth is like a story, containing an introduction, rising action and climax. Unassisted birth allows for the full cycle to take place with limited interference. Here's what author Laura Shanley says about the hormonal effects on the birth process.
"It has also been shown that social subordination (feeling dominated by, or inferior to someone) can suppress estrogen levels as effectively as the removal of ovaries (Robert M. Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, W. H. Freeman & Company, 1998). Since a rise in estrogen is known to be the central key for
