Childbirth - Topics

Is a home birth with a midwife as safe as a hospital birth? Why does the cesarean rate vary so much from hospital to hospital? Does a birth plan survive contact with real labor? How long is too long for the pushing stage? Why are midwife-led birth centers closing in rural counties? Can you refuse an episiotomy or other routine interventions? How much of maternal mortality comes from postpartum hemorrhage? How does a midwife differ from a doula and an OB? How has pain relief in childbirth changed over the past century? How did obstetrics push midwives out of the hospital? What happens in the first hour after birth? Why is pelvic floor therapy suddenly everywhere? Why do Black women in the US die in childbirth at several times the rate of white women? Why do so many women tear during delivery and how is it repaired? Why are so many inductions scheduled before the due date? How do midwives handle a labor that stalls at home? What does a midwife do during labor that an obstetrician does not? Perinatal depression and how long it really lasts What does a doula actually change about birth? Is an epidural safe and what do you trade off? What are the real signs that labor has started? What actually happens in each stage of labor?