Pregnancy and delivery; a source of joy and pain for the woman. Obviously joy is involved with the new baby, but if you ask most woman, they will also describe it was a source of unspeakable pain.
Well it is because of that pain that there are two schools of thought on how pregnancy and delivery should be carried about. I am going to offer some perspective on one particular school of thought that I have gained first hand experience with by being a homebirth midwife.
There is the medical model for delivery which is associated with drugs to kill the pain, and sometimes cesarean to complete the delivery.
While there is a lesser known model, not as widely accepted, for those that have experienced it and believe in it, they consider it a safer alternative for the woman.
That model is called the midwifery model~That model is the midwifery model as it is called. That model is the exact opposite of the medical model which is usually used. The medical model is where you rely heavily on medicine, while the midwifery model relies on the natural. Midwifery philosphy believes that pregnancy, labor, and delivery should happen as naturally as possible because it is a natural process.
This model is a profession practiced by midwives. Midwives are generally woman, who attend the birth, often times at the mother's home. This midwife would help with some techniques that help the woman go through labor as naturally as possible without drugs.
Against most popular beliefs, not using medicine during labor actually allows the labor to happen quite a bit faster because drugs usually slow down the labor.
The midwife as a profession does have a regulatory board that licenses, certifies, and oversees the individual.
Although a lot of the times they are not a nurse or a doctor, a midwife sometimes is a nurse also.
Even though they are not a doctor or nurse, they do carry with them some medical equipment, such as resuscitation devices and suturing equipment.
So this is what a midwife is and what midwifery is in regards to pregnancy and delivery.
Their goals are to let the labor and delivery happen as naturally possible. This makes the likelihood of a c-section less likely. Doesn't allow you to be subject to invasive hospital procedures such as episiotomys. Less medical management like breaking the water or using drugs to slow or speed up the pregnancy. And the part woman love the most, usually labor and delivery happen much faster naturally.
Hopefully this was informative and helped you understand some of the benefits of midwifery and having a midwife there for your pregnancy. At the very least, it gives you some different options to look into and explore.