When choosing a midwife or doctor to attend your upcoming birth, it is important to establish what their philosophy of birth is. There are three questions you can ask to see if you and your potential caregiver are on the same page.
1) Will I have the freedom to move around freely?
- Walking, swaying, rocking, standing in the shower, sitting on the toilet, kneeling, hands and knees, etc. are all very important. That helps baby align himself in the pelvis correctly. If they keep you in bed, baby doesn't have enough room to adjust, then he gets stuck or doesn't descend well.
2) Can I choose my own birth position?
- Lying on your back benefits ONLY the doctor/ midwife, not you or baby. In fact it is much harder to give birth on your back, that is why so many women end up with episiotomies, forceps, vacuum extractor, cesareans. An upright position makes use of gravity.
3) Will I have the freedom to eat and drink in labor?
- This is important because you will be working very hard, and you need to be nourished. If you are denied nourishment, many times the uterus just stops working efficiently if it has been a long labor.
Everything else (amniotomy, electronic fetal monitors, I.V.'s, episiotomies, etc.) are also important, but those are questions to be asked after the first three are answered to your satisfaction.
If they truly support women birthing naturally, they will not have difficulty answering these three basic questions. If not, keep searching. There are caregivers who support women in birth.
You just have to find them.
