Probably the most common comments I get when I tell people I am going to have a home birth is, "Wow, you are brave!" and "What about if something happens?" For the first comment...yes I am, but not for the same reasons they are implying. I feel that they are saying that I am brave because I am willing to take the risk of no pain medication and the risk of having no doctor on site in case of an emergency. I, on the contrary, feel that I am brave because I have faith that my body knows what to do and I am willing to "let go" and let it do its thing without interventions. I prefer the word "courage" over "brave."
For the second question, I like to compare it to a football game. Of course there are risks with playing football and so they have ambulances and/or trained medical help to stabilize an injured player till they are able to get to the hospital. Yes, football is risky, but you wouldn't go and play a football game on the hospital grounds. Just like birth...we have safety precautions in place, but we are not going to have our baby at the hospital when all is well, "just in case" we need a doctor, especially given all that would be sacrificed and risked as far as pressure for interventions go (see Interventions).
Simply put, homebirth is safe for women who have been screened as low-risk and have a qualified midwife attending the birth. Yes, things go wrong at homebirths and things go wrong at hospital births. But you will usually hear in the news about the homebirth and not the hospital births. Like anything, the one writing the research will find the stats that support whatever opinion he or she wants it to. We have to dig deep to sometimes find out the real truth. For example, in one study I read about that reported a high infant death rate for homebirths, it turns out that they were including in their statistics homebirths that were unplanned and miscarriages! Here is a great blogpost about the real research on the safety of homebirth. (I hoped to blog more personally on many topics but I have found some
great blog posts from women that I know I could be best friends
with...they say it so great!)
This blog writer emphasizes what midwives can do in case of an emergency which is a concern that I run into with people a lot...they think that midwives are just old ladies that have not undergone any medical schooling. They are actually very well trained and prepared for natural births and what an emergency situation looks like and what to do in order to stabilize a mom or baby. In fact, in so many ways they are more qualified because they are there for the mom the whole pregnancy and labor and know for themselves what is going on...not by machines. Doctors are well-trained for emergency/high-risk types of births but not natural births...and I certainly do appreciate an intervention when medically necessary. Most importantly, I love having a midwife because she believes in the powerful nature of women and I feel safe emotionally and spiritually, which is as important if not more important than just what is happening physically. With that said, not all midwives are created equal either so you'll have to shop around and check on training and experience and who you feel right with.
In the end, only you can decide if you feel right about it because it is not for everyone. I have heard many stories about women who considered home birth and ultimately choose to be in the hospital because they just didn't "feel right" about homebirth and were grateful because of some complication that arose. I believe that if you "Ask,..it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7) During my first pregnancy I was a little intimidated about all the decisions that had to be made (and in the end it showed). Now when I think about it, I rejoice that women have the right to make all these decisions and I know that they are very important decisions that the Lord will bless us with inspiration for.
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