Going to births is part of what we do. Supporting women with knowledge to help them feel strong and capable to go through this transition in their body, and in their life, is why we do it. We never know where people are at in their lives but we meet them with an open heart and a desire to make all options available so that they can make the best choice for themselves and their family.
Part of our job is to share current research with clients and their families so that they understand just how safe birth is. You just need to look at the population of the planet to know that birthing babies is something we do very efficiently. For most of the women on this planet, birth is still something that is done in the presence of women in very simple environments and with very little western medical help and technologies available. Yet the vast majority of babies and mothers birth safely.
We understand that the birthing process has the best chances of going smoothly if we “leave it alone”. “Don’t mess with the process” is a favourite of mine that I know many of my midwife friends share. It does
not mean that all births run smoothly and that we do not ever mess with the process but it does mean that at our very core, we start with the understanding that birth is safe and works best when we just let it do it’s thing.
If the process is not going well, then we change our focus, dig into our tool belt and choose the best tool with the least interference first and then see if it’s working or not. We have many tools in our belt so if one does not work, we can simply continue trying different ones until it works or until we need to move on to the power tools. Power tools are the ones found in hospitals and sometimes require a transfer of care. In some cases we have to skip many tools and jump right into the big power tools, but that is not what happens the majority of the time.
Our job is to understand when to mess with the process and what tools may be appropriate. The goal is always to balance the woman’s safety and health, the baby’s safety and health, protecting normal birth and respecting our client’s desires. We know, and we want women and their families to know, that they can trust that most births are going to work out whether we need tools or can essentially sit back and watch.
We work very hard to share what we know with women and their families because we want them to have the knowledge to know that they can birth their baby safely and it is our hope that they feel empowered in the process. That means that we want women and their families to feel that they can do anything they put their minds to. We want them to know that they are powerful and beautiful and that nothing can stop them!
Josée Nolet is a registered midwife with Generations Midwifery Care. Learn more about her here.