When it comes to giving birth, you want the best team possible to help you through the process. However, the best team changes depending on your situation and needs, which is why we are now seeing a shift from OBGYNs to midwives. Here’s a look at why midwives are starting to make a big comeback in the birthing process.
Birth Where You Want
A huge benefit to midwives is their ability to travel with you to wherever you want to give birth. A normal doctor needs to stay in a hospital and normally won’t make a house call for a birth unless it’s an emergency. However, midwives make house calls all the time, which was particularly beneficial to mothers who gave birth during the height of the pandemic.
Decrease in Pregnancy Risks
One of the biggest differences between midwives and OBs is their training and medical access. Doctors became the standard for a long time because they could help with risky pregnancies, saving both mothers and children. However, the chances of complications during pregnancy are lower now than they were previously, making it more possible for midwives to aid in pregnancies without predicted complications.
Lowered Cost of Pregnancy
Giving birth in a hospital is expensive, and some doctors charge a lot more than others. However, midwives are growing in popularity because they help offset that cost by enabling the mother to deliver outside a hospital. Plus, they cost less per birth, especially when you consider the different types of midwives.
Downturn in Medical Access
Another reason for the sudden surge in popularity of midwives is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During the height of the pandemic, hospitals were full of patients for months, making it very difficult to access their services and even a bit dangerous to do so due to the number of infected people being treated. Many parents made the switch to midwives because of the obstacles of going to the hospital.
So, using a midwife for childbirth is much more common nowadays than it was just a few years ago, and this popularity isn’t ending anytime soon. More and more people are looking into midwives for their own childbirth as time goes on.
