The result is "With the Aid of Midwives," a display they put together at the Oxford Public Library. The display, continuing at the library over the next several weeks, includes books and information on midwifery and photographs taken by Ed of children in Southern Chester County who were delivered with the aid of midwives.
"The purpose is to promote education about the option of midwives," April Coburn said. "The display includes books that can be borrowed from the Chester County Library System about midwives, including fiction and non-fiction.
"The midwife model has a lower percentage of medical interventions, and a lower percentage of caesarian sections and mother and infant morbidity," Coburn said. "A lot of women don't realize it's an option, or how viable and safe it is. That's why we did this - to raise awareness."
"The basic difference between the midwife model and the medical model is that the midwife model views pregnancy and childbirth as natural and healthy experiences and functions, and works to aid women in these experiences," she said. "The medical model looks at it as an emergency that must be dealt with. This is changing in a lot of hospitals as doctors and midwives begin to work with each other. But unless more women demand access to midwives, this country is in danger of losing that option for women. In much of the rest of the world, midwives are the only people who attend childbirths."
Natural childbirth, however, does not necessarily mean a drug-free experience, as many people assume, Coburn said.
"Most people think of the option of using midwives as meaning a natural, drug-free birth. Not all women choose to be drug free," he said.
The number of natural childbirths in the U.S., including Southern Chester County, is increasing, Coburn added, although the laws may make the option difficult or impossible to find in some areas.
"There are a number of midwives in the area," she said. "Six percent of births nationally use midwives, and the number is rising, but the climate towards it is becoming increasingly hostile. Several free-standing birth centers in the U.S. have closed in the last few years because the cost of medical malpractice insurance has put them out of business. And the legal climate in many states makes it difficult to practice. Many midwives are being accused of practicing medicine without a license. The laws are different in every state. Some states require midwives to have a back-up physician to operate legally, but many physicians refuse to work with a midwife because of the higher costs of malpractice insurance."
Coburn said that it's therefore important to educate the public and clear up misconceptions about the safety of natural childbirths.
"If the idea of home birth scares you, it won't make birthing easier. I also think the more women learn about the safety of home birthing and natural childbirth and the competence of midwives, the more attractive and safe that option will appear to them. The most important thing is that women are completely comfortable with the situation they choose to birth in."
Coburn is happy that she chose the natural birthing method for Rainer. She prepared to deliver her baby naturally by researching the subject extensively.
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