The Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey: My Answers

• Over at PhD in Parenting they are discussing the results of the Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey. and Ann Douglas at the Mother of All Parenting Blogs who was analyzing the data from the survey wanted to do a follow-up to the results by asking a few extra questions. So Annie at PhD in Parenting asked her readers to comment or post their answers to Ann’s questions and these are mine:

• How much choice did you have when it came to finding a prenatal care provider? Lots of choice? Or was the choice made for you?

I am very fortunate to have a family doctor who is a Chinese Medicine Doctor and Acupucturist as well as a regular Western Medicine Doctor (she’s one of a kind, not everyone out here in BC is so lucky). However, she doesn’t do obstetrics. I found this out on the day I went in to tell her I was pregnant and to tell her also that despite her excellence as a doctor I wanted a midwife to deliver my baby. She laughed and told me she couldn’t help me anyway and gave me her blessing to receive midwifery care. I don’t remember how I came to the decison to have midwifery care. But at that time I had heard they were the best care providers to deliver babies.

In British Columbia midwives are covered under our provincial health insurance and there were a slew of them to choose from on southern Vancouver Island. I found a midwife duo close to home whom I loved and used for my first and second births. 

I also had a doula for my first birth and interviewed about six doulas in my area before choosing the one I did.

• Where did you go for information when you were pregnant?

For my first pregnancy I relied on my midwives for most of my information and read books from their library based on their recommendations. My favorites were Ina May Gaskin’s Spiritual Midwifery and Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. On my own I bought What To Expect When You Are Expecting and Birthing From Within. I also relied on the advice of friends with whom  I shared parenting values. 

For my second pregnancy I re-read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and Birthing From Within. Because of a planned homebirth after cesarean (HBAC) and the controversy that surrounds this kind of birth I thoroughly educated myself in order to support my decision based on internet resources, midwife textbook photocopies, conversations with other women who had successful HBACs and I read the VBAC Companion: the expectant mother’s guide to vaginal birth after cesarean by Diane Korte. (You can find her book on my list of Amazon recommendations). I also recommended this book to my midwives to keep on their shelves. Even though it was written in 1997 it was the best printed information I had read that was available to the general public. I had also attended numerous La Leche League meetings by the time I got pregnant the second time and so I had ample support and even more information than the first time around.

• Did you know about the importance of taking folic acid prior to conceiving? Had you heard about the new research about the role folic acid can play in preventing preterm birth (if you take it one year before becoming pregnant)?

I knew about the importance of taking folic acid prior to conceiving but under the impression that it was more important to take it during pregnancy. I didn’t take folic acid or prenatal vitamins before conceiving either one of my children, but I maintained a healthy well balanced diet so I felt like I was in the clear. I mean, what did mothers do before prenatal vitamins were invented? They ate healthy foods! I generally steer away from junk food, so like I said, I felt like everything would be okay, and it was.

• Did you feel you had adequate choice in terms of a place to give birth? Did you wish you had more options?

The only choice missing for me was a birthing center because there aren’t any near where I live. However, my choice was to birth at home, so that was okay with me. I ended up having a cesarean birth the first time and because midwives in BC have hospital priveledges my midwife was with me the whole time and I still think of her as the one who helped deliver my baby, even though of course it was the OBGYN. I think it is safe to say my midwife helped to deliver me through that situation.

Women who want to have a water birth need to rent a special tub and do it at home around here, but I have heard of many women who say they would love to have a water birth if the option was available at the hospital because they are reluctant to birth that way at home. All in all I feel like I had adequate options. And I really do count my blessings here on the west coast.

Related posts:

1. My Maternity Leave Stories (Or How We Sold Our House So I Could Be A Stay-At-Home-Mom)
2. Would Hannah Rosin Have Made A “Case Against Breastfeeding” If She Was Canadian?
3. Bravado Breastfeeding Information Council ~ A Survey for All Moms
4. Reglan or Domperidone Users Needed For On-Line Survey
5. Canadian Breastfeeding Protection Petition

Tags: Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey, homebirth, midwifery care, pregnancy, prenatal