Friday, 19 December 2008
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Free Birthing: Dangerous For You And Your Baby?
Guest blog submitted by MommyGEM_RN
Free birthing-anyone ever hear of it? I saw a special on this on Discovery Health not too long ago, and I thought it would be interesting to talk about on here.
Free birthing is basically an underground movement... a community of women dedicated to delivering their own babies at home, with no midwife or doctor there to attend the birth. Sounds scary, huh? There's a website here where all of these women do their research on and connect with the creator of this website and with each other for support and encouragement. Most of the women are moms who have had at least one baby previously, and had a bad hospital experience, but there are some first time moms that want to practice this as well.
On the special I watched about this topic, it followed three or four moms-to-be on their journeys to free birthing. They all had successful and healthy births, but not without hitting many roadblocks first. One mom, after her baby was born, wasn't able to deliver her placenta herself, and after awhile, ended up going to the hospital where her doctor reprimanded her and belittled her decision before he helped deliver her placenta.
What is my opinion on all of this? While I can certainly understand why these women want to stay away from doctors and the hospital to have their baby, I think it is very risky and dangerous. I have no doubt that a woman can safely deliver her own baby. But when you're in that much pain, even though instinct guides your body what to do during labor and delivery, your brain gets clouded and you can't really think straight. I know this from experience! I can't imagine delivering a baby, and not having someone there -- a nurse or a midwife -- to assure me that everything is ok, and act quickly in a crisis. I certainly could not have acted quickly after my daughter was born had something been wrong with her.
The women in these situations prepare themselves as much as they can by buying the proper equipment needed for delivery, and getting trained in infant CPR, but like I said, how can they possibly think straight after giving birth to act quickly enough if their baby's life or their own is at risk? Granted, in most pregnancies, nothing will be wrong, and everything will go smoothly in a natural birth, but you never know when that small percentage could be you.
I don't understand why these women don't even want the help of a midwife to assist in their labor and delivery! They could have the same experience that they desire, but even a little more stress-free knowing that a midwife is there. Each one of these women carried a certain amount of stress, and nervousness once their labors started and they were at home without a midwife. Wouldn't they be so much more relaxed knowing that their baby, and their own bodies are in good hands? I just don't understand.
Women for thousands and thousands of years have been delivering babies naturally. But even back in Biblical times (except for maybe Eve), there were midwives to assist women in delivering their babies. There is a reason for midwives, and there's a reason for OB's too. OB's are trained for surgery, and for intervening when natural labor goes awry. Midwives are there to assist in normal birthing situations. They're here for a reason.Why wouldn't anyone take advantage of this?
Oh, and by the way, the fact that the doctor on the show was so mean to that one mom was very disrespectful and classless. Doctors are there to save lives and help people. They have no right to yell at their patients. Every patient has a right to make their own medical decisions without the pressure of doctors. This mom knew what she was doing and took full responsibility of her's and her baby's life. She didn't need to hear what the doctor. was saying to her. She already knew, which is why she wanted to stay away from doctors and hospitals in the first place!
I personally would love to have a home birth next time around with a midwife. But, due to the fact that insurance doesn't cover home births, it's simply unaffordable. Most likely, I will be having our next baby with a midwife, or my favorite "hands-off" doctor in the same hospital I had my daughter in. And not only will it be fully covered by our insurance, but I'll have peace in knowing that my baby and I are in good hands. Having peace and confidence going into labor will make for a much nicer time of safely delivering my baby into the world.
What is your opinion of free birthing? Would you consider this as an option?
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About the Author
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- From: MommyGEM_RN@xanga
- About Me: I am a Christian, nurse, and doula. I graduated with my BSN in '03 and got my RN shortly thereafter. Got married May 29 '05 to my best friend, my hubby Jeff! I'm mostly a SAHM now, but I am working on getting my doula business off the ground and offer birth doula services to anyone who is interested. My hubby's a worship leader at our church. Life is busy now, but we're excited about what God has in store for us! God blessed us with a beautiful little girl in January 2008! We are so in love with our daughter who is growing up way too fast! We also welcomed our son a month early in March 2010! He is healthy and growing strong! I have friends lock on for a little added protection, but as long as you comment and allow me to get to know you as well, it'll make the friends thing a lot easier! I do friends cuts from time to time to edit out people who aren't around Xanga much, don't have common interests with me and don't comment.
