Hospitals vs. midwives

What kind of medical training do midwives have? Are they nurses?

In the UK they have to do a three-year midwifery degree. Or those already registered as nurses can take an extra course that lasts about 18 months.

In the US, a nurse midwife is a nurse practitioner with specialized training. They have master's degrees. Oh, and that "cheap breast pumps are designed to lower your milk output" thing sounds suspiously like something a pump company would make up to scare you into only buying their brand(s) of pump.

both my babies were via midwives and big thumbs up

1st one was in a hospital room with a midwife running the show, 2nd was in a birthing center that basically looked like a comfy living room

As a result of this thread, I told my bf today, "Just so you don't freak out in the future, I want midwife-assisted water births, and I don't care if we have to move to Germany so I can get them." Bless his little European hart, he said, "Anything you want. I don't see a problem at all, YOU have to give birth, not me. Anything else would be pretentious."

Sounds like he's good at giving the right answer. :)

Oh, and that "cheap breast pumps are designed to lower your milk output" thing sounds suspiously like something a pump company would make up to scare you into only buying their brand(s) of pump.

― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Thursday, April 29, 2010 3:21 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

It is a little more directly paranoid than I care to get, and a quick search online didn't find any corroborating evidence. However, this statement came from the doula who teaches our birthing class, who doesn't really have any personal motivation to recommend one brand over another, and I'd probably trust her over some company. In any case, we're hoping to avoid pumping and breastfeed directly as long as possible, don't really plan to buy a pump at all right now.

Yeah pumping is a major PITA to be avoided if possible, in my experience! My boobs are A+ at lactation (34 months of breastfeeding and counting) but I've never managed to express more than a single ounce in one sitting.

Spose it was easier for me though as I've been at home with the kids most of the time. Those who work and pump have my total admiration.

If you really want to get angry then read The Politics Of Breastfeeding. Has loads of info on the dodgy things formula companies get up to, such as paying for the building of hospitals specifically designed to make breastfeeding as hard as possible by placing newborns in a nursery that's as far away from the mother as possible.

― Meg (Meg Busset), Thursday, April 29, 2010 3:26 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark

!

I'm totally totally wondering now. When our girl was about two months old, my wife suddenly couldn't create milk anymore. She had been pumping extensively, so we had a huge frozen store of good milk, but it started to run low and shit was getting serious. Like, uh no fuck you we don't want to use formula.

We tried all kinds of stuff that's supposed to work like mother's milk tea and fenugreek, but nothing worked. We went to my wife's doctor, where they prescribed her Reglan. Now we looked it up and Reglan is some serious shit. There was a skull & crossbones on the bottle. It is the subject of late-night infomercials from law firms that encourage you to sue because of the side effects. So we had this prescription and decided fuck no and threw it out before even taking it.

So then it hit us. After her sixth week visit with her obstetrician, he gave her the go-ahead to go back on birth control. He declined to advise us that birth control would fuck with her ability to lactate.

As a result of this disruption, my baby never nursed at my wife's breast again. She still drinks the milk that my wife pumps, but my wife and I harbor some serious resentment and regret at losing that particular area of mother/child bonding.

I had assumed that it was just simple negligence on his part, but reading Meg's post may have given me a better idea about what was going on there. Fucking christ.

:(

I'm planning on a homebirth this time. Our area is great, there's a dedicated homebirth team that provide all midwife care, not just come to see you at 36 weeks. So I've got my appointments at home and don't have to go for the pointless GP appointment at 38 weeks. The appointments alternate between two midwives and unless you're unlucky one of them should be at the birth.