I found so many benefits of this approach to pregnancy care.
I will freely admit that in certain areas of my life I can be a bit of a control freak. I like to know exactly what’s going on and often feel if I am doing it personally, the outcome will be more favourable. Pregnancy was no different. I had very firm ideas and beliefs about how I wanted to do things.
I approached pregnancy and childbirth from a very holistic point of view. I saw an acupuncturist throughout my pregnancy, something I attribute my complete absence of morning sickness to, and I researched all the options I had available to me for pre-natal care.
Birthing in a private hospital was something I was pretty adamant about. We’d been forking out exorbitant health insurance premiums to have this luxury. I wanted the comfort and the extra time to try and work out what the hell I was doing.
I quickly discovered that I was required to have an obstetrician at my local private hospital.
I was genuinely afraid of having obstetric lead care. I had heard so many horror stories of babies being induced to fit in with rounds of golf and women being bullied into medical intervention they didn’t need in order to accommodate a doctor.
I know now that not all obstetricians are like that. But I still wanted another option.
It was then that I discovered a wonderful local midwife. Brigid was employed at my chosen hospital and also ran her own private practice. It felt like I was having my cake and eating it too. Brigid worked with my obstetrician under a shared care model of antenatal care.
I found so many benefits of this approach to pregnancy care.
A more holistic approach.
Midwives are passionate about pregnancy and birth and in my experience, treat pregnancy more like an experience or journey than a medical condition
Continuity of care.
I saw the same midwife every appointment. We got to know and understand each other. We got to discuss things in depth and she really knew what I wanted when the big day arrived.
Private antenatal classes.
Brigid did a little ‘class’ with my partner and I in the comfort of our own home. She had lots of great resources. We could ask all our silly questions without strangers in the room and she left us with a stock pile of DVDs to watch at our leisure.