Serving Midland, Saginaw, Bay City, and Mt. Pleasant, MI
Midwifery vs. Medical Model of Care
Copied from:Morning Star Women's Health and Birth Center
Definition: • Birth is a social event, a normal part of a woman's life. •Birth is the work of the woman and her family. • The woman is a person experiencing a life-transforming event. Definition: • Home or other familiar surroundings. • Informal system of care. Definition: • See birth as a holistic process • Shared decision-making between caregivers and birthing woman • No class distinction between birthing women and caregivers • Equal relationship • Information shared with an attitude of personal caring. • Longer, more in-depth prenatal visits • Often strong emotional support • Familiar language and imagery used • Awareness of spiritual significance of birth • Believes in integrity of birth, uses technology if appropriate and proven |
Definition: • Birth is the work of doctors, nurses, midwives and other experts. • Childbirth is a potentially pathological process. Definition: • The woman is a patient. • Hospital, unfamiliar territory to the woman • Bueaucratic, hierarchical system of care Definition: • Trained to focus on the medical aspects of birth • "Professional" care that is authoritarian • Often a class distinction between obstetrician and patients • Dominant-subordinate relationship • Information about health, disease and degree of risk not shared with the patient adequately. • Brief, depersonalized care • Little emotional support • Use of medical language • Spiritual aspects of birth are ignored or treated as embarrassing • Values technology, often without proof that it improves birth outcome |