Choice creates change!

The USA is in the midst of perhaps the greatest choice point of it's evolution and the world waits and watches!
What will happen?

Choice, makes for Change.

Over the past 100 years, slowly the whole of the birthing model has relocated to within the hospitals with very few births occurring outside a hospital, and generally only by accident! A taxi cab driver - with amazing skills as an OB,
a birth that happens quickly and at home...however, quickly relocated to a hospital because --it's just dangerous at home!

However, consider the birthing world of the future...in places like Holland, 87% of births today happen at home with midwives. In the UK it's been legislated that births without complications will happen at home, with attending MW's or MD's.

It's taking a lot of financial pressure off of hospitals and off of facilities that have to provide for Nursery Care, L&D etc.

Currently in BC., our model includes MW's and they support home and Water Birth.

WE have about 200 +/- attending now, and their practices are all very busy.

When I birthed in one of our hospitals earlier this year with an MD., I asked her...so how many are in your practice?
How many births this year?

She answered, there are 5 of us, and we've done 9 births this year.

I've attended 29 myself? This was the first one with an MD...

As birth moves back into the home, what will be the result in medical facilities?

L&D less needed, only specialized attendees covering because these will be the high risk cases.

Birth attending will reduce and the more home birth and waterbirth are considered as not only safe but exceptional by the purchasing public, more and more women will want to try it out.The more success, the more the families get buy in, and the more the families consider it, the more the rising tide.

What could make this swing different?

Knowing what goes on in a home birth, a water birth, and knowing how to speak with your clients so they have exceptional hospital births as well.

In addition to this, the MW attends the new mother and family at her residence every day for the first three weeks.
She's with her for about an hour. She records baby's statistics, but also now has one on one time, establishing bonding and breastfeeding and ensuring mother is confident and has taken control of her infant.

In the other model, I have to bundle my baby, into the car, then over to the doctor, wait in a room filled with ill people, see him/her for about 5-10 minutes, and then I'm out the door.

In a home setting you have that MW focused only on you, your home, your space, what your baby is doing for at least an hour, EVERY DAY for 3 weeks!

Then she sees you in her office once a week. Then you can either return to a family MD or to an ND which also offers infant care.

The Mother/Infant book of business is truly up for grabs...the care is different the recommendations are different the assistance is different...

This needs consideration in the historical model of medicine if they want to be considered a standard of care that is conducive and comparable with home/water birth & midwifery care.

Do you see the shift in inner consciousness that is happening that people could believe that home and MW care is superior to what is available through the Medical Model today?

How do you change this perspective without using negative priming?
Especially when you know that kind of negative priming is working in reverse on her ability to have a natural unmedicated birth?

What could you do to help your facility gain a greater understanding of what is needed to create rapport and positive priming for parents?

These are times of awareness. If we view change as an attack on us personally, we've associated into the problem. If we can view all of the issues from a dissociated place, can we see this as a great opportunity to create the changes that are needed now?

Kathy