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Labor and delivery; it brings joy but also pain for the woman.Obviously there is joy because of the newborn baby, but any woman will tell you, it was a source of unspeakable pain.

Well because of the pain that woman go through, there are two different schools of thought on how labor and delivery should happen.  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 San Diego.

There is the medical model for delivering babies which is tied in with using drugs to kill the pain, and sometimes c -sections to finish the delivery.

There is one other model, though not as common or accepted, but for those that practice it and believe in it, consider it a safer alternative for the woman.

That model is called the midwifery model.That is in obvious contrast with the usual medical model way of doing things.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 San Diego 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.

Contrary to popular belief, the non-use of medicine actually allows the labor to happen much faster because most pain killers actually slows the labor down.

The midwife is a professional with a regulatory board that certifies and licenses 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 formal doctors or nurses, they will have some medical equipment for emergencies like resuscitation devices and equipment for suturing.

So this describes what a midwife is and what midwifery is about in relation to pregnancy and delivery.

Their goals are to allow the birth and delivery to happen as naturally as possible.  This reduces the likelihood of a c-section.  Doesn’t allow you to be subject to invasive hospital procedures such as episiotomys.There will be less use of managing it with medical techniques such as breaking the water or using any types of drugs for the pregnancy.And the part woman love the most, usually labor and delivery happen much faster naturally.

Hopefully this article sheds some light on the benefits of midwifery and having a midwife for your pregnancy.At the very minimum, maybe it gives you some other options to think about and look into.  Remember this is first hand knowledge from a San Diego midwife.