Freebirthing

[EpcotBeauty]

It is NOT safer to have a hospital birth than it is a home birth in all cases. In my case, it most definitely was not.

Do you have medical degree? Kay, thought not.

It is much more risky and stupid to have an unassisted home birth. Those women should be prosecuted if the child dies from problems that could have been prevented.

Women did it many years back WITH "midwife, or someone that had some experience" and childbirth was still the #1 killer of women and children.

At home birth is taking your life in your hands (and your unbornn child)

 

[maidenfairy]

I personally wouldn't give birth at home, and I took the drugs they offered, but hey that's me. Other women can birth their babies where ever they feel most comfortable. It's painful no matter where you are, and what ever helps you get through it, go for it. Just remember plans change and things happen. You can plan the most peaceful home birth and all hell breaks loose, or you can plan on getting to a hospital and you don't make it. Women need do stop criticizing each other about their decisions and start supporting each other.

 

[Laura]

I personally wouldn't give birth at home, and I took the drugs they offered, but hey that's me. Other women can birth their babies where ever they feel most comfortable. It's painful no matter where you are, and what ever helps you get through it, go for it. Just remember plans change and things happen. You can plan the most peaceful home birth and all hell breaks loose, or you can plan on getting to a hospital and you don't make it. Women need do stop criticizing each other about their decisions and start supporting each other.

Well said. I personally feel comfortable giving birth for the first time in a hospital. If it goes well and we change our minds about not having more children, a home birth might be something for me to consider for subsequent births. But this time, I would be too concerned that something would go wrong; particularly, if the baby suddenly went into distress and I would need an emergency c-section. My mother had 3 kids, and only one of those births was "normal".

For every freakish story about hospital births, there is a freakish story about home births.

 

[mdbehr]

Do you have medical degree? Kay, thought not.

It is much more risky and stupid to have an unassisted home birth. Those women should be prosecuted if the child dies from problems that could have been prevented.

Women did it many years back WITH "midwife, or someone that had some experience" and childbirth was still the #1 killer of women and children.

At home birth is taking your life in your hands (and your unbornn child)

Do you have your medical license handy? K, thought not.

How about any research you have done? any? Or are you basing all of your decisions plus the PROSECUTION of mothers in the hands of what you have been taught to believe? And homebirth today is NOT like the 1800s. The only people who would say that are those who are uninformed or are just looking to instill fear. An active brain stem, people, it's a good thing.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Well said. I personally feel comfortable giving birth for the first time in a hospital. If it goes well and we change our minds about not having more children, a home birth might be something for me to consider for subsequent births. But this time, I would be too concerned that something would go wrong; particularly, if the baby suddenly went into distress and I would need an emergency c-section. My mother had 3 kids, and only one of those births was "normal".

For every freakish story about hospital births, there is a freakish story about home births.

If one is not completely sure about a homebirth.....you shouldn't do it. The nurse-midwives I used wouldn't do it. They also insisted on a great deal of education for the parents. You need to be informed to make the decision to have a homebirth. I loved having my last two a home. DH and I would have never considered it if we didn't feel completely safe delivering at home. There are many risk factors to be considered.....450 in the questionnaire I filled out. If more than 3 risks factors were present....it was a no go. These could be a delivery two weeks early or late....your number of pregnancies .... the size of the baby, the age of the mother, multiple births, anemia, etc.

 

[EpcotBeauty]

Do you have your medical license handy? .

YES, I DO.

 

[mdbehr]

Really? In what field? what is your specialty? How long have you practiced?

 

[mdbehr]

also, oh bastion of knowledge, please post the infant mortality rate in the US compared with those of other industrialized nations. also, please explain, why the US rates so low on that list. Also, please post what risks are involved with the use of pitocin, cervadil, epidurals, etc and the rate of c section directly related to each of those interventions. full disclosure too please. Not just we need to do this, yes there are some risks, but it's okay.

 

[KikiFan]

I can understand wanting to give birth at home with a midwife - though I wouldn't personally do it. But "freebirthing" without any medical supervision at all, is just insane in my book.

My pregnancy was low risk, no problems all the way through. On the last day, they realized I was having a dry birth. They induced labor and my daughter went into distress - so an unplanned C-section for me. The Dr's were very worried about merconium aspiration. I was very grateful to have the neonatal ICU on stand -by.

Incidentally I remember reading somewhere that the stats of hospital birth Vs home birth are sort of misleading. Higher risk pregnancies are generally going to go to the hospital and then you've got the issue of hospital dumping. If a woman gets into trouble at home during labor she's often "dumped" by the dullah or the midwife. The hospital then winds up with a patient with little history. Those things combine to make the risk of a hospital birth look artificially high. That's not to say that problem bon't happen at hospital - it's just that hospitals take on a bigger risk from the onset.

