Before I got married, I talked to my would be husband about home birth. Since I am a born-again Christian, I knew I would have to submit to this man once we were married. I wanted to make sure he was okay with home birth. Having a baby in the hospital would have been a traumatic experience for me. I also knew that home would be the safest and gentlest place to have my baby. He knew a midwife and was fine with the idea of birthing at home.
After we married and then got pregnant, we told people we were going to have a home birth. Not all reactions were positive. A relative said to me. "What if you die?" I don't remember what I said to her. She was an R.N. and the thought of home birth made her nervous.
If you think about that statement, it shows a few things about most peoples mindset towards birth. 1. There is a lot of ignorance and fear surrounding birth. Just a lot of "what if's." 2. Most people believe birth to be a dangerous event, best handled by medical professionals in a hospital. Birth can be dangerous, but so is driving in a car. There are real dangers in giving birth in a hospital. There are also dangers for home born babies.
Doctors cause birth injuries. Babies have lost an eye ( I met a man who lost his eye at birth because of forceps used by a doctor), and some babies have lost their life(vacuum extractors, on rare occasions have crushed a baby’s skull. ) Babies born at home can die from undiagnosed placenta previa, and shoulder distocia (when the shoulders get stuck after the head is out. However sometimes a mother getting into hands and knees position can help the baby out, along with grabbing the armpit of baby and rotating him out. ) Babies also just die sometimes and there are stillborn babies in hospitals and at home.
But most babies are born fine. Babies are incredibly resiliant. Home birth is not inherantly dangerous. To me home birth is exciting, thrilling. and precious. I feel safe and private at home.
There shouldn't be this knee-jerk reaction to condemn anyone who has a homebirth. Part of the problem is a fear based medical system. Hospitals often neglect evidence based medicine and replace it with convenience based medicine. Having a woman birth on her back isn't evidence based. It's just convenient for the doctors. What is the evidence supporting women wearing hospital gowns, episiotomies, 33% C-section rates?
It would benefit so many families, if women and men would consider giving birth at home. But part of that is taking responsibility for your own baby and your own body. If you're not willing to birth at home, midwives in the hospital have much better stats than OBGYN’S do.
Please.... just think about it.
Fun stuff to check out:
evidencebasedbirth.com
Why home birth is 1000 times safer than hospital birth for low risk women ...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DO-OqnqfHQ2Q&ved=0ahUKEwjxjI7_1pjOAhWESyYKHTK8AK8QtwIIITAB&usg=AFQjCNEypt_TUsg-no0tvQmBpeSPhrOe1w&sig2=uvht9GsGRMB8O6d4aEtjsQ
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/why-homebirth-1000-times-safer-hospital-birth-low-risk-us-women
Home Birth: Why This Doctor Would Still Choose One - Aviva Romm
http://avivaromm.com/choosing-home-birth
Books:
"Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" - Ina May Gaskin
"Gentle Birth Gentle Mothering" - Dr. Sarah Buckley This is a great book!
