Homebirth IS Safe

[CTRedSoxMom]

There has been so much controversy over home birth being safe since The Business of Being Born made home birth a mainstream topic, especially after the ACOG stepped in basically attempting to bash the amazing Ms. Ricki Lake for her stand.
No, the ACOG is just pissed off because more women opting for home births is only going to take money out of their pocket in the end. They are a big business. They do not genuinely care about women or their health. They care about their providers and liability.
Which is really sad, because the whole real mainstream OB/GYN community is so deathly afraid of being sued that they are making birth choices, and medical choices for legal reasons, not because they are good, or best for these laboring mothers.

Maybe that I why I basically will not see another OB/GYN in my life unless I really have a *NEED* to. My first birth experience sucked, I had the typical obstetrician care, crappy rushed office visits, first time mom jitters, midnight calls to the on call, by the end of my pregnancy I swear my OB/GYN secretly hated me and wanted to stick it to me any way that she could.
That pregnancy ended up in an unnecessary induction, which in turn ended in an unnecessary cesarean section after a mere 7 hours of labor with pitocin. Which is not long at all.
No distress, not need, just an OB/GYN in a rush to get home for dinner, and she was. My son was born at 4:37pm and then home she went.

Now for my second, I never in a million years would have gone back to OB/GYN care. I interviewed midwives, and the difference in care was like out of this world. I had 45 minute long appointments with my midwife, and she talked, cared, and still to this day, I e-mail with her. She is a genuine good person, concerned for her patients, and not worried about who might turn around and sue her.

Now that I got totally off topic, today I was e-mailed this great article from Quality Health about the safety of Home Birth. Which really has confirmed what the real birth community (I say REAL birth meaning the non mainstream medical society) that home birth, for low risk pregnant women, it just as safe as having a hospital birth.

First things first. Being in your own home brings a comfort level, that is essential while in labor. If you are comfortable, your body will be relaxed. When you are in the hospital, with all these machines strapped to you, IV's, pings, pops, beeps, and random strangers walking in to check on you, it obviously isn't the most comfortable place on earth.

Second, in the hospital you are at their mercy, what their "policies" are for your birth. You are put on a conveyor belt and put through a one size fits all system. Nothing personal about you, your birth, or your pregnancy. Which we all know is not the way birth should be. Every woman is so different that trying to treat them all the same way can be deadly.

Third, You will end up with interventions that you do not want when in a hospital. You are put on a time limit. On the clock. Its been 12 hours, ooohhh now we need to start some pitocin because you are not progressing like the Doctor wants. Well what about the mom? What if she is progressing at just the rate she wants to?
And God forbid you try and disagree with the hospital staff! You will be backed into a corner and basically verbally assaulted in some cases.

So now back to the article ....

"Low-risk women should be encouraged to plan their birth at the place of their preference, provided the maternity care system is well equipped to underpin women's choice," Dr. A. de Jonge, from TNO Quality of Life, Leiden, the Netherlands, and co-researchers note in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology."

The Netherlands! A country with lower maternal and infant death rates than The United States! Amazing, they must be doing something right huh?
Why don't we start following their standard of care? That's right!
Because it wouldn't be a big money making system like it is here in The United States.

That is what it all boils down to.
Money.
They almighty dollar is what The United States revolves around.

[Mrs.BAT]

Aug. 5, 2009 at 9:41 PM

Sorry, one sweet pea just wasn't enough lol. Anyway, this is exactly what I've been saying for years! I'm almost 20 years old and just had my first baby last October. I was devastated when I found out that I wasn't going to be able to have ahome birth because a midwife assisted on is illegal in my state (or at least was) and I didn't have health insurance, so I had to get medicaid. My experience was terrible. I won't go into details here, but what you said about your doctor reminded me a lot of mine. She was really good, as far as OBs go, but she didn't compare to midwives. I'm actually hoping to get back in college soon and I intend to become a midwife. We're hoping to move to TN (we're in VA now) before I get pregnant again so that I can at least have a midwife and home birth. I'm really hoping for a birth on the Farm with Ina May or at least one of the other midwives there. It seems like hardly anyone I talk to believes that you can give birth at home safely. Or even in a hospital without interventions. I refused to take the pitocin my doctor ordered for me. I ended up asking for an epidural after being in labor for about 68 hours. I didn't realize I was so close to pushing, and by the time they got it in I was literally sitting on my daughter's head. They got me turned on the bed, the epi never worked (thank Goddess!), and by the time my doctor got in the room her head was crowning. I pushed for like 3 minutes and out she popped. Then was immediately pulled away from me the second the cord was cut. It was terrible. Anyway, kudos for this post and I voted it popular. May many women see this and be enlightned. Blessings!

[EastHighlandMom]

Sep. 20, 2009 at 2:40 PM

You are right that it boils down to the almighty dollar. The unfortunate thing missing from your story is that ten percent of infants require resuscitation and 1 percent require extensive resucitation. Most people do not have a clue that their baby is going to need resuscitation. That being said, I am all for letting people birth at home if they have the medical expertise to resuscitate their infant after delivery. To deliver your infant at home is great as long as you are capable and prepared for medical emergencies that could affect a precious newborn.

[CTRedSoxMom]

Sep. 20, 2009 at 6:53 PM

East, where did you get those statistics?

(Original Poster)