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I don't get why all of you uc birthers keep posting anonymously, but for the person who just posted and claimed that the majority will never give birth alone, I have to disagree with her assesment.
We are fast approaching a time when the medical powers that be are going to implode. It is already happening in coutries like England where medicine has been socialized for the past few decades.
Because medical science has been so pig headed and monopolistic about shutting midwifery care out of birth in America, families like mine have had to really take a hard look at what they are selling and decide if we wanted to spend our precious time, financial resources, and put our childrens bodies on the alter of modern medicine all because of fear based tactics and "scientific studies and statistics".
I really appreciate the first hand account of someone like Dr. Garner who has shared the fact that he tried to educate the big medical journals about linkage with drugged births leading to drug dependence in later life and was shut out of the conversation by his studies not being taken seriously.
It would seem to me, given the drug problems in America especially, that a group of people who have as their mandate and mantra, "First do no harm" would at least take a look at his claims and then do some serious research. I lived with a drug addicted brother all during my teens and it was an eye opening experience to say the least. Just considering all of the people he victimized in his quest to purchase drugs, the many crimes, lockups, and money stolen from our family and friends, it just further clarifys to me that if there is a link between birth drugs and later drug addiction, we as a society should be doing some major research and take on the task to change birth practices. The epidural rates are really high right now.
As for the claim that Home birthing mothers are arrogant and feel smug and self righteous towards moms who give birth in the hospital, I just have to respond. I would not have taken on the task of weaning our family from medical care if I did not believe it was a better choice for us. I can't control how other moms respond to that choice. The friends in my day to day life don't seem to be fazed by it and one of my best friends has told me privately she thinks I do a good job of not shoving my beliefs about natural family living on our group of mostly medical minded friends or shaming them for choices made during birth.
I go out of my way to not talk about my birth activism with the people in my day to day life and would suppose that over 60% of our friends, neighbors, and those in our church congregaton are not even aware that I am a birth activist or even gave birth unassisted at home to our last two babies after doing my own prenatal care.
I see our society evolving over the next few generations to a community of people that live in health and wholeness together. Using evidence based care when making parenting decisions. And I predict that the day will come when those same members of our posterity down the road, look back on our day and shudder in horror at how off the mark we were in terms of what we called health care.
Jenny Hatch
