Would you give birth in a midwifery led unit?

[StellaSun]

My first and foremost choice is midwifery supported homebirth. My second choice (if I had to have one!) would be a mid-led birth centre. And my options stop there!

If I was deemed (and proven to be!) high-risk I may consider birthing in a hospital with midwives, and my very last choice would be an Obs.

Obs are taking over normal healthy pregnancies and creating risks out of something often very,very safe. They should stick to their own clientele of (very) high-risk pregnancies and/or complications of pregnancy. They should decline taking on normal and healthy pregnancies and be honest with these women that they probably don't/wont need Ob support. Its a money-making, insurance claiming, women disempowering circus!

Midwifery led care for those 85% healthy normal pregnancies & birth. Leave the 10-15% of the others to the OTHERS.

Birth is safe - interference is risky.

Honour these midwives and start to re-humanise birth!

[Cassius2]

I think some really good points are being made, and being the true fence-sitter I think some really intelligent and engaging POVs are coming from both 'sides' of the birthing debate.

I have to particularly agree that it would be ideal to have the option to have a full midwife led centre/s available in (at least) every capital city in Australia. Going by what the majority of people are saying, this would be a well used and positive facility. ( would most certainly be there!! with bells on! )

In the end i chose to go the private route as this was the only option of being guaranteed a supportive environment to have my baby surrounded by the two midwives that would provide the primary antenatal, birth and postnatal care. My OB stated from the beginning that they were in charge and as a result I would see them at all appointments and THEN go and see him for a quick scan to say hello, or to go over my birth plan or just to chat about nothing in particular...usually italian football...egad!).
I chose not to go public as i could not be guaranteed a spot at the birth centre, and i also did not want to have to go home straight away. i was living in a city far from family or friends and i knew that i needed a place where i could just focus on getting to know my baby. Having the option to stay the four nights was for me, really useful. I had lovely lactation consultants that came by every day and night and i had the same 3 midwives.

Like people are saying, i think that in whatever we choose it needs to be informed. even if not to avoid disappointment, at least to lessen it. I count myself lucky that my OB was in his field, because he just loves kids and loves seeing families bringing into the world new babies.
If we choose to go home-birth, birth centre or hospital, our informed decisions need to go further to decide what we really want from every scenario. My friend who had her bubs at home, was very picky over who would be her midwives, and I was very picky over who would be my OB. I didnt want any unnecessary intervention (i see unnecessary as intervening on the grounds of labour taking too long, or asking if i wanted pain relief etc), and as a result i needed an OB who could reflect that philosophy. And as much as we want to lynch the OB practice as a whole, like any situation there are remarkable people who have a genuine love, not for operating theatres or scaring women into the fear of their perceived inadequacies, but in celebrating the beauty that is chilbirth and all things babies.

And as i said above, if there was an option for women (and their families) to birth in complete midwife led centres then that's where i'd go (and where i would have gone). i am all for a holistic approach to babies, and would love to see a place that carries through from antenatal to birth and through to post-natal. I would love to see a place that would welcome my family to be there for the birth and would allow my DH and DD to stay with me for the duration of the stay. bring it on people!!

[sushee]

I haven't read the whole thread so am only commenting on the poll.

I would, and have, birthed in a midwife-led birth centre. I also had my first two children in public hospital, and my last child with a private ob (who was also my Fertility Specialist)

IMO, if I were to have a 5th child, I would definitely, absolutely, without a doubt go with a midwife-led Birth Centre again. I had the most amazing experience birthing my son there, and nothing comes even close to comparing. I understand the risk of complications - for my last birth, my son was in distress. For my 2nd birth, the lip of my cervix came down with my son's head. I felt as reassured in my midwives hands and I did my ob's hands, if not more, and in the long run, it was the midwife who actually stayed with me, reassured me, monitored me and assisted me. My ob wanted a c/s when my amniotic fluid was meconium stained and I spent quite some time convincing him to let me try to birth on my own (which the midwife was supporting). It was reassuring to have him there, but in the end, I did it without his help.

So I don't feel like I would need an ob the next time (if there is a next time). I would be perfectly content to be in the care of midwives only. I agreed to an ob with my last birth because it had taken us so long to conceive I was convinced an ob would equal better care, but as much as I love him as an FS, as an ob, he didn't add a lot (if anything) to the whole birth experience and was really just a waste of money.

[sneakysparkle]

Carley - I would love to know who your Ob is so I can recommend him to friends & fam in Melb!!!

[BellyBelly]

Nicola Brian is brilliant - you can recommend her She's great, and even has the Birth Options workshop flyers in her office.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Carley - if the majority of OB's were like yours, we'd be having a VERY different conversation right now I do know OB's like this exist, and they are like gold, aren't they? It's a shame that the majority place themselves above the woman instead of with the woman (as midwives do, by definition!).
ETA:Wow, Tuckers Daughter, you really are missing the point with midwives - I don't know any (and I know a few!) who would EVER want to be, or believe they are 'in control' of the birth process. None in the midwifery-led model in continuity of care, at the very least. I don't know any midwife who is that arrogant.

[sushee]

I understand the inequity and injustice of not having access to medical treatment if you need it, and having to endure being untreated for a birth complication, but for the most part, when birth is a normal process, no one needs to 'endure' not having a Dr present, whereever it is you birth your baby.

I find it equally puzzling that anyone would think having a homebirth is something someone would have to 'endure' if they have a normal birth. Not having access to necessary medical treatment for a complication is not the same as birthing normally assisted by midwives, as the latter does not require a Dr.

As yes, I come from an Asian country where until as recently as 30 years ago, homebirths were the norm.

[Smoke Jaguar]

I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately, on varying topics. Guess what I found out from one series on the Royal Family? Queen Elizabeth II, siblings and children were all born at home! She knows what's good for her
It's a real wonder that NZ must be hiding all it's dead infant-mother dyads if midwifery-led care is so dangerous and risky! Next someone's going to try to tell my why Australia is so inherently different from NZ and other progressive countries (that are obviously not so overawed by their medical associations) to explain why they don't die (or be born with hideous deformities, brain damage, any other scary things you can think of) like we would if we adopted the same prenatal care models
I didn't start out being so 'militant' (I don't see myself as militant, but surely someone does, so I might as well say it pre-emptorially), and the more I find out, the more stories I hear, the more people I talk to and the more history I piece together, the more I become convinced about normal birth for normal pregnancy