LSU Grad of '89 writes:

: OK, this really bothered me so I will share it in hopes that I am just too
: used to the "modern" way. A woman at work is having hr first child, she's
: ~5months and has had no visits to an OB or Doctor. She is completely relying
: on a midwife. She will have a natural birth at home with the midwife and
: husband in attendance.

And just what is wrong with this. In most states midwives are professionals
with just as strong licensing requirements as doctors.

: I just can't identify with it. I LIKE knowing I've done tests and
: ultrasounds and stuff to make sure - with modern technology - that my baby
: is progressing fine. I just don't believe that a midwife can catch
: everything - right ?

Wrong? Your "from line" lists you as a graduate of a major university, but
it certainly seems you have not done your homework on the safety issues of
this one. Let me offer just a few stats to start with.

1. Did you know that there is no benefit to be shown from routine
ultrasound. Ultrasound has only proven beneficial when looking for
specific indications. It is grossly overused.

2. Did you know that NO major medical study in the last 20 years have
shown OB/hospital birth to be any safer than home/midwife birth for a
matched population? In fact, most studies have shown them to be almost
equal. A few studies have shown homebirth to be safer. What does come
out of the studies VERY STRONGLY is that the rate of complicaitons for
planned hospital births is much higher than for planned home births.

I have two very specific suggestions for you to increase your level of
objective knowledge in this area:

A. Do a search on MEDLINE. It is a national database of peer reviewed
journal articles in the medical area. You can looks for studies in almost
any specialty. Learn to use it. Look up the studies on birth. Find out
what the stats really are.

B. Read one of Henci Goer's books: "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better
Birth" is aimed primarily at birthing women who want to know what the best
and safest way to birth is, but it also contains plenty of references to
the medical studies that back up its conclusions. "Obstetric Myths versus
Research Realities" is aimed more at the medical professional, and contains
strong evidence based on the medical research why certian common procedures
should or should not be done.

I think either of these routes would give you the objective information to
be able to speak soundly on this subject.

: Hope this isn't a flame starter, I just cannot identify with the natural at
: home no doctors thing. Give me an epidural, no problem...Mother hood is
: demanding enough without being a hero when you don't need to. Vicki is
: right - no one hands you a medal after labor and says "you get a gold medal
: for having the most pain !"

Excuse me for saying it, but here is another statement based on total ignorance.
Again I will offer you two reasons your statement is off track.

1. This issue has been discussed on this newsgroup many times. If you take
a women who has experience both a medicated birth with an epidural, and an
unmedicated birth, which do you think that woman will say that she preferred.
At least 95% of the mothers on mkp who have done both say they would go
natural in an instant. I am sure you will get not a few replies to this
post from those women! :-) There is a good reason for this. The comfort
measures available to a woman who is allowed to labor naturally are far more
effective than the medications are to a woman who must labor passively while
hooked up to IVs and other mobility limiting devices.

2. Numerous studies have shown that the epidural anesthesia passes from the
mother to the babies bloodstream, and that babies who are born to moms with
epidurals have lower apgar scores, are more morbid, have more difficulty
breastfeeding, and in general do not respond as quickly or well.

: However, I completely understand that each person has a right to their own
: method, and just because I cannot identify with this, it doesn't mean it's
: wrong. I just have this nagging feeling that if it were me, I'd be concerned
: that I wasn't doing the best I could do for my baby. I can't help worrying
: for her but I don't know why...I guess I can't imagine going through an
: entire pregnancy without ever seeing a doctor when one has insurance and
: access (can mid wives write prescriptions for prenatal tablets ?) My friend
: works where I do and has excellent insurance...

Unfortunately you have a view of midwives that is straight out of the middle
ages. What you do not know is how modern and professional they are, and
how much the obstetric process has actually increased risks by the inappropriate
overuse of technology. I suggest that you do some objective reading on the
subject before becoming subject to such unfounded fears.

: L.
: DS, 5-25-01 & EDD 4-28-04

Larry