getting help helping your loved ones

When you become pregnant, you're suddenly faced with a lot of decisions to make about your health and the health of your baby over the coming months. Choosing the right medical professional to help guide you through these decisions is an important factor in a healthy and happy pregnancy. While there may be many great obstetricians in your area, it's worth considering if you might not be happier with a midwife instead. Take a look at some good reasons why you should consider choosing a midwife instead.

Quality of Care

One of the great benefits of choosing a midwife over a doctor is the quality of care you get. Think about the last time that you were in a doctor's office. How much time did you actually spend with the doctor? In a typical doctor's office, it's a nurse that checks you in, takes your vital signs, weighs you, and gives you instructions before you leave. You get a few minutes with the doctor — often not even enough time to ask all the questions you may have.

When it comes to giving birth, the doctor that you see for most of your prenatal visits may not even be the doctor who delivers your baby. It all depends on who is on call at the hospital that day and whether or not you actually deliver on your due date.

Midwives tend to have lower patient loads and put more of a premium on spending time with their patients. You'll get more time and personalized care from your midwife. Some midwives will even make home visits. You'll also get your choice of places to give birth — your home, a birthing center, or a hospital if you prefer. Wherever you choose, you can be certain that your midwife will be there when the time comes.

Less Chance of a C-Section

When you get your prenatal and delivery care from a midwife, your chances of having a C-section are substantially lower. The national average rate of C-sections for full term pregnancies is 31 percent. The average rate of C-sections for midwife-led home births is only 5 percent.

There are a couple of reasons for this. For one thing, midwives tend to handle only or mostly low-risk births. If you're found to be high risk, your midwife may refer you to an OBGYN. However, it's not only patient selection that leads to the lower C-section rates. Midwives tend to use fewer medical interventions during delivery, like drugs to speed up labor. It's interventions like these that can often indirectly cause patients to need a C-section.

Skilled Professionals

For some mother-to-be, it's an inaccurate idea of what a midwife really is that causes hesitation. There's a sense that doctors are highly skilled and trained, while midwives are more primitive and less qualified. However, that's not the case. Today's midwives are actually highly trained.

A midwife usually has not just an RN with a Bachelor's degree in nursing; they also earn a specialized Master of Science degree in nursing and certification with the American Midwifery Certification Board. Like doctors, they can diagnose, prescribe medication, and be granted admitting privileges at hospitals. When you choose a midwife, you're putting yourself in the hands of a skilled professional who's been trained specifically for dealing with your condition.

What type of medical professional to see during your pregnancy is a very personal choice. Some are more comfortable with an OBGYN, and that's OK too. But when you make your decision, take the time to look into services like those offered by Full Moon Midwifery. You may find that they're offering the kind of prenatal and delivery care that you're looking for.