I am all for alternative medicine and holistic approaches because I have always seen and learned first-hand how effective it is. When it comes to my body, I tend to be more willing to experiment on alternatives too. I have lost weight as a result of acupuncture; growing up, my mom likes to take us see Chinese medicine doctors rather than the western (or traditional?) doctors. I have also tried reflexology, cupping, tui-na, and the more advanced chiropractics.
I don't like taking drugs or going to see doctors. If I could avoid them, I would.
Recently I have learned that there are tons of options one can choose to deliver a child. Lying on your back on a hospital bed with feet up might not be the most "natural" way. They do it because it is the most convenient for the doctors. But of course, they wouldn't ask you if you have a preferred position to give birth.
Positions aside, I am like those ladies - the ones who would like to give birth naturally. While I am not really talking about medical intervention per se, I did look into the option of having a midwife as opposed to a doctor to deliver my baby.
How is that for an alternative approach!
But it's not. Apparently it's kind of an "in" thing nowadays. Tom Brady's wife went to a midwife to deliver their kid, and it has been a "status symbol". Not that I need to be on certain status, but the midwife option did sound very tempting. Think about it, before there was the advanced medicine, women gave birth to healthy kids all the time. Not all of them had doctors and not all of them could afford a doctor. So the midwifery practice is an ancient wisdom. And I believe in ancient wisdom. There is nothing more natural than this.
People who choose a midwife believe that midwives are more caring and listening to the pregnant women more, and they adopt techniques that nurses or doctors in the "traditional medicine" would not take on easing the pain during labor. A simple rationale is always that pregnancy is not a disease or illness; you don't need a doctor for that. Midwives don't administer drugs on you nor do they cut you open since they are not trained or authorized to do so.
If you are very gun-ho about not getting cut open, maybe a midwife is your answer. I personally don't want to be cut open for the reason of incarnation.
As my research goes on, I found out that only low-risk pregnancy would benefit from a midwife. If you are in high-risk, you still want to consult a doctor for complications and all the other unexpected throughout the pregnancy.
How much does a midwife (a witch) in Manhattan cost? The average starts from $8K and they do take insurance. I am out of network so I could have been screwed.
Unfortunately, my options turned out to be limited anyway because TB believes in name brand so he insists that I should delivery at Cornell, and Cornell does not have the midwifery program or department. They don't even have a tub for water birth because "it's too expensive to maintain and clean the tub", according to my doctor. Cornell is also known for being conservative in their practice, meaning that if any little thing goes wrong, they cut you open. Well, I sure do not want that to happen.
Other than hiring a doula, which is "witchy" enough (right?), I guess I just have to continue practicing Kegel.
My attempt to go alternative failed.
#nomidwifeforme
DearJulie
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