In San Diego the C-section rate is between 25-40%, and as Lendon Smith MD stated in the Feb 97 issue of ‘Let’s Live’ on Breast-fed Babies “the rate of home births that end up as a C-section is less than 10%.” and he also stated that the breast-fed babies had slightly higher IQs than the formula-fed babies.

Give your babies a better chance and a good start, with breastfeeding, higher APGAR scores, and less unnecessary medical intervention (before and after birth).

Midwifery care focuses on birth as a natural process. Midwives provide a holistic, preventative approach to the childbearing year. We encourage mothers to take responsibility for their own health and take an active role in their prenatal care. Our common goal is to keep mom and baby healthy so they remain in the low-risk category necessary for home birth. Excellent nutrition, natural therapies such as herbs, homeopathy, yoga, visualization/relaxation techniques, and emotional and spiritual support can prevent complications from ever developing 90-95% of the time.

Continuity of care throughout pregnancy and labor combined with a familiar relaxed environment contributes greatly to the low rate of complications in labor and birth with midwife attended homebirths. The more relaxed and comfortable a laboring woman is the more endorphin and opiate release naturally occurs, which greatly reduces her experience of pain.

As Dr. Michel Odent states “The pain of childbirth is eliminated when the birth hormones function efficiently. This occurs when the mother is relaxed and secure and not interrupted or distracted in her labor. Then the body’s painkillers, the endorphins, flow as a package, directing birth. Neurohormones with morphine-like functions, those endogenous opiates, not only protect against pain, but also suppress anxiety and induce feelings of well-being” (Birth Reborn from The Complete mother, Fall l997).

Of course, the incredible technology that we now have available, when needed for us is a life saver. The same technology, when over-used inappropriately, can cause more problems than it solves. Global statistics prove this, WHO (The World Health Organization) keeps yearly records of infant mortality and morbidity worldwide. The USA’s place on this list varies each year from 22nd to 28th in the worldwide infant mortality rate. This information is extremely significant in demonstrating how more technology, just because it exists doesn’t necessarily equal improved outcomes. It is interesting to note that the countries with the lower infant mortality rates utilize midwifery care for 75% of their births.