The Myth of Obstetric Care

This is the primary mistake that I see expecting families make when seeking care and support for pregnancy and birth.  You can avoid this mistake when you understand what Evidence Based Care looks like, and as a result you'll improve your chances of personalized, safe care for you and baby.    Obstetric Care has practiced on women in the US for around 200 years and in that time we have learned that practicing X-Rays on pregnant women is not safe Prescribing Thalidomide caused birth defects Using Cytotec on a woman with previous cesarean can be deadly Episiotomy causes unnecessary damage to mother with infrequent benefits Hand washing reduces the spread of infection Inducing labor increases risk for cesarean in first-time mothers Twilight sleep prevents mothers from bonding post-delivery  Yes, of course we need some level of experimentation when it comes to science and the practice of medicine.  For example, epidurals allow women to be awake when baby is born, and to bond with baby post-cesarean.  Epidurals began being used because an anesthesiologist decided to try it out on a patient. However, most women and partners do not realize that the majority of interventions in pregnancy and birth are not offered AFTER the evidence is solid, it's being gathered with each family.  The problem is most assume that for low-risk pregnancy, working with an obstetrician is the safest. The data shows that midwifery care is the safest for low risk pregnancy, and that referral to an obstetrician when risk or need arises leads to better outcomes for moms and babies.   The biggest problem is that women, mothers, dads, grandparents, friend and family do not know what the evidence shows is the safest, so we jsut assume that "more technology" equal better results.  If you want to avoid this mistake: learn the evidence with me as your Digital Doula   If you live in the East Valley of Phoenix and are looking for a Newborn Care Specialist or Night Nanny, work with me: East Valley NCS   If your baby is already here and you need help navigating all of this, work with me virtually -- join the waitlist   If you are expecting, join me in Sage Mama Maternity.  Blending evidence and intuition is the key to experiencing a postitive pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Join Sage Mama Maternity