Week 9 Final

Prenatal care in America is different than anywhere else in the world. It would seem that concerning your prenatal care, one specifically chooses their care provider. Most of the time that care provider would be an Obstetrician. There is a select group of women that has chosen to stray away from the mainstream prenatal care and; would like to take a more holistic approach with a midwife. Birthing with a midwife at a birthing center is safer, has a lower C-section rate and is often less expensive.

Natural Birthing versus Birthing in a Hospital

      Prenatal care from a Midwife versus an Obstetrician is generally the same. You can have Midwives that practice in the Obstetrician’s office. In some hospitals you can even find a birthing center.

      The presence and roll of a midwife, and an obstetrician are quite different.   When a woman seeks prenatal care from a Midwife, they are often looking for that personal caring touch and close relationship. Many times, you will have one or maybe two midwives that you will see throughout your entire pregnancy. She is there to see you from beginning to end with a less evasive approach to your care. They focus on what is best for the baby and the mother. When you have your vitals taken, weight checked and your urine dip, they do it all right there themselves. In my personal experience, they had me do it all myself and report it back to them with the exception of taking my blood pressure and my temperature.

      When it came to the prenatal care of women in the Obstetrician’s office, I found that they were a little on the rude side, seemed to rush the patients and the wait time was longer. The routine procedure for prenatal care in their office is usually having a nurse take your vitals, weight and urine dip; you would then see the OB for about 15 minutes’ before they moved on to the next patient. I have found this beyond frustrating and so have a few of my friends.

    Using the holistic method of prenatal...