Medical Model of Care:
- Pregnancy is a pathology
- Things can and will go wrong during pregnancy and birth
- Intervention is necessary
- Patriarchal
- "I know more about your body than you do"
- Every little sign/symptom means a potential problem that must be treated
- Birth is inherently dangerous
- Nothing by mouth or just ice chips while in labor
- Continuous fetal monitoring, even for a "low risk" pregnancy
- Mandatory IV site in labor
- High induction and C/S rates
Midwifery Model of Care:
- Pregnancy is normal
- Autonomy is important for women during pregnancy and birth
- A woman knows her body best
- Empowerment
- What can I do to help you?
- Anything is possible
- Looks at the entire woman and her family system
- Birth is inherently safe
- Eat and drink as you please when in labor
- Intermittent auscultation in labor
- Listening to women
- Low induction and C/S rates
3 comments:
'nuff said.
The medical model sounds like its straight out of the 19th century, doesn't it?
I am an MD, but my wife and I chose a midwife to deliver our child for these exact reasons. Doctors are useful for high-risk pregnancy and a doctor was on call if anything when wrong, but nothing did.
The midwife treated it as a perfectly natural process. My wife actually has fond memories of delivery which she had been dreading thanks to our midwife.
Lots of natural and safe processes have gotten over-medicalized these days. I'm shocked how many people feel they must see their MD every time they get a common cold. I reassure them, "Your body will do a wonderful job handling this without me. All I can do is cause trouble here."
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