24/07/2022
A complete guide to the options available when planning out your maternity care. The key is understanding your own philosophy and then fitting everything else around your care provider and location choices.
First think about where YOU sit on the medication spectrum and THEN start aligning this with your choices of care provider and location.
The further you slide across the spectrum the more medical your care becomes and the more likely you are to be exposed to unnecessary/routine interventions throughout your care. The further you move along the medicalisation spectrum the closer you are to a hospital and rapid medical attention.
If your dream birth involves early hospital admission, pharmaceutical pain relief, elective induction or caesarean and an extended stay in hospital then you might feel more comfortable with an obstetrician in hospital
if your intention is to have a vaginal birth with as few interventions as possible, midwifery care would be better suited and as far away from a hospital as you feel safe
Once you understand where you sit on the spectrum, choose a care provider and location that also aligns with your personal needs and philosophy. Choosing a care provider and location that doesn’t align with your preferences creates a barrier to you getting what you wanted from your birth. It’s your responsibility to make the choices that create the best opportunity for your needs and desires to be met…
This is a place to start when planning care that will feel most satisfying in the end.
