Prevalence and Predictors of Postpartum Cosleeping Practices after Midwife-Led Births in the US.

Objective: To evaluate patterns of mother-infant sleeping behaviors among US-based mothers who received care from midwives and breastfed their infants the majority of time at 6 weeks postpartum.

Study Design: Infant sleep locations were reported for 24 915 mother-infant dyads followed through 6 weeks postpartum, following midwife-led singleton births. Using data derived from medical records, we used multinomial logistic regression to identify predictors of sleep location.

Factors affecting third-stage management and postpartum hemorrhage in planned midwife-led home and birth center births in the United States.

Background: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a potential childbirth complication. Little is known about how third-stage labor is managed by midwives in the United States, including use of uterotonic medication during community birth. Access to uterotonic medication may vary based on credentials of the midwife or state regulations governing midwifery.

Cesarean Birth Regret and Dissatisfaction: A Qualitative Approach.

Background: The most consistently noted difference between unplanned cesarean and vaginal births is patient dissatisfaction or regret. This has been explored in multiple quantitative studies. However, the causes of this dissatisfaction remain elusive as a result of the limitations of survey instruments that restrict possible choices.

Homebirth as systems-challenging praxis: knowledge, power, and intimacy in the birthplace.

In this article, I examine the processes and motivations involved when women in the United States choose to circumvent the dominant obstetric care paradigm by delivering at home with a group of care providers called direct-entry midwives. Using grounded theory, participant observation, and open-ended, semistructured interviewing, I collected and analyzed homebirth narratives from a theoretical sample of women (n = 50) in two research locales. Findings interpreted from the perspective of critical medical anthropology suggest that women who choose to birth at home negotiate fears associated with the "just in case something bad happens" argument that forms the foundation for hospital birth rationales through complex individual and social processes.