Why Choose a Midwife?

People often have a misconception that midwives are inexperienced and incapable of taking proper care of a pregnant woman or perform a normal delivery. This idea is wrong. Today midwives are trained to provide holistic care to expectant mothers and their newborn babies.

The advantages of keeping a midwife are certainly many and so finding a reliable midwife is important. Let's find out the possible reasons for choosing a midwife for pregnancy care.

Why choose a midwife? Well, during pregnancy you would always prefer someone to take care of you throughout the day. Apart from offering a helping hand a midwife would cater to your requirements and would assist you in every possible way. Midwives are trained and capable of offering services to mothers undergoing a normal pregnancy.

When a midwife is always there to support you during this crucial period, you can overcome your worries pertaining to labor, childbirth and taking care of the newborn. Today midwives are skilled at combining traditional maternal care therapies with the latest techniques meant for proper development and growth of babies.

She would help you in performing exercises and offer you the specific pregnancy massages that relax your body from within. With a midwife at home, you need not visit a spa for body rejuvenation. Midwives are generally in touch with physicians and are aware of all the dos and don'ts for pregnant women.

Midwives would clearly explain the advantages and disadvantages of childbirth in hospitals and at home and thus, you can take the right decision regarding the choice of place for your delivery.

They have knowledge of the hospitals and health care centers equipped with the best facilities for delivery and post natal care. You can extend the tenure of midwives after your child is born for assisting you in post natal care.

Being a new mother you might be inexperienced with the right techniques of taking care of your baby. She would assist you with activities like, breastfeeding, the correct way to hold your baby, maintaining the right posture while your baby is sleeping, offering baby massage, etc.

With the help of a midwife there will be less visits to the hospital during pregnancy. This is because she would be able to offer you some medical support. But then, you need to understand that she is not a doctor. It is essential that you understand the difference between a midwife and a doctor.

She will explain to you every detail about your baby developing inside the womb, tell you little things that you need to consider during pregnancy and give you tips for postnatal care. But she won't prescribe you medications or assess your health condition in any way. For that you will need to consult your doctor.

One thing's for sure, the company of a caring and responsible midwife will keep you positive throughout that critical and important phase in your life - the phase of becoming a mother. Midwives will provide with ways to ease labor whereby you will be able to gain inner strength to sustain the pain.

An experienced midwife knows the correct techniques for facilitating childbirth and offering comfort to women during labor. Deliveries done at home are generally assisted by proficient midwives and safely so, when there are no risks involved with pregnancy. The main job of a midwife is to offer care and support to a pregnant woman, before and after delivery.

Finding out a good and experienced midwife is a major concern for most women. Midwives are generally employed at hospitals, childbirth centers and maternity care units. You need to approach such institutions to get the necessary information about midwives.

Certain formalities are required to be completed for hiring a midwife and their fees will vary according to their experience and the nature of care they offer. There are different types of midwives with varying job responsibilities, some offer prenatal care, some assist deliveries while some offer postnatal care as well. 

A nurse midwife is usually preferred over a direct-entry midwife because the former is experienced in midwifery and nursing both. Their fees also depend on whether they are working on a part-time or full-time basis.

It's always better to keep a certified nurse as a midwife for maternal care because they are experienced and well acquainted with all the needs and concerns of childbearing mothers. Keeping direct-entry midwives would prove useful if you only need a part-time aid. 

Direct entry midwives holding a practice license can be hired from nursing homes and free standing birth centers. They charge a comparatively lower fee than nurse midwives. However, it's always recommended that you hire services of a midwife who holds the license to practice.

We are sure you have understood the responsibilities of a midwife and the importance of the role she plays. Apart from offering a complete nursing and medical aid to expectant mothers, midwives provide a good amount of emotional support to pregnant women; and that's perhaps what's most needed.