Hi Dr. Ben,
I've contacted you before - I'm the mom of nine children
(and now the happy grandma of eight as well! Lucky me! All the fun with none of the sleep deprivation!)
I think this movie is showing near me tonight; so am thinking about birthing issues...
I can remember the debate in the early 1970's in Alberta, Canada where I live about whether fathers should be allowed in the hospital labor/delivery room. My husband distinctly didn't want to be there! so he was NOT happy that the "rules" were changed shortly before our first son was born. (He hated needles and wasn't wild about the sight of blood, or pain, etc.)
Well, long story short, he changed his mind and gave it a try, and was so awed and grateful to participate in all nine births eventually.
During those hectic years when I was having babies (not very close together, either - our kids have a 20 yr. spread in ages!) the debate about midwifery heated up, and some nurse-midwives in our nearest city started a business together. (They still worked regular shifts at the hospital too). I was considered "high-risk", due to the infant death of our 3rd child, and we also lived way out of town; so I chose to stay with the hospital option; but these wonderful women really showed me what it was to care about birthing, and women and babies. We asked them to get more and more involved each time, until our last son was born with continuous midwifery labor support, with the obstetrician only appearing to "catch the baby" at the last minute. (He was not initially impressed with our plan - but couldn't deny that it was both safe and helpful
for me, the mother).
Even though I chose an induction, due to diabetes complications, it was a thrill to feel more
"in charge" of my labor, even helping it progress naturally after the obstetrician had threatened more medical intervention; and to get through it without any drugs. I feel that's what empowered me, in fact, when we discovered our son had a cleft palate (no cleft lip) and couldn't suckle naturally. I had to feed pumped breastmilk exclusively for 4 months (an incredibly challenge); then our son had what was at that time, I believe, the earliest cleft palate repair surgery ever done in Canada. After 1 week recovery, he breastfed fully and naturally til he was a toddler.
I went on to research his condition even more and wrote a research pamphlet that eventually won awards and even changed the La Leche League International printed materials (which were previously inaccurate). On the basis of that research, I also got an equivalency (of sorts) to attend University of Calgary med. school where I successfully completed some grad classes in Community Health Sciences.
I have moved on to other endeavors now, but always think of those wonderful midwives and their help to me when I hear about home births. Home births and midwives don't necessarily have to go together! Sadly, although they now have hospital privileges here now, Alberta still doesn't pay for midwifery, more's the pity, so we've lost many of those wonderful women to other jobs in the States, BC, etc. Too bad.
I think - no, I know - that our mothers and babies here are the poorer for it.
If we all encouraged governments to encourage midwifery - could we make a difference?
With love,
Jacalyn