I found the movie in class to be SUPER intriguing. I
never knew midwives were so popular, but then again in America hospitals are
pushed to seem that they are the best when it comes to maternal care. One of
the things that I really liked about the movie was that the midwives weren’t against
hospitals. The view that I was always heard about midwives was that they were
against it and that they didn’t want their maternal patients to have anything
with hospitals. This made complete sense to me because the midwives were there
to assist in natural birth but knew that the doctors and OB/GYN were surgeons
and if there were any complications then they would take them to the hospitals.
They never left the idea of hospitals out. It opened my eyes because my older
sister is 8 months pregnant and there was no other thought in her mind besides
a hospital for where and how she was having her baby. Mostly I think she never gave it a second thought
was because of how our culture portrays hospitals and my mom. My mom had 3 girls
each without epidurals and I think this gives my sister the thought of having a
natural birth even though its most likely she won’t. I don’t even know if my
mom realized or knew that some of the drugs were given in her IV as well. I think
having the information available about midwives would be important but it is
really something many women don’t know about. I feel like now I would like to have a midwife because I know not all doctors can be trusted and do things for the better of the patient but for them.
During the movie I was also wondering if all are medically
trained and prepared for emergencies? And how much experience they have or if
it varies. I feel like this is also an key part in women picking midwives and a
fact that can change the view of midwives.
I agree with you that women need to be better informed about all of their options before they give birth. The movie that we are watching in class made me realize how little say most women have in hospitals as to their own healthcare. It makes me wonder why so many interventions are done because childbirth has been occurring as long as we have been a species. If those women were able to deliver without the aid of C sections, why aren't current women?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the movie, the only women that need to deliver at the hospital are high risk women. I wondered at this because when my mom was pregnant with my sister, she went into labor at 6 months, which was thankfully stopped, and was in and out of the hospital after that. Do women with premature labor, even a month early, change their plans and go to the hospital? Premies need a lot of medical care and I wonder if midwives are up for the challenge.
A few months ago I went to a study abroad fair. One of the Scottish schools I looked at had Midwife as a full four year major, much like nursing in the United States. From my webMD search, it seems that American midwives have a large disparity in training levels with the highest having masters degrees in nursing and the lowest with some basic on the job training. I can see how going to a doctor could make women feel more secure especially if the idea of having a midwife is so new to them. My question is when do women interview midwives and when do they know whether or not they have a high risk pregnancy?