Midwives

My book of the week (because I am a nerd and read as fast as I can cram words into my brain) this week was Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.  It wasn't a record reading for me, it took me all of eight days to get through the whole book- you know, I have that job thing to do during the day, kinda takes up some time here and there.  Ordinarily, I don't really have much to say about a book because there's not much that sticks with me.  I remember characters and emotions, sometimes situations in the book that are striking, but nothing really sticks for me because it's not personal.  This book hit on something near and dear to me: homebirth and the midwives that provide care for women who choose it.

I loved the way it approached homebirth as normal, that things do go wrong, and hated how outsiders' perspectives, namely doctors and other 'experts' referred to homebirth midwives as unskilled, untrained pseudo-practitioners (it was a court scene) who are reckless and dangerous to all they encounter.  I feel that most midwives (caveat being that regardless of the profession in question, there are varying skill levels across the board and some people just don't have 'it') actually better at what they do, especially in a homebirth/ out-of-hospital situation because they do not have massive amounts of technology at their disposal.  They must know their clients, they must have actual knowledge, and they must *gasp* touch people.

One thing that stuck out in my mind as I read was a passage talking about the types of people the midwife in the story had assisted- artists, blue collar folks, tradespeople, clergy, etc.  All kinds of people from every walk of life, but she'd never delivered the babies of bankers, lawyers, or doctors.

Those were the types of people who generally feel safer in hospitals.

That made me smile.  See, I work in a bank.  I thrive on policy-following, I'm very type-A (if such a thing exists), and I crave structure in my life almost as much as I need oxygen to function.  I am surrounded by bankers all day long, five days a week.  You can imagine the tsunami of fear that rose in the cubefarm when I announced that I would birth my son at home.  I might not have said anything at all if it hadn't been for the chorus of "YOU'RE GOING TO WANT AN EPIDURAL!!!" and "how long will your doctor *let* you go?" and myriad horror stories about birth I was treated to throughout my pregnancy.  I calmly and rationally explained that no, birth is safe and if at some point that changes, I'm only 5.35 minutes from the hospital.

That's right.  A banker birthed at home!  (and it was awesome)

I only wish more women were comfortable with birth, viewed it as normal and safe and right, rather than a horror of pain and discomforts.

Wouldn't it be lovely if everyone could know the love of a midwife supporting them through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum time?