How is midwifery care different than obstetrician care?

·         Midwives focus on normal pregnancy and birth and are the best option for healthy women whereas obstetricians focus on the potential for pathology and are therefore the better option for women with a very complicated health history or pregnancy.

·         Midwives care for the whole woman and consider all aspects of her personal and family life as vital pieces of information.

·         Midwives seek to create a partnership with the woman, viewing her as a unique individual and educating her to help her become the expert on her own body, promoting health and encouraging the woman to have an equal voice in her own care decisions.

·         Obstetricians seek to “manage” a woman’s care as they often consider themselves to be the expert. When relating to pathologic conditions, they are the experts and an essential part of the care team, but they often fail to recognize normalcy, over-emphasizing the potential for pathology.

·         Midwives seek to minimize the use of pathology oriented interventions whereas obstetricians tend to rely on them on a routine basis.

·         Women receiving care from a midwife are more likely to experience: no intrapartum analgesia/anesthesia, attendance at birth by a known provider, spontaneous vaginal birth, initiation of breastfeeding, and a higher perception of control during labor.

·         While not representative of each and every provider, this short, comical video demonstrates the general differences in the OB/GYN model versus the Midwife led model of care.  OBGYN v. Midwife