Birthing Options in the USA

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The Exploration of Birth Models The Citizens of America do not realize the freedoms they have in the birthing process. Instead of knowing all the paths women can choose from in the United States most believe the only option is in the hospital. It is not common knowledge that the midwife can be the best choice for most healthy able women bearing children. This circumstance is reinforced by more than one factor. Historically, midwives have been exiled by the medical elite during the turn of the twentieth century. Another aspect that can be taken into account is that the birthing process is generational, meaning the tradition is passed down through the mother to her own daughter. These two factors play a major role in continuing the popular birthing norms of America. These reasons cause most people to lose interest when advocates of midwives try to convey their message. Through the examination of American birth models, the focus will be on the following: the historical context of the midwife up to modern day assumptions, the comparison and contrast of American practices in relation to the other countries of the world, and the financial break down and services a mother would receive in from an OB/GYN versus a midwife. These three factors will be used to fully exemplify the importance and necessity a midwife has on a birth, advocate for the knowledge of midwifery to the common public, and call for more American women to take advantage of such a powerful opportunity by educating themselves on what options they have when they become pregnant It is wrong to assume that the stigmas that exist around the practicing methods of midwifes today are products of the past. A lot of information in today’s society is recent and biased against the... ... middle of paper ... ...ril 1). 'I was not allowed': the words that steal our birth power. Best Daily. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.bestdaily.co.uk/your-life/news/a567116/i-was- not-allowed-the-words-that-steal-our-birth-power.html MacDorman, Ph. D, M. Mathews, M.S., T. & Declercq, Ph.D., E. Home Births in the United States, 1990-2009. NCHS Data Brief, 84, 1-8. Retrieved, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db84.pdf Neporent, L. (2014, January 16). Cost of Giving Birth Varies 10-Fold, Study Finds. ABC News. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cost-giving-birth-varies-10- fold-study-finds/story?id=21547172 Woodward, B. (2010, January 1). Kingwood mother has all four limbs amputated after home birth. KHOU khou.com. Retrieved May 2014, from http://www.kvue.com/news/state/Kingwood-mother-has-all-four-limbs-amputated-after-home-birth-91905464.html

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