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Comments (93)
Yes, I seen this on Discovery Health and I'm totally against it. What if something goes wrong? You're just risking your life and not to mention, the baby's life. You're not trained and don't have the proper equipment, if something were to go wrong and if something does go wrong, sometimes it can be too late, when you actually get to the hospital. Some hospitals, don't even want to deal with the problems, because if further complications arise, they wouldn't want to be sued.
i'm someone who loses rationale easily; i doubt i'll be able to do it alone knowing that there are no pros around to assist me if anything happens.
why risk yours and the baby's life?
I had my first baby, my son, in the hospital and it wasn't a good experience. With my second, my daughter, I used a midwife and had a waterbirth at home. It was wonderful and that's the route I'll go when (and if ) I have a third.
That being said, I would NEVER do it completely unassisted! When my daughter was born the cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times and the midwife got it off quickly but she still needed a bit of oxygen (which they had there at my house for just such a situation). What would have happened if I had been doing it all by myself???? I can't say for sure that my daughter would have survived....
while i would never choose to do this myself i can sympathize with why some women would.
not everyone has health insurance. not everyone can afford the kind of birth that they want. and in Illinois, for example, while it is legal for women to have a homebirth... it is illegal for midwives to attend those births. there are many valid reasons why a woman would choose freebirthing.
i don't believe that these women are ignorant as to what they are getting themselves into. most of them have weighed their options and done massive amounts of research. i would be willing to wager that they were more knowledgable about childbirth than the average woman who goes to the hospital.
while this would not be an option that i would feel comfortable choosing for myself i would proudly stand up for any woman to have any kind of birth that she so desires.
I would be dead and so would my 7 month old, I know that havin a midwife and a clear cut route to the hospital is something they better have, what are the legal ramifications of this? I mean these mothers if they know their baby is breech and the baby dies do to poor judgement??? blah I think people should have the rights to a natural birth BUT I mean come on.....
I HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TWICE AND AM NOW PREG. WITH BABY # 3. ...HAD I DELIVERED MY FIRSTBORN UNASSISTED AT HOME, WELL, ,LETS JUST SAY HED STILL BE 6 FEET UNDER.....I AM SO THANKFUL, BECUZ OF THE COMPLICATIONS WITH HIS BIRTH, THAT HE WAS BORN IN A HOSPITAL WITH HIGHLY SKILLED NURSES AND DOCS----WHEN HE LEFT THE NICU 5 DAYS AFTER HIS BIRTH, EVEN MY DELIVERY NURSE TOLD ME " HE 'D BEEN ON HIS WAY TO HEAVEN", .....I WOULD NEVER EVER CONSIDER GIVING BIRTH ---- ALONE AND UNASSISTED. ...I THINK THATS RIDICULOUS.
If I were to have a home birth, I would NOT do it without the help of a midwife. Chances are that things would be fine, but I would much rather have someone who really knows what they're doing assisting me. That way, -if- something goes wrong, a trained eye will be able to catch it, and decide upon the appropriate action. And if nothing goes wrong, it's still support that I think is a great help.
I wouldn't be able to live with myself if because of my choices my child were to die. It would kill me.
I have had 4 perfect hospital births, and I still wouldn't risk it. You never know what could happen.
I recently saw "The Business of Being Born" and it makes me VERY hesitant to have a hospital birth. According the movie (it may have been in the book "Born in the USA" by Dr. Wagner though), the US has the HIGHEST maternal mortality rate of developed countries. This is attributed to too much medical intervention during labor.
If you want to know more about these things, check out the new documentary "Pregnant in America."
The only reason I'm having a birth at the hospital is because my husband is very against a home birth. (Plus, we live in an apartment right now and I doubt our neighbors want to hear those screams.) We are lucky though to have great insurance that would pay for whatever birthing situation we chose.
I am not against freebirthing but, I do think that it would be wise to at least have a midwife or a doula present.
HOMEBIRTHING is not an "underground movement". It is perfectly legal. Childbirth is NOT a medical procedure.
I posted an entry about this a while ago after seeing that special on Discovery Health.
I think that women have a responsibility to their babies and doing whatever they can to keep them healthy. I believe that free birthing is irresponsible.
