Doctors attending home births?

[Greaseball]

A while back on the "What kind of birth did you have" poll, a few people said they had a homebirth attended by a naturopath or chiropractor.

Is this common? Would most naturopaths and chiropractors do this? Do you have to be a regular patient of theirs first, or can you just look one up when you are pregnant and ask them if they will serve as a "midwife?"

If anyone here has had a homebirth like that, care to comment?

Also, why a chiropractor?

[Faith]

Well, if I remember the details right... My Dr. (who had her children at home) used to attend homebirths, until the insurance got too high. Now she has CNMs that do it and I think she might pop in.

My chiropractor (who also had her baby at home) attends homebirths. She adjusts the moms in labor, and the babies after birth. She also is becoming a Bradley instructor, and might even become a midwife someday.
I think she would attend your birth even if you weren't a patient.

[pamamidwife]

In my state, naturopathic physicians attend births. Some of them call themselves midwives, but their training is a bit different than what most midwives receive. They take formal obstetrics courses through the naturopathic school. They are a bit more medically minded (many carry vacuum extractors, etc.), but it suits some families very well.

I have heard of some chiropractors attending births here, but it was mostly in the late 70s/early 80s when homebirth was more uncommon - and finding a midwife was harder.

I currently have a client now who is a family practice physician in a small town. His wife is pregnant (first baby) and they wanted to have a midwife-attended homebirth. Years ago, he would do homebirths with another local midwife for his patients that couldnt' afford to go to the hospital. I have another friend of mine that is a family practice doc here in town that had a homebirth herself.

There is that practice in Chicago that has doctors attending homebirths, but don't get me started on that. (Too political - and it's not just because they're MDs....egads...perhaps one should just read my diary!)

[theyogamama]

I had an ND at my second son's birth. I wanted (expected) a homebirth. However, it's illegal in Arizona for midwives to attend (or, even be present at) VBAC homebirths. Even if I could find a midwife who would attend, I couldn't afford to pay. So, I found a very midwife-y ND who's on my insurance plan.

She's very non-medical. Since I lost a bunch of blood after the birth (I really need to post the birth story), she brought me chinese herbs and made 3 postnatal home visits. My first office visit was at one month postpartum.


Namaste,
Alex

[miriam]

I had Doctor Nial B. Ettinghausen, DNP, DC at my first two births. His fine midwife attended my second two births after he died. He taught obstetrics at the Glendale Chiropractic College. My Father had been one of his students and was hired to labor sit with some of his clients in the 1950's. The Chiropractic license did not allow him to deliver babies. The DNP license did, which is no longer issued in CA.

He lost his DNP license in 1981-2, after having a successful homebirth practice since 1938. He died in 1983.

There was also a Dr. Hai Abdul MD who moved to Hawaii in 1982; a Dr Lynn Schober DC who must have retired by now.

Usually the Chiropractor has additional training or another license to allow him/her to attend natural births, or they are backing up a midwife in some capacity.