6 Benefits of Midwifery Care for Expecting Parents in the Greater Vancouver Region
Here are 6 key benefits of midwifery care for expecting parents:
1. Personalized and Holistic Care
Midwives provide personalized care that focuses on the physical, emotional, and social aspects of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. They often take a more holistic approach, addressing the whole person rather than just the clinical aspects of childbirth. Many of my clients with OBs as their primary care provider report short appointment times (5-10 minutes) and describe it being challenging to contact their obstetrician outside of scheduled appointments. Midwives traditionally offer longer dedicated appointment times (30-40 minutes) and are usually more easy to reach in-between schedule appointments when questions come up.
2. Lower Intervention Rates
Midwifery care is associated with lower rates of unnecessary interventions, such as cesarean sections, episiotomies, forceps, vacuum and inductions. Midwives are trained with an emphasis on the natural birthing processes and strive to support parents in making informed decisions about interventions.
3. Choice of Birth Place
Many midwives in the Greater Vancouver Area are able to provide medical care for planned home births as well as hospital births. Home birth is associated with less interventions than hospital birth and is as safe (or safer) as the hospital is as a setting for a low risk birth. Some midwiferies unfortunately are less home-birth supportive so if choice of birth place is important to you, this is a great question to ask midwives during your initial consultation.
4. Higher Satisfaction with Birth Experience
Expecting parents who choose midwifery care often report higher satisfaction with their birth experiences. The emphasis on partnership, communication, and respect for the birth process fosters a sense of trust and empowerment in the birth space.
5. Lower Risk of Preterm Birth
Midwifery care is linked to lower rates of preterm birth, as midwives typically spend more time assessing and supporting a mother's health throughout pregnancy, addressing potential risk factors early on.
6. Better Postpartum Care
Many parents are surprised to discover that their OBs actually play no role in caring for the baby once it is born. This can result in having to call 811 or making trips to the emergency department if any medical questions arise about your newborn. Midwives offer extensive postpartum care, providing support for breastfeeding, emotional well-being, and recovery from childbirth. They come to your home twice in the first week (YAY! no car rides with a newborn) and continue to care for both the birther and the baby for the first 6 weeks, when you are transferred into your family doctor or nurse practitioner’s care.
