By ESTHER COVINGTO
Utah Midwives will be celebrating May 10, a day Governor Mike Leavitt has declared Midwives Day. The governor signed a proclamation in their honor because of the significant role midwives have played in Utah's history.
Melody Pendleton, president of the Utah Midwives Association, said midwives were instrumental in assisting pioneer women. 'Often there were no doctors around and so it was the midwife's responsibility to assist with childbirth,' she said. 'In the times of the pioneers, being a midwife was a church calling.'
Today, being a midwife is a choice, not a calling, said Pendleton. Utah currently has 65 certified midwives.
Becoming a midwife requires three to four years of schooling and training, Pendleton said. Pendleton did her schooling at the Utah School of Midwifery in Pleasant Grove, taking biology and herbal medicine courses. In addition to schooling, a training midwife must attend and assist with 50 live births and administer pre-natal care to women.
Midwives aid in approximately 2 percent of all Utah births. Most of these births are in the home, although several women choose to have the baby in a hospital with only the midwife assisting, Pendleton said.
'Women choose to use midwives for several reasons,' she said. 'Many women have had a bad experience with a doctor or hospital. Others can't afford a hospital birth. And some just don't like to be hooked up to an intravenous. They want natural childbirth.'
Midwives assist pregnant women throughout the nine-month pregnancy. 'During the pregnancy, we focus on proper nutrition and diet. If a woman is healthy during the pregnancy, usually the child will be healthy too,' Pendleton said.
Midwifery focuses on herbal medicine. 'I have found herbs are as strong a sedative as the drugs the hospital uses,' Pendleton said. Four of Pendleton's eight children were born under a midwife's care and she said they were her most comfortable pregnancies.
Pendleton said she prefers home births over hospital births. 'There is a special spirit in the home when a baby is born. It's a calm and peaceful feeling.'
A Utah midwife birth costs approximately $750. Those interested in using a midwife's care or becoming a midwife can call Pendleton at 489-7206