It's fine to decide what *you* want to do or not do, but let's be slow to Judge Another Woman unless we have walked in her shoes . . . You honestly do not know all the scenarios behind WHY a woman might come to that decision. You simply don't. I have ended up doing things in my life-time that I never would have thought I'd do . . . . but a series of life's events led me to those decisions. (No, birthing un-assissted wasn't one of them--though were I to be unexpectedly pregnant again, I might not have many other options at this point in my life!)
I just wanted to hop on here and say that I've had two homebirths and they were my favorite out of the five birth experiences that I have had. The first homebirth I had the midwife did not make it in time, but I was glad to have her around when she did make it. It just helped us to be re assured that our baby was healthy and she also helped me deliver the placenta. Mostly what she did though was help clean up the big mess that was made as a result of me not being fully prepared for my daughter to arrive so quickly.
Homebirth is fine, but there should be a midwife. Â I'm an OB nurse and too many babies need help or mothers bleed out after the delivery. Â You need someone there with a clear head and birth training.
It's not the homebirthing that bothers me at all. I love the idea of homebirthing, though it is not affordable for us. But unassisted homebirthing is not a wise decision. Why NOT have the help of a trained professional midwife? I don't understand taking the risk either.
I think if women want to give birth alone then they should be able to. It's a personal choice. Most of those women are successful; how many of their babies actually die? Babies do die in the hospital as well. Also being in the hospital can actually create extra complications that you might not otherwise have experienced because most hospitals introduce drugs and hormones and machinery that interrupts the natural progress of birth.
I've been doing a lot of research on this subject over the past few years and it's extraordinary how bad US maternity care is compared to other developed countries, hospital births in the US are not the best for a mother or her baby by a long shot. And unfortunately having a midwife attend a birth is illegal in many states in the US and insurance doesn't cover it all the time.
When I have children I want to have a midwife either at a birthing center or at home; I think a hospital is the last place a child should have to be born...
I wanted to do home birth with a midwife for my daughter, but as you said, "...due to the fact that insurance doesn't cover home births, it's simply unaffordable." So I went to the hospital, tried to use my OB, when my hunch that he hadn't been listening to a word I'd said during any of my appointments about wanting a natural birth proved to be right? I sent him home and went with a resident. Best choice ever. He was so busy that I only saw him once in the 5 hours between when I sent the nasty OB packing and when the nurse caught Megan and he came in shortly after the fact. We don't plan on having any more children, but if we did? I'd go that route again. The nurses are there in case of emergency and you're not being bothered by an OB that's worked all day, is cranky and just wants to cut you open and go home to his nice warm bed. Best of both worlds!
It sounds too dangerous.
If there's a problem during the delivery, there wouldn't be much you could do.
While I dont' think I personally would be comfortable doing an unassisted birth, I am considering an HBAC (home birth after a c-sectioN) for the baby I'm carrying right now. The only reason my daughter was sectioned out was because I was in a hospital and I wasn't progressing as fast as the hospital wanted me to- cascade of intervention. My body is perfectly capable of giving birth and I feel my only chance of doing so is at home.
I don't think it's fair to judge others on what YOUR comfort level and reactions to situations would be. Some women get a heightened sense of "what needs to be done" and a real clarity after giving birth. Women who practice UCB are VERY VERY informed on what needs to be done and understand that birth is a natural normal thing... I think Unassited births are beautiful. There is some thing amazing about the thought of me and my husband being the ones all alone to greet the person we made... I am not comfortable with doing it because of my previous c-section, BUT I think it's a beautiful and I would not judge a women for making that choice.
"Birth is as safe as life gets!" - Harriette Hartigan
Midwifery based care should be standard care. It appears that a good number of countries with midwife based care, have better outcomes. OB's are great when needed.
GETTING THE INSURANCE COMPANY TO COVER HOMEBIRTH.
In Florida, insurance companies, if they provide coverage for OB based maternal care, they must cover midwife based care. My PPO covered my midwife as an out-network-provider.
When I lived in Massachusetts, I read my insurance subscriber agreement. They gave a option to request coverage ( in advance) for care that is less invasive and reduce in-patient care. (Sounds like homebirth to me) At first the insurance company rejected my request for coverage (for homebirth). I appealed and they decided to cover the homebirth (as out of network).
