Friday, November 19, 2010

"You're a What??!"


Having a chat with a new neighbour while waiting for the school bus I was rather startled to hear she was unaware that midwives existed in this "modern age . Her understanding was that midwives currently exist only in small villages or remote places in the third world "where proper medical care is not possible"!! 

Ahhhh...... so perhaps for all those out there similarly "surprised" let me enlighten you. Most babies in the world are delivered by midwives not doctors!  This includes many developed nations such as Australia, England, Germany and in fact through most of Europe.  The system in the USA where pregnancy and birth take place strictly under medical supervision and profit is the main motivator, is not the norm for maternity systems around the world.  It has been shown by many independent surveys that it does not lead to better outcomes for mother or baby!  Countries in Europe such as Holland where midwife lead care is the primary focus and home births are commonplace, have much, much better outcomes with phenomenally lower rates of death and injury to mother and baby than the USA. This may surprise you. If you are not convinced, the World Health Organisation has a lot to say about maternity services around the world and is worth a look.


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