Midwives Today

By Laura Knoy on Sunday, August 24, 2008.

The ancient profession of helping women deliver babies has evolved and adapted to modern demands and concerns. In New Hampshire, this is especially true. Midwives are widely used – in settings ranging from the hospital to the expectant mothers’ home. We’ll find out where the profession of midwifery is today both in New Hampshire and in the nation. We’ll also explore the challenges it faces and why midwives may be in even greater demand in the future.

Guests

  • Carol Leonard, a New Hampshire certified midwife and foremother of the modern midwifery movement, co-founder of the Midwives Alliance of North America and author of Lady’s Hands, Lion’s Heart: A Midwife’s Saga
  • Rebecca Keller, certified nurse midwife with Full Circle Midwifery at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua
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midwifery
Alouette Iselin - Mon, 08/25/2008 - 07:40

I had three of my babies at home. Shortly after my son was born in 1981, I testified at a house committee meeting investigating the regulation of midwifery. My midwife asked me to testify because I had several of the risk factors the committee was concerned with: I had a long gestation (23 days), a large baby (over 12 pounds, not gestational diabetes), Rh negative. My labors and births were easy and uneventful, and I felt safe in my own bed; I was grateful that this experience was not made illegal! My daughter plans to give birth at home in February, with the midwife who caught her brother and sister.

midwives and OB
Elizabeth H. - Mon, 08/25/2008 - 09:15

I have had 2 babies, both in the same hospital 17 months apart. My first was with a large OB group. The doctor who was at the delivery was one I had met only once, had no knowledge of my birth plan, and encouraged several interventions most of which made my experience more negative. I ended up with pitocin and an epidural which were highly encouraged by both the nursing staff and the OB. I was also unable to eat or drink and was limited in movement by an iv and fetal monitors strapped around me for the better part of every hour all because of "hospital policy" according to my OB and nurses.
My second birth was at the same hospital with a midwife group. I knew the midwife who helped me deliver. I was able to have a water birth and had my CNM and a nurse in the room with me almost the whole time. Neither pushed any interventions and even did a minimum of fetal monitoring to enable me to be as comfortable as possible. I was offered many drinks and I could eat if I had wanted to, so the "hospital policy" cited by my old OB was just an excuse to not let me. My second was a fabulous birth. It was exactly what I had wanted. I would not go back to an OB unless I absolutely had to. I would have a homebirth if that was the only way to have a midwife present and a water birth.

midwives/ home birth
Alyssa - Tue, 08/26/2008 - 08:12

My first child was born in a hospital with midwives and although it was a nice birth I so preferred to have my second child at home with a midwife. It was beautiful and supported. I am now close to having my third and can't imagine a choice other than the calmness of my home. Midwives are invaluable.