With all that said:
I totally support freebirthing, unassisted birth, etc. As I quoted earlier: "Birth is as safe as life gets!" Birth is a natural process. It doesn't need to be watched by professionals.
My first child was a home birth, not by choice. I simply did not know she was coming. There was no one else around and we had no phone. I delivered her in the bath tub (also helps to contain that nasty mess). I then used scissors and a rubber band to clamp and cut her cord. Unfortunately, even though instinct helped me save her life, I made an error after that. I did not know to deliver the placenta and pulled. I lost a lot of blood. My brothers came home and called our parents who ran me to the hospital.
Mt second child was born in the Hospital. That was a truly wretched experience. The first nurse I ran into did not believe my water had broke and kept making rude comments to imply she thought I was stupid. Turns out I was right so when the doctor arrived he was upset that they did not have me on an antibiotic drip (strep B positive). Potosin was given and the doc went to lunch. I lay there breathing through my contractions until I said "its time" and sent my mother to get someone. Again a different nurse said no its too early, lets just see how far you're dilated. Then she called in another nurse and paged the doctor and started to lose her cool. The doc was not answering and I was ready. She started yelling at me not to push even though it was time. I screamed that all she had to do was catch damnit. She had the audacity to tell me they did not get paid to deliver the baby.
After that I still decided to try the hospital again. After all someone else cleans up and there are physicians on hand for issues after the birth if needed. I am pleased to report that a doctor finally delivered one of my children. She did not leave my side during the last hour of labor at all.
I watched this show too. What was a little scary is that none of them want prenatal care. So they could be at home having a baby by themselves that is in fact breech. I personally would not be able to live with myself if I choose to do it without a medical professional and my child died. If you want to have a home birth great it is your choice but risking your child's life. I think that women are lulled into a false sense of security because we are so much better at taking care of women and there babies that they forget that women and babies died a lot in the past. At least now if a woman starts to hemorrhage after birth we can help them quickly. Can you imagine being the one person, spouse, friend whatever that happened to be there and suddenly your loved one starts hemorrhaging. Also I don't really blame the doctor for being upset with the girl whose placenta didn't come out. She was pitching a fit about everything. Everytime they needed to do something to help her she would tell them she didn't want it. What he did was go in there and ask her what he could do for her. He wanted the IV as a precaution because there was a really good chance that when he pulled that placenta out she could start bleeding all over the place. And while a doctor should help their patients that same one could have sued him had anything gone wrong at that point. Even though she choose to have no prenatal care, no medical attendant at her birth, and only finally came into the hospital when she realized she was in a lot of trouble. Could the doctor have been nicer, probably but she wasn't his patient he just happened to be on call and he walked into that room knowing that she is a lawsuit waiting to happen or worse someone who could try to get his license taken away. It is sad that he is put into a position like that. But we as a society have made it that way. You can do whatever you want and then sue your doctor when they can't fix you.
@XxFireXboltxX@xanga - I saw "The Business of Being Born" as well, and loved it! And I do agree with your statement. I'm all for natural birthing, and not letting medicine get in the way unless absolutely necessary. I had a natural birth as well, and would do it again and again! I am fortunate enough to have found an OB/Midwife practice that supports natural birthing decisions including waterbirths! The hospital I delivered at allows women to bring in their own birthing tubs, and is very supportive of birth plans. So, I'm happy to go to them to have my babies, just as long as they don't try to get in the way of my decisions!
@Myteggya@xanga - I agree. But not all hospitals are the same. Some strive to provide a safe, home like or birth center like setting where the women are in control, not the Dr.'s. I find it unusual too though that most women have their babies in hospitals these days...hospitals are for sick people. Having a baby is a normal, natural process...it's not "sick" at all. I think homebirthing with a midwife should be legal in all states, and there should be more birthing centers available in all states (there are NONE where I live, unfortunately) for the women that choose to deliver there.
I think I'd at least want a midwife. But I can understand not wanting to give birth in a hospital. When my sister was born, the doctor induced labor on my mom, without even asking her, mainly because he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. Of the three of us, my sister's birth hurt her the most physically. The whole thing took about half an hour. I do not want anyone forcing drugs on me, and besides, I hate hospitals. I do not want a cold, sterile hospital to be the first place my child sees when my time comes to give birth to one.