It was peaceful
it was calm and it was mine said Athens resident Heidi Wilhelm, about her home birth with a midwife 15 months ago. No one else was choreographing (the birth).
After delivering her first child in a doctor's office and her second at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital, Wilhelm said that giving birth in a water bath at home with a midwife was relaxing and calm ' the way (giving birth) was supposed to be.
A midwife attends childbirth, provides support during labor and delivery and supervises the general care of the woman and child after the birth. There are different types of midwives, each with different qualifications, training and practices, depending on what type of midwifery they practice. However, midwifery regulations vary from state to state.
According to the Citizens for Midwifery Web site, the legal status of midwifery in Ohio is not legally defined, but it is not prohibited.
The medical establishment vigorously opposes the practice of home births because of the dangers and lack of available safety mechanisms that are a natural ingredient in giving birth in a hospital environment
said Cynthia Weeton, a former obstetrics nurse in Cleveland.
Marlene Waechter, a certified professional midwife in Jackson, referred to a midwife as the guardian of normalcy. She said bodies are designed to give birth and a midwife's job is to keep things normal and natural (during the birthing process).
Champions of Pathology is the term Waechter used to describe a physician's job. Doctors are trained to intervene when there are problems
she said. Most of their training is with sick people.
Abby J. Kinne, the first certified professional midwife in the nation, said 90 percent to 95 percent of women do not require any sort of intervention during birth, and would be able to have a successful birth at home.
According to a www.cfmidwifery.org, normal hospital births had a 19 percent caesarean section rate, whereas home births with a professional midwife had a 3.7 percent rate.
The World Health Organization suggests the rate should be no higher than 15 percent.
A C-section can be a life-saving procedure when it is necessary
but it's very risky for the mother's health ' it can cause infection
hemorrhaging and a maternal mortality rate four times greater than vaginal births
Weeton said.
Instead of following the medical model of care, midwives follow the midwives' model of care, which is more personalized, Waechter said, because it provides more prenatal and postpartum care and individualized education and reduces the amount of technological intervention.
The only flaw in the medical model is it treats pregnancy as an illness even though pregnancy is a natural bodily function
Weeton said.
In January 2002, The Midwifery Bill, also known as HB 477, was introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives. The bill was intended to legally recognize non-nurse midwives, create a midwifery board to define the scope of practice and regulate independent or direct-entry midwives in Ohio, according to the Ohio Friends of Midwives Web site (www.ofom.org).
Kinne said that the bill died in committee, but added she thinks it eventually will pass once legislators are aware of midwives' certification and level of competence.
Most people are afraid (of home births) and want drugs to separate them from the sensations (of childbirth)
not realizing that those sensations are caused by fear in the first place
Waechter said. You have to have trust in your caregiver
