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From: andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: Midwife delivery and pre-natal care
Message-ID: <1730@orca.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 13-Sep-85 16:30:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: orca.1730
Posted: Fri Sep 13 16:30:12 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 15-Sep-85 12:22:13 EDT
References: <225@encore.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 41

> 	We are about to have our second child assisted by a midwife in
> a hospital birthing room.  The midwife makes for a more comfortable and
> relaxed birth where we have some level of control over the situation.
> If there are any problems there are doctors standing by and a delivery
> room down the hall.
> 
> 	Pre-natal care is better also. The nurse midwife has time to sit
> and talk about the various changes and problems during pregancy.  The
> atmosphere is more relaxed and less of the assembly line you might find
> in a doctors office.
> 
> 	The birth itself is better in that the woman is free to walk
> around, take a bath or what ever might help to relieve the pain.
> With our first child I got to help deliver the baby and cut the cord.
> The baby got started to nurse right away and stayed with us for 
> 1/2 hour or so until we brought it down to the nursery.
> 
> 	I would highly recommend anyone having a baby to at least look
> into utilizing a midwife...

Our delivery matched this description.  We were in a LDR (labor,
delivery, recovery) birthing room, and there was a delivery room
available down the hall.  The pre-natal care given us by the nurse
assigned to us was excellent.  We were free (encouraged!) to walk
around, take a bath (private bathroom attached), or whatever.  After
birth, the baby remained with us for a few minutes, then I (the father)
accompanied her to the nursery where I stayed with her for over an
hour.

But there was no midwife involved.  Our daughter was delivered by a
medical doctor, who was able to handle emergencies as they developed.
As it happens, there were complications, and I was very happy with our
choice of attendants.

To summarize, you can get this sort of relaxed, caring, involved birth
environment without giving up the advanced skills and immediate
responsiveness that only a medical doctor can deliver.  It all depends
on the hospital that you choose.  Shop around.

  -=- Andrew Klossner   (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew)       [UUCP]
                        (orca!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay)  [ARPA]


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