A Healthy Delivery for You and Your Baby
Planning a healthy delivery for a mother and her baby starts long before the contractions begin and much earlier than when she starts packing her suitcase for the hospital
KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is empowering. Joanne M. Bailey, Ph.D., C.N.M., director, Nurse Midwifery Service, University of Michigan Health System (UMHS), says, "It helps women to be well informed about the choices each individual women has available to her. Women should know their pain management options, have a plan for coping with contractions, and be familiar with relaxation techniques before they go into labor." Women also benefit from understanding how labor progresses. There are some predictable milestones that women will be able to recognize during labor.Once a woman is educated about her choices, she can write down her preferences as part of her Birth Plan. That information will be shared with her care team.
CHOICES
Some moms who want a "natural" birth are concerned that delivering in a hospital will restrict their options. In fact, at UMHS, women are able to have a birth with minimal interventions if that is what they want. Conversely, they have all of the options for pain medication available to them. Women whose babies are delivered by nurse midwives are given all of the same options as other patients. Bailey says, "We look at all of the interventions as tools on our shelf. We take them down as needed to meet the unique needs of each woman."SUPPORT
At UMHS the delivery nurses are a constant support for women in labor. Bailey credits U-M birth center nurses for taking labor and delivery care to an even higher level including increased education about breastfeeding support and comfort care. Nurses used to ask women to rate their pain. Now, instead of focusing on pain, the nurses ask patients their comfort level and how nurses can support them to increase their comfort.If a mom chooses to hire a doula, someone who provides non-medical support during labor and the birth, that decision is also supported. "Here at U-M, doulas are very welcome," says Bailey. She repeats a well-known quote, "If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it." Research has shown that births with doulas have fewer interventions, fewer cesareans, and fewer complications.
Individualized Plans
The care team has individualized plans unique to each woman. Bailey says, "The joy of giving birth at the U-M is you have the full range of choices." She says a woman can have a normal vaginal birth with support and no medical interventions, and patients still benefit from having all of the resources easily available if complications arise.NEW HOSPITAL
If possible, women like to be upright, walking, and moving during the early stages of labor. Starting in November, 2011 they will have an even nicer location with beautiful views of the arboretum, when the new Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital opens. Bailey says it will be a beautiful, peaceful setting for women to labor.Bailey offers a reminder that the majority of women have completely normal vaginal births. Don't get caught up in negative stories. She says, "Women don't hear enough about the normalcy of birth."
Are you expecting? Find out about more about your options for delivery at the Women's Birthing Center website.
See the list of certified nurse midwives and doctors.
Read more about the Von Voightlander Women's Hospital opening in 2011.
