How would you feel about having a male midwide

[Lardlizard]

Just interested in the points of view

Yes, I've already apologied for that if you'd read on...

Second what pinkgloves said.

The profession is highly regulated and midwifery is a postgrad qualification on top of your BS in Nursing which takes four years of university (BSN). Some midwives have doctorates (about 5% of midwives).

Midwives in the US are qualified to attend at pain regulated births.

Though I cringe a little at the term 'pain regulated' because pharmacological pain relief is a choice.

I had one
Was a bit at first. Actually he was fantastic

My midwife was Male for my first son he was absolutely fantastic - I nominated him for a prize that the hospital ran. He was utterly brilliant, and won said prize and has also won a national award for midwifery. He helped amazingly with breast feeding too. I had no issues and he was so good at his job. Rather a good Male than a crap female. It's posts like these which keep men out of Male caring roles - nursing, nursery nurses etc! Men are good too!

Also no one would bat an eyelid if you were bleeding to death in labour and a Male doctor walked in the room!

Also no one would bat an eyelid if you were bleeding to death in labour and a Male doctor walked in the room!

There is a world of difference between bleeding to death and needing urgent help, and having a male community midwife turn up on your doorstep in order to inspect your stitches.

I wouldn't care if the best midwife in the world was a man, I would still feel intimidated by him.

First of all in response to earlier poster who chortled at the idea of anyone going through years of training just to access their target victim - paediatric junior dr recently convicted of accessing child sex abuse images of the worst type - presume he will be struck off. Minimal 5 years university, then 2-7 years as junior doctor. Some people will go to any lengths and this should not be ignored. Other medical professionals have also been struck off for similar abuses of children and or women.
I would not presume any male midwife had anything other than honourable intentions - any more than any man. But men do pose significant risks to women.

In addition a labouring woman feeling fear or embarrassment may stop contracting altogether. This is very well recognised and I’m sure lots of the mums on here will have experienced this. For a significant number of women this could be triggered simply by the presence of a male in the room.
For those having assisted deliveries with a male doctor this is less of a problem as they will be able to do instrumental delivery or section. This is not the case with male midwives. In fact for these women a male midwife is likely to increase the likelihood of them requiring medical intervention

As others have pointed out it’s not just about delivery. A male community midwife might mean a woman does not disclose her history of domestic violence (due to mistrust of males as a result of her abuse), she may be less likely to talk about breastfeeding problems or incontinence postnatally.

For those on this thread saying they simply can’t understand why a woman would not want a male midwife then my advice would be to read the thread and try to develop just a smigeon of empathy before posting any more offensive, minimising nonsense

Your GP could turn up for a home visit if you needed one and be Male!

There is a need for male GPs though.

I would like to see statistics on the inhibition of labour that has been referenced here.

There's a need for midwives in the NHS and a need for nurses (also a predominantly female role)! There's a desperate shortage of both professions in this country. Plus a GP shortage too!

Read any book on natural labour math. Women who are stressed can stop contracting. I doubt there will be any RCTs on it as it’s not nearly interesting enough for anyone (obstetrics) to look at but it’s the whole point of having midwife units. A ‘more comfortable/ homely’ environment to make women feel more at ease. Ditto water births, help women relax.
Compared to labour ward which is fully medicalised (obviously) to allow closer monitoring/ assistance etc.

It goes way back in culture and across other animal groups too. Natural births female only, males sent away etc

Perhaps they need to increase the pay for midwives and nurses.

At the time of giving birth I wouldn't have cared if it was a Labrador delivering my babies as long as they were trained.

I wouldn't mind, we see male doctors and nurses all the time these days anyway.

As I said, those 122 male midwives don’t half spread themselves about!

I'm curious to know how posters would feel about female Vs male health care assistants if they needed personal care?

It seems more normalised to have female only carers for females there so I wonder if the posters would feel the same as they do about midwives or if it's a different type of vulnerability.

Just because it's in a book doesn't mean it's true or backed by evidence.

Claims made without evidence undermine any given premise.

I would hope if these claims are made in books on natural birth that there are stats to back up the claims.

Well we can ignore the experience of hundreds/ thousands of women then math because it’s not in a book

Did you read my post re the purpose of midwife unit set up vs labour ward?? Do you think hospitals would bother doing this if it made no difference other than being a warm, cosy experience?? No way. It’s because there are better outcomes with fewer assisted deliveries in situations where a woman is less stressed

Before I gave birth I would of never considered a male midwife and even remember hoping I didn't have one. While giving birth, I couldn't have cared less. My favourite person in the world right then was the male anaethetist

Your GP could turn up for a home visit if you needed one and be Male!

But you already know your GP, or who the GPs in the practice are so it's not really the same. The community midwife is a complete stranger who appears on your doorstep the day after you get home from hospital. You don't know in advance who it's going to be, you can't decide in advance if you feel comfortable with them.

The total lack of reference to community midwives (and all the things they are responsible for, mostly done in your home) by so many posters in this thread boggles my mind.

Is it because op said midwife, not specifically community midwife? I thought of all of them (labour ward midwives and community manager midwives (who obviously see you at appointments in hospitals before birth too) but the majority of posters seem to refer only to birth/delivery.