Our American medicalized childbirth has not served the natural birth mom well and more and more women have left the hospital in search of the comfort and autonomy of home. Recently I read an articled title, "Home birth: The wave of the future". I chuckled as I thought that home birth is more a relic of the past, but I certainly hope that home birth which was once the only choice will in the future be a routinely accepted birth option.It is my belief that home birth is a safe birth option if a women in good health is cared for by well trained midwives throughout their pregnancies and throughout labor and birth. As a doula I am struggle to do my job in our current medical system, almost every hospital regulation hinders the natural birth process and the system regularly fails women who desire a natural birth. I work hard to prepare women for births that in our medical system are realistically not possible. Many natural birth advocates like myself find that home birth is the only truly natural birth option.
All too often in America pregnant women are viewed as being in need of serious medical attention throughout pregnancy, labor, and birth; they are not viewed as experiencing a relatively common, normal, and natural life experience. This philosophy flies in the face of reason and human history; women have bodies made for this work. The statistics of home birth bear this out. Less than 5% of home birth mothers aided in labor by a midwife end up with a C-section, while the national average for cesarean sections in nearly 30%. Though some of this discrepancy can be explained by the fact that midwives do not often oversee the care of high-risk patients it does not account for the total discrepancy. Three in ten American women end up delivering by cesearean section, while only one in ten are due to known complications prior to birth, such as premature labor or Preeclampsia.
Midwives are generally the care giver at home births, and they generally practice a very different type of maternity care than Obstetricians do. This is due in part to their unique training in the natural processes of birth left to proceed naturally without so many external interruptions, but it is also a philosophical difference in the way they view birth from the get go. In Peggy Vincent's book, Baby Catcher, Chronicles of a Modern Midwife, she illustrates this difference by relating a conversation she had with a doctor in which he stated that "normal birth is a retrospective diagnosis, no birth is normal until after the fact. All births are complicated until proven otherwise" a medical philosophy that treats every birth as a medical event in need of medical treatment. Though the attitudes toward natural birth among many doctors today are changing, the standard operating procedure in hospitals today still make it very difficult for women who want to have a perfectly natural uninhibited birth to reach that goal.
This is why many women have chosen to stay home and have their babies in their own environment and in their own way, aided by the support and wisdom of midwives. At home they are not thwarted in their desires by the constant fetal monitoring by machines, instead they have the loving hands of a midwife ever present, who can closely monitor the labor and the infant while creating a gentle and reassuring environment that helps the mother to labor undisturbed by hospital intrusions. At home a women is not impeded in here labor progress by hunger as she may be in the hospital when she is told half way through a long and difficult labor that she cannot eat, a practice that is wholly foolish, as the denial of food can lead to greater fatigue and put in motion events that may cause the infant to be taken by cesarean. At home a woman is free to move, dance, moan, yell, and do whatever feels natural and helpful to her as she works through her own power to labor her child into the world.
When weighing your options for a natural birth, it would be worthwhile to explore the home birth options in your state and community. Home birth options vary widely by state and community. There are many places though who have an active home birth community of experienced midwives and doulas who can aid you in your birth. It is a peaceful and rewarding experience worth having if you are able to put it together. Below are some considerations to help you in determining whether home birth is for you. Home Birth Pro’s and Con’s There are many advantages to doing things the old-fashioned way. Having your baby born in the comfort and privacy of your own home can be warm and wonderful. There are also some risks and disadvantages that should be considered carefully before you make a decision.
Advantages Of A Home Birth
If a woman is healthy she is considered to be “low-risk”, meaning there is no reason to assume that the birth will be anything but normal, she is a good candidate for a home birth. Women considering a home birth should be carefully screened to determine the safety of such a birth. Planned home births are safe; some people think they may even be safer than the hospital. In the Netherlands, where about 40% of the babies are born at home, the rate of prenatal mortality is one of the lowest in the world.
- For some women there own turf is the most comfortable place to deliver.
- The whole family is near. This is a comfortable setting for siblings to be a part of the birth in a non-threatening way.
- The home is quiet, comfortable, and familiar; powerful in helping a laboring woman to relax.
A home birth allows the most individuality and flexibility. - At home, you can avoid the often-routine interventions practiced in most hospitals that often impede the natural progression of labor.
- The cost of home birth is less.
- There are no admission policies.
- You feel free to move around, eat, and drink if you please.
- There are no uninvited doctors or nurses, your privacy and the privacy of your family is never disrespected.
- Drugs are not used.
- Your labor is more likely to progress naturally without interference.
- The baby won’t be taken away from you after birth; and the first moments of your baby’s life are not stolen by the loud clamoring ciaos of the deliver room.
Birth Women choosing a home birth should have no heart disease or diabetes and no family history of genetic disorders. Multiple births, breech births, and premature births can be attended by some very serious life threatening complications, because of this a mother should carefully considered the risk in these situations. Even if a woman meets all the medical criteria for a home birth, there is always the chance that a problem will arise that cannot be dealt with at home; she may have to be moved to the hospital in the event of an unforeseen complication. For this reason a women should live a reasonable distance from the hospital.
- You may not want to be moved to the hospital during labor if there are warning signs of maternal or fetal distress.
- Emergencies are more stressful in the home birth setting.
- The move to a hospital can be upsetting to parents both because it signals problems and because plans for a special and personal birth are now so radically altered.
- You may feel nervous waiting for your caregiver to arrive and prefer to have the responsibility of getting yourself to the caregiver on time.
- You may feel uncomfortable about having your other children around or nervous that they will hear you shout or scream, even if they are kept out of the mother’s room.
- Even though home birth sounds good, you may feel it’s too unconventional or that it seems somehow unsafe to deliver at home. This uneasiness may slow down your labor.
- At home you won’t have the 24-hour hospital care at your beck and call. You might find this especially helpful after the baby is born.
The advantages and disadvantages of home birth differ from woman to woman, and from family to family, but for those families seeking the most natural and gentle of births for there family, home birth is a safe option that should be considered.
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