| Midwives Model of Care |
Medical Model of Care |
| Definition: |
Definition: |
• Birth is a social event, a normal part of a woman's life.
• Birth is the work of the woman and her family.
• The woman is a person experiencing a life-transforming event. |
• Childbirth is a potentially pathological process.
• Birth is the work of doctors, nurses, midwives and other experts.
• The woman is a patient. |
| Definition: |
Definition: |
• Home or other familiar surroundings.
• Informal system of care.
|
• Hospital, unfamiliar territory to the woman
• Bueaucratic, hierarchical system of care |
| Definition: |
Definition: |
• See birth as a holistic process
• Shared decision-making between caregivers and birthing woman
• No class distinction between birthing women and caregivers
• Equal relationship
• Information shared with an attitude of personal caring.
• Longer, more in-depth prenatal visits
• Often strong emotional support
• Familiar language and imagery used
• Awareness of spiritual significance of birth
• Believes in integrity of birth, uses technology if appropriate and proven |
• Trained to focus on the medical aspects of birth
• "Professional" care that is authoritarian
• Often a class distinction between obstetrician and patients
• Dominant-subordinate relationship
• Information about health, disease and degree of risk not shared with the patient adequately.
• Brief, depersonalized care
• Little emotional support
• Use of medical language
• Spiritual aspects of birth are ignored or treated as embarrassing
• Values technology, often without proof that it improves birth outcome |
