Twenty minutes had passed since the baby's birth. Erik already suckled with professional abandon, dark eyes wide awake as he surveyed his parents, who nestled around him on the bed. The high energy of the last hour had given way to quiet wonder and gentle strokes between parents and new son - all this accompanied by birds singing at sunrise.
The midwives had retreated downstairs to drink tea and relive the personal and professional aspects of this newest home birth. About an hour later, a more spirited celebration began as best friend and midwives carried up breakfast and champagne for all to enjoy on the king-size bed. Erik was admired, weighed, measured, and returned to his already-favorite position at the breast. Questions were answered, advice outlined, and schedules discussed - all this accompanied by laughter.
Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, owed his own existence to the experienced hands of a Greek midwife. Today, modern medicine in the United States is opening up to the childbirth options provided by that time-honored profession - midwifery.
In 1986 over 100,000 babies were delivered by certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) in this country's hospitals, birthing centers, and homes. The number is expected to increase this year. In Florida last year, midwives delivered seven percent of the state's babies; in Seattle, nearly twenty percent.
The growing group of mothers choosing midwifery over traditional obstetrical care comes from backgrounds as varied as the Amish of Pennsylvania to "yuppies" from the Washington area. "We really don't have a typical client," explains Kate Beveredge, a partner in Family Birth Associates, a midwifery group that has practiced home birthing in Maryland and Virginia since 1978. "A lot of our clients come to us because they do not want drug intervention, either for health and fitness reasons, or for religious preferences."
"Most of our clients are health consumers," says Mary Hammond-Tooke from The Maternity Center in Bethesda, Maryland, one of nineteen birth centers that are nationally accredited. "They know what is available and are choosing to be more involved, more in control of their prenatal care, just like with the other wellness concerns in their lives."
The common commitment of midwifery clients is to be involved in their prenatal care and in control of their childbirth experiences. The expectant parents attend childbirth preparation classes, arrange for supplies and newborn pediatric care if they are planning an out-of-hospital birth, and decide on the delivery techniques and persons to be present during the birth.
Cost, although substantially less than an obstetrician-attended birth, is rarely the main factor involved in choosing a midwife-attended birth. "Cost savings is a factor, but we discourage people from choosing our midwifery service for that reason alone," explains Michele Donash, department coordinator of the midwifery service at the Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. "Women who come to us must want to participate in their own care, and that requires commitment." Patients typically perform the routine tasks of recording their weight increases and urine tests' results at every prenatal visit. "This way they are more committed to maintaining
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