Letters to the Editor
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There are additional options...
In addition to hospital and home births, there is a third option, which is a free standing (or hospital affiliated) birth center (www.birthcenters.org has listings of certified birth centers in the US). Birth centers are generally staffed by Certified Nurse Midwifes (CNMs), who have undergone extensive training and are typically located close to hospitals, in the event that complications arise which require the mother and/or baby to be transferred either before or after the delivery.
I delivered my first child at a hospital, but was attended by and received all prenatal care from a CNM at a birth center. I chose the hospital birth, mainly because I'd never had a baby before and wasn't confident enough in myself. In retrospect, I had a really good experience and could have delivered at the birth center. In fact, I am hoping to deliver my second child at a birth center later this year.
I have nothing against home births, but that isn't something I would choose to do. My mother delivered one of my brothers at home and also had two birth center births (plus me at the hospital, which inspired her to look into natural childbirth). She went on to get a nursing degree, to teach childbirth classes for many years, and to work for a midwife, assisting at births. I think she really thought her home birth was great. As an almost 8 year old at the time, I wasn't as impressed. That said, I mainly don't want to have a home birth because I don't have an assistant to clean up the mess. Maybe I'd feel differently if I did!
Regarding c-sections, I think they need to be divided into two topics: medically necessary c-sections (because mother or baby is in distress, because mother cannot deliver vaginally for some reason, etc.) and elective c-sections.
Medically necessary c-sections are a wonderful thing. They absolutely save lives. However, a c-section is major surgery with all the accompanying risks, and personally, I don't think that is sufficiently explained to women who elect surgical deliveries. Plus, despite the fact that VBACs (vaginal birth after c-section) are successful about 80% of the time, most doctors and many hospitals will no longer allow them due to fear of lawsuits if something goes wrong, which only increases the c-section rate.
Off the top of my head, I think the WHO has a target for nation-wide c-section rates set at 10-15%, while in the US, our c-section rate is around 30%. Additionally, the cost for a c-section is much higher than for a vaginal birth, so as someone who purchases health insurance for my company's employees, I see it as yet another reason (and by no means the only reason) that our health insurance costs (at my company) have increased over 350% in 10 years.
I absolutely believe that women should make their own decisions (with the assistance of trained medical professionals, whether doctors or midwives), but I'm personally not sure that convenience (for either the mother or the doctor/midwife) should be the most important factor in choosing how to give birth. Of course, I think everyone who has a baby (whether delivered vaginally, surgically, through adoption, etc.) learns very quickly that babies are very inconvenient little creatures.
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myword
We have this in the States, too, as I remarked previously. In between my kid's conception and birth, the economy crashed and I was reduced to working at Borders, so I happen to know this arrangement is available even to people on public assistance --in mean-hearted Texas, no less.
We didn't even have to have a nurse. Surfaces were mostly fabric, lighting was subdued, my wife squatted and grunted like a pygmie on an antpile. It was godly!
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Home Birthing IS Safer
rodian- Have you even read any studies comparing hospital births to home births? For low risk pregnancies (i.e. when the mother doesn't have a condition such as diabeties) infant mortality rates are lower and there are fewer complications. Just because you know of ONE person that had an unfortunate experience you project that on to all home births. It is this type of attitude that perpetuates the idea that midwifes are under-educated and incapable.
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Could we not just automatically assume that evil men are behind everything?
No wonder men are scared of women and try to contain this thing. Because that is a godly act I just saw!
I suppose that if you want to assume the worst possible motives out of all men, then yes, this kind of oppression is probably true. However, if you want to consider that a goodly number of women, not just children, died during home births from hemorrhage, infection, eclampsia and obstructed labour, I think we might see that to the average person at the time when hospital labor was being introduced, that having birth in a hospital where they could take care of you if something went wrong, was a good idea.
I'll agree that things have most likely deteriorated, and we could stand to bring some humanity back to the birthing process. But lets not rush to judgement and assume that scared men who want to repress the goddess within are to blame here. It was more likely scared men who didnt want to see their wives bleed to death in their homes.
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Home Birth vs Hospital Birth does not equal Natural Birth vs Drugged Birth or C-Section
I wanted a natural childbirth *in* a hospital, just in case. Many of my friends had homebirths, with healthy kids. One had to go to the hospital.
There are so many things that can go wrong. Childbirth IS a miracle. I wanted to be fully present and aware for that miracle. I did my research. I found a great hospital, that worked with Certified Nurse Midwives and Doulas, and promoted natural childbirth, breastfeeding, water birth, and hypno-birth. If something went wrong and I needed medical intervention, it was right there. No last minute rushing to the hospital, no risking my life or the baby's life.
You can have the best of both worlds! You just have to do the work and find it.
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The shaming of childbirth
My son was born after a 21-hour labor with a couple of hours of epidural at 6 a.m. after being in labor since 6 the previous evening. I had the epidural removed after I was completly dilated so I could push, and spent the next three hours screaming so hard that I had a sore throat for a week after the delivery, though I walked out of the hospital in otherwise total comfort hours after his birth.
My son was in my arms and nursing moments after his birth, and the medical staff respected all the decisions I made during the labor and delivery. I felt respected and well-cared for. But 17 years later, I still get crap from my ex about how I "couldn't do it without drugs," as if it's one of my major failures in life. My son is a practically straight-A student, very sociable with lots of friends, a talented classical musician involved in interesting extracurricular activities, and no tolerance for drug use by his friends. We get along great, and he's the best thing that ever happened to me. I consider that a better indicator of my mothering skills than whether I had a needle stuck in my back for three hours almost 2 decades ago.
I think it's awesome if a natural home birth works out. I have plenty of friends who have had great experiences with it. I just don't like being judged so harshly because I made a different choice. My advice to pregnant women is, be flexible about your birth plan. Nothing else about raising children is amenable to rigid expectations, so get used to it.