She is a trained midwife and co-founder of Birth India, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that seeks to support women through informed conception, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. “I wanted to have a normal birth,” says Ramya Thomas, a new mother who is currently on a break from work. A recently published Cochrane review that sought to compare midwife lead continuity models of care with others suggested that women who opted for a midwife experienced more spontaneous vaginal births, fewer early miscarriages and more birth satisfaction. A trained midwife is different from a traditional birth attendant or a dai, cautions Idicula. “A midwife has gone through a specific college-based, medical education and is authorized to use life-saving drugs, administer intravenous medication, etc.,” she says.

Source: Mint June 11, 2016 17:48 UTC