 

["Got Disney"]

If it;s FREE its for me!!!

monkeyboy monkeyboy monkeyboy....

I am a Labor and delivery Nurse for 28 years and practiced for 22 of those years and all i can say to that is

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Do you have your medical license handy? K, thought not.

How about any research you have done? any? Or are you basing all of your decisions plus the PROSECUTION of mothers in the hands of what you have been taught to believe? And homebirth today is NOT like the 1800s. The only people who would say that are those who are uninformed or are just looking to instill fear. An active brain stem, people, it's a good thing.

You're kidding right? I don't think we are being prosecuted because we can give birth in a hospital with a trained medical staff around us.
Can women give birth at home and be well informed and have the proper care etc.? Sure! Do ALL women do it that way? NO!!!!!! Do a google search and you will find tons of selfish idiotic women who will lie to the midwife about their history. Or they will arrive at the hospital and lie about their history or when their water broke etc. when their homebirth needs assistance. They will still have a homebirth without any trained person there regardless of the risk factor. So yes, for those people it would be nice if they had an active brain stem. I don't neccesarily think a homebirth is the end of the world, but you are kidding yourself if you think that all of these women are so informed. A lot of them are just selfish. They want the birth "experience" that they want and don't care about the outcome. Sorry but that makes you (not you- a general you) a selfish idiot. These women convince themselves that all doctors are evil.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I do think that most women want the best for their babies, and I don't think women chose homebirth because they don't care what happens to the baby and just want the "experience" for themselves. (Okay, there may be some but it's got to be a very tiny percentage and there may be some mental illness going on there.) The women I know, and I do know some, who have chosen to give birth at home without a midwife or other medical attendant, do so because their research (and they've usually researched extensively) and past experiences convince them that this is the SAFEST approach for their baby and their situation. These are often women who have had a previous traumatic experience in the hospital and want to avoid that because they think the hospital birth interventions harm the baby. Others might disagree with their conclusions, but the decision is not usually made on the basis of wanting a particular experience. In fact, they are generally willing to accept quite a lot of pain (yeah, labour hurts!) in order to ensure that their babies aren't exposed to potential risks and side effects from medication. And they feel that the reduced stress (for them) of being at home is also a protective factor for the baby.

While the evidence is very clear about the safety of home birth, those studies have all been done with midwives attending the births. I don't think the evidence is there to support the safety of unattended births, but there are people who feel, in their individual situation, that it is the safest option (perhaps there are no midwives in their area, or they can't afford a midwife). I might not agree, but I honestly don't think they usually do it for purely selfish reasons.

And just a side note to the earlier poster who mentioned the number of women who died in childbirth in the past - most of those deaths were caused not by the birth itself, but by postpartum infections. And many of those were caused by caregivers (and doctors, in the past, were worse offenders than midwives) who didn't understand the need for cleanliness when examining women and delivering babies. The risk of infection is lowest when women are at home with family - because you tend to have immunity to the germs present in your household.

Teresa

 

[Teresa Pitman]

[
Incidentally I remember reading somewhere that the stats of hospital birth Vs home birth are sort of misleading. Higher risk pregnancies are generally going to go to the hospital and then you've got the issue of hospital dumping. If a woman gets into trouble at home during labor she's often "dumped" by the dullah or the midwife. The hospital then winds up with a patient with little history. Those things combine to make the risk of a hospital birth look artificially high. That's not to say that problem bon't happen at hospital - it's just that hospitals take on a bigger risk from the onset.[/QUOTE]

Those are not the kind of studies I'm referring to. Those are simply statistical surveys. There have been very good studies done where the researchers included only women who were screened, so that ALL the women in the study are low-risk and would have qualified for a home birth. Some opted to go to the hospital, some opted for a home birth. So it really is comparing apples to apples.

Teresa

 

[golfgal]

also, oh bastion of knowledge, please post the infant mortality rate in the US compared with those of other industrialized nations. also, please explain, why the US rates so low on that list. Also, please post what risks are involved with the use of pitocin, cervadil, epidurals, etc and the rate of c section directly related to each of those interventions. full disclosure too please. Not just we need to do this, yes there are some risks, but it's okay.

Because the US reports infant mortality rates differently-they report up to age 1 where many countries only report the rates of death at the birth of the child or very soon thereafter. If every country used the SAME standards the US would have one of the best or the best infant mortality rates.

