Guest Post Toni- Birth or Deliver, that is the question

From Kellie: When I was getting to know Toni and learning all this birthin and midwifery business I noticed she said things like "I was at a birth yesterday..." or "one time at this birth a mom...."  and I thought it sounded weird. When a baby be born (LOL) I had always heard it referred to as a "delivery".  Being the super sly female that I am, I figured out she was being very deliberate in her usage of the word "birth" so I asked her to elaborate on that in a guest post......

Birth or Delivery, So What’s the Difference

So do you want your baby delivered or do you want to give birth to your baby? What difference does it make? It’s just words right?

Well, I think our words are important. 

I am frequently asked "who delivered your babies?".  My response is "I gave birth to my own babies myself".  The truth is, my first baby was actually delivered by an OB in a hospital. He cut a third degree episiotomy and used forceps to pull her out of my body. That is a delivery.

The rest of my seven babies were birthed without drugs or mechanical devices to assist with them to come out. They were birthed.

So to explain this I want to use some definitions from sources we know.

Merriam- Webster says:

Birth –

1) the emergence of a new individual from the body of its parent

2) the act or process of bringing forth young from the womb

Deliver

1)      to set free

2)     a) To take and hand over to or leave for another

      b) hand over / surrender

3)     a) to assist in giving birth or to aid in the birth of

b) to give birth to

c) to cause to produce as if by giving birth

From Wikipedia:

A vaginal delivery is the birth of offspring (babies in humans) in mammals through the vagina.  The average length of a hospital stay for a normal vaginal delivery is 36–48 hours or with an episiotomy (a surgical cut to widen the vaginal canal) is 48–60 hours, whereas a C-section is 72–108 hours.   Different types of vaginal deliveries have different terms:

• A spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) occurs when a pregnant female goes into labor without the use of drugs or techniques to induce labor, and delivers her baby in the normal manner, without forceps, vacuum extraction, or a cesarean section.

• An assisted vaginal delivery (AVD) occurs when a pregnant female goes into labor (with or without the use of drugs or techniques to induce labor), and requires the use of special instruments such as forceps or a vacuum extractor to deliver her baby vaginally.

• An instrumental vaginal delivery (IVD) is another term for an assisted vaginal delivery.

• An induced vaginal delivery (also IVD) is a term for a delivery involving labor induction, where drugs or manual techniques are used to initiate the process of labor. Use of the term "IVD" in this context is less common than for instrumental vaginal delivery.

• A normal vaginal delivery (NVD) is a term for a vaginal delivery, whether or not assisted or induced, usually used in statistics or studies to contrast with a delivery by cesarean section.

Note: Use of the term IVD is best avoided because of its duplicate meanings.

  

So, let’s talk about the process of birth. If you want a natural birth then you are wanting to labor and birth your baby, on your own, but hopefully with the support of a midwife or your doctor. This is best done at your home or a birth center. It is very hard to have a birth that is not intervened with at the hospital.

Based on the definitions of Wikipedia midwives only do SVD, spontaneous vaginal delivery.

If you want a typical obstetrical delivery then you will be looking at using a doctor and delivering in the hospital.  That is their specialty, what they trained for. Doctors and labor and delivery nurse are comfortable delivering babies. That is what they do!

I have heard doctors talk about delivery and if the baby comes out the vagina it is referred to as a “delivery down below”! As a c-section is not down below, just a different place of exit for the baby, but still a delivery.

On the other hand, midwives tell mothers “you can do this! you can push your baby out!”  It is the mothers work to birth their baby. The midwife is there to support, encourage and keep a watchful eye on mother and baby to ensure their well being.

So when you are pregnant one of the first decisions you need to make is to decide if you want to birth your baby or if you want it to be delivered.  Then you will be in a better place to decide where and with whom you want to have your baby. ~Toni