Giving birth in Germany is like entering an altered universe. Imagine having a midwife counsel you through the months of pregnancy, guide you in making decisions before the birth in case of emergency, deliver the baby, then make home visits daily as long as necessary.
Healthier Outcomes with Midwives
Midwifery in the U.S. has been so hounded by state legislators (who were besieged by AMA lobbyists) and eventually banned in many states so that we don’t even know what this health practitioner does. And we should know. All the research shows that births conducted by midwives have a more positive outcome for maternal and infant health, physical and emotional, than do MD-directed, in-hospital births. Other nations’ healthcare policy-makers know this.
In Germany, where I have been for the past few weeks, the law requires a midwife to attend to every mom and to deliver the babies. Having an M.D. present in the delivery room is optional, though some hospitals have them stop by “to witness” the birth.
Training of Midwives
Women training to be midwives have three years’ of classes and residency in a university hospital. The training focuses on gynecology and obstetrics, and they’re paid for their training. The German professional midwives association, with about 18,000 members, is organized by the 15 states or provinces. The majority of midwives work in hospitals and are paid similarly to nurses, and about 80 percent of moms only work with midwives after the birth.
My niece is one of the 20 percent of German moms who chose to work with an independent, consultant midwife (not associated with a hospital) who counsels the mom (and dad) throughout the pregnancy and through the first year of the newborn’s life. And private insurors pay 100 percent of the costs.
“You have so many questions, and the doctor has no time. Most important to me was the midwife’s emotional support. The doctor can do much of the other (exams, etc), but not the emotional support,” Danya said. Having her first child at 42, she was considered medically high-risk only due to her age. Knowing that, the midwife discussed with Danya and her husband contingency plans in case of complications. There were none, but having made the decisions in advance created a more relaxed delivery environment.
With phone consultations with the midwife being usual, Danya called her when contractions started. The move to the hospital was put off for several hours because home is a more comfortable environment, emotionally and physically. She had used a homeopathic remedy to facilitate an easier delivery, and she checked into the hospital two hours before the birth.
Midwives’ services
Massaging the abdomen to realign organs displaced by the fetus? Only a midwife provides such care. Danya’s midwife, a mom of a 2-yo herself, made home visits twice daily after Mom and baby returned home (2-day hospital stay). She gave instructions in breast feeding, showed Dad how to give the newborn a bath, answered questions of all manner of emotional and physical issues.
When his two-week (paid) paternity leave ended and her husband returned to his job, and Danya was having a tearful day, the midwife assured her this was the usual helplessness all moms felt on this day. After the first week the midwife’s visits were daily for about another week. When the baby wasn’t gaining enough weight, she directed the new parents to add formula to his diet and to pump breast milk so that the amount he ate could be measured.
After the first month a scheduled visit to the home is made every three months. Wearing only a shirt, baby is put into a small, white sheet with straps that is hung onto a hand-held scale (picture the stork’s delivery sack). Reflexes are tested. Any other concerns of Mom are discussed. Periodic visits to the pediatrician are made, but the midwife will be called first about a rash.
The best health care brings into the practitioners’ arena all manner of health modalities that focus on wellness. And these practitioners–midwives, chiropractors, herbalists, body treatments such as Bowen and shiatsu, nutrition counselors–will improve the health of Americans AND lower costs.
Other German friends were complaining that insurance wasn’t paying 100 percent of a three-week spa stay for an elderly woman who was the sole caregiver for her husband suffering from alzheimer’s. Insurance was paying for a one-month stay (perhaps longer) for him in a nursing home, and giving the caregiver/wife a health treatment at the spa in the nearby mountains. I just shook my head in disbelief that they were disgruntled with this care, which is unheard of in the U.S.
This is wellness for all, and it’s the expectation of the Germans and the French.
Salud!
Beverly A. Jensen, Ph.D.
President, http://www.WomensMedicineBowl.com