 

[JB111107]

this concept just seems so strange to me. After giving birth 3 times now, and having another child I did NOT give birth to...with absoultely NO complications or problems during pregnancy for the first two, and mildly high blood pressure with the last (which I had prior to becoming pregnant), had I chosen this method of giving birth for any of the three, none of them would be alive today. Not even my other son. None of them would have survived the birthing process at all.

My first had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck 3 times, and was not breathing when she delivered.

My second did not tolerate pushing and we nearly lost his heartbeat completely before doing an emergency c-section

My non-bio son had a collapsed lung at birth and was not breathing on his own.

My last was born just 2 weeks ago, at 30 weeks gestational age due to a placental abruption. Had I not already been at the hospital, it is highly likely that neither of us would be here today. There were no symptoms or signs of any issues with him, just that my BP was high. In fact just 20 minutes before I was rushed into the OR, I was munching on my dinner, reading a book, hooked up to a fetal monitor with no trouble in sight whatsoever. It happened so fast, I still had my basball cap on when I came OUT of the OR.

Obviously since each birth I've had has been more traumatic than the previous one, I will not be having anymore biological children. Thank god for adoption

 

[Judy from Boise]

Good discussion, I personally beleive that the perfect compromise is a "carve out" birthing suite within a hospital that is staffed by Certified nurse midwives(not lay midwives) where the focus is natural births, and the baby never leaves the room.

A home birth with a CNM is usually safe because CNM's very carefully screen , and go to plan B at the first hint of trouble.

Births with lay midwifes or less are crazy and irresponsible.

On the flip side i am appalled by how MDs have convienced many women that inductions are wonderfull when just done for convience sake.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Good discussion, I personally beleive that the perfect compromise is a "carve out" birthing suite within a hospital that is staffed by Certified nurse midwives(not lay midwives) where the focus is natural births, and the baby never leaves the room.A home birth with a CNM is usually safe because CNM's very carefully screen , and go to plan B at the first hint of trouble.

Births with lay midwifes or less are crazy and irresponsible.

On the flip side i am appalled by how MDs have convienced many women that inductions are wonderfull when just done for convience sake.

I would love to see this. I would take full advantage of it. I too think doctors a lot of the time intervene when they don't really have to.

 

[LaraK]

I think the birthing suite idea would be great but (here's the big but) hospitals are so highly regulated I don't know that they could legally do that. Maybe something right across the street in unregulated space.

 

[golfgal]

Good discussion, I personally beleive that the perfect compromise is a "carve out" birthing suite within a hospital that is staffed by Certified nurse midwives(not lay midwives) where the focus is natural births, and the baby never leaves the room.

A home birth with a CNM is usually safe because CNM's very carefully screen , and go to plan B at the first hint of trouble.

Births with lay midwifes or less are crazy and irresponsible.

On the flip side i am appalled by how MDs have convienced many women that inductions are wonderfull when just done for convience sake.

CNM are not allowed to supervise home births in our state. They will lose their license if they do so. The hospitals here all have birthing suites and mothers can choose to have a midwife or not, have their baby with them all the time or not. Most of them have whirlpool's if you want to labor or birth that way. It seems like the hospitals around here have tried to accommodate many different methods-seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

Inductions ARE wonderful for convenience sake, so are planned C-Sections. I had my kids before the "birth experience' became the thing to do. At that time we all went into the deal with the same objective-have a baby. Sometimes it went easy and you were done in no time, other times it wasn't and things that you didn't plan on (like 36 hours of labor and no progress) happened. Most of us still have healthy, happy kids as a result.

 

[1rockinmamato2]

I bolded. Childbirth is not an exact science. You have no way of knowing everything. Even doctors cannot predict much. While homebirths can be safe, it is much safer to give birth in a hospital where you have expertly trained staff there in case of ANY emergency. Yes, the hospitals are really backwards in the way they treat a woman in labor, (postion to give birth comes to mind) but why take the risk that in the event of an emergency you could be wasting valuable time? Some people live an hour away from a hospital! That is not a good plan imo. I don't have a problem with a midwife at all. I think they can be great. I just think that since you cannot accurately predict anything in childbirth you should be in the place that offers the least risk.

I totally agree!

Our son was born at a rural hospital. Birthmom had several ultrasounds during her pregnancy because she had too much amniotic fluid. When DS was born, he had several birth defects. One was noticeable, one was not because it was internal. They had been undetected on the NUMEROUS ultrasounds done prior to his birth.

Luckily, a diagnosis was made quickly due to a doctor's gut instinct, his experience and an X-ray. He was rushed to a children's hospital via an ambulance.

I shudder to think what would have happened if he was born at home, plopped out on the bed, hours away from a hospital and without a trained professional such as a midwife to tell the parents that he needed IMMEDIATE medical treatment. He most likely would have died.