The hospital is no place for a low risk woman to give birth. It seems that an increasing number of women are figuring this out and spreading the word as the number of home births in the United States skyrocketed 29% in the past 5 years.
For non-hispanic white women, the rate increased 36%.
Home births are most common in white women over the age of 35 who have other children.
Marian McDorman, a statistician with the Center for Disease Control (CDC), said that although it isn’t entirely clear why the rate is increasing so rapidly, it might be because “a lot of women really like the idea of home birth because they want a lower-intervention birth. A lot of women are worried about higher C-section rates and other types of intervention that happen once you go to the hospital”.
Saraswathi Vedam, Chair of Standards and Practice for the Home birth Section of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, sees out of hospital births going mainstream. She said:
“Women and families have started to question the widespread use of obstetric interventions and want to control the environment they give birth in.”
Bingo!
It would be interesting to see what these numbers would look like if out of hospital births at freestanding birth centers were included along with home births. My guess is that the numbers would be at least double.
There is no doubt that an increasing number of women are consciously rejecting the overmedicalization of birth. Doctors and nurses in a hospital environment, while nice people who are no doubt fully competent, have to abide by draconian procedures and rules when it comes to the process of birth. These rigid limitations cause many women to have induced labor, C-sections and other interventions that would never happen at a birth center or at home.
In my case, my first child would have definitely been an emergency C-section had I given birth in the hospital. Fortunately, I chose to stay away and have my baby at a birth center instead. The steps my midwife took to assist me are not permitted in the hospital and yet are simple and very safe.
The issue was simply pushing back a small flap of cervical tissue manually while I was pushing so the baby’s head could get through.
Another woman I know who experienced the exact same, minor problem wasn’t so lucky. She was wheeled in for a C-Section that was completely unnecessary, as the intervention was “required by hospital protocol”. She would have almost certainly birthed vaginally at a birth center or at home.
If you are a low risk woman who is pregnant or considering becoming so in the near future, do yourself a favor and investigate an out of hospital birth either at a birth center or at home.
You just might save yourself major surgery like I did not just once, but probably 3 times! Each of my children’s births had a similar problem that was easily rectified in about 30 seconds by a skilled midwife.
To learn more about out of hospital birth and the many reasons to consider doing so, see this article on the benefits of having a baby at a birth center.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: CDC: Home Births Rise Nearly 30% in the United States
Michelle Stroud (@QuinteByTheMoon)
Women Increasingly Embrace Home Birth – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/6XNjlbtQ
Alison Smart via Facebook
Had my youngest at home 30 years ago assisted by midwife and the doctor arrived half an hour later as she got lost!
Heba Saleh (@LifeinaPyramid) (@LifeinaPyramid)
Women Increasingly Embrace Home Birth http://t.co/n3CJhPLN
Claire
I was very determined to have a natural childbirth and tried to have my first child at a birth center. I was transferred to the hospital almost immediately because of the birth center’s very conservative protocol. This was after the head of the birth center induced me (manually, not with drugs) when I wasn’t yet in labor. From the transfer to the hospital, it was a very rapid spiral downward into a c-section. The whole thing was a nightmare. I do not think it is safe to assume that birth centers are automatically any better than hospitals. None of the five birth center midwives that I saw ever said a thing to me about the baby’s positioning (which turned out to be OP) or helped me try to shift the position to a better one for birth. For my second, I tried to have a homebirth VBAC. Again, transfer to the hospital and c-section. Again, an OP baby. I got all the way to pushing that time. I think with the right midwife I could have done it, but I had a midwife who had spent most of her career in hospital settings. Again, can’t assume. You have to have the right midwife, really experienced, to make it work. This type of midwife seems to be getting scarcer. Finally, we can’t underestimate the narrowing of the pelvis that Weston Price predicted. I have a narrow face and narrow hips and sadly have wondered if I just could not get my 9.5 pound OP babies out vaginally, no matter what. With all that I have learned about the importance of gut flora, it makes me sad to this day.
Joan Smith
We set out to have our first baby at home, but it was 1976 and we couldn’t find a midwife in south Florida. So we labored from Wednesday night until Friday night at home, but weren’t getting anywhere. We went to the hospital and through berating by the doctor and overdosing of Demerol, my ten pound, twenty inch baby boy was finally born Saturday morning. By Sunday morning we checked out AMA, fed up with sugar water and him being kept in the nursery. 2 1/2 years later my next son was born at home surrounded by loving family and assisted by a great midwife. Unfortunately, she was under investigation when our daughter was born, so her dad delivered her while my mom boiled water. God bless my second midwife, our visits when I was carrying my fourth baby were 90% counseling and 10% medical, as my husband and I were separated and I needed a strong shoulder. My four year old daughter and nine year old son were my birth coaches as again we were surrounded by love and our second ten pounder was born. I am so grateful that I was able to have three at home and nurse them exclusively and raise very healthy children!
Julianne from The Boost Team
I love that you’re posting this! I have had my three children at home. The last one had complications (his shoulders got stuck) after a sporadic labor . My midwives knew exactly what to do and they jumped right on it. I’ve run his birth through my head over and over, trying to see if it would have been better in the hospital. No matter how I play it, I can’t. I can only see it being worse (read forced pitocin drip/epidural and a good possibility that it would have led to a c-section). Not everybody agrees with my choice or my assessment of the birth, but I’m still glad i had him at home. Hospital births absolutely have their place, but for me until I decide otherwise, I prefer the home.
Stephanie
There are some hospitals that are still somewhat lenient. I delivered my first child in a hospital using OBs – HORRIBLE experience! I delivered my second child in the same hospital, this time using midwives (it was a compromise as I wanted a home birth, my hubby wanted a hospital). The midwives were WONDERFUL!!!! I showed up already dilated 6-7 cms, and my midwife actually recommended that we go get some breakfast before being admitted (bless her heart!!!), so we did just that. Once I was admitted, I was pretty much left to “do my thing” for several hours (which I loved) before she returned to check me. I’d made VERY little progress – about a cm in 5 hours. I think we all know that time frame is simply unacceptable by a doctor’s standards, but my midwife kindly told me (with a smile), “I can either break your water and that would speed things up, or you’re more than welcome to keep doing what you’re doing, I’m in no hurry.” 🙂 LOVE HER!!! I had been laboring for about 16 hours at this point, with no sleep since the day before, so I chose to have my water broken to get things moving faster. About an hour later, I was fully dilated. I pushed for about 15 mins and my son was born – 9lbs 4oz, healthy boy! So basically, even though I delivered in a hospital, my entire labor & delivery was left up to me and how I wanted to do things, which made all the difference in the world!!! 🙂
Angela
I too would have had at least one, if not 3 C-sections if I was in a hospital, but thankfully after my first horrible hospital birth, I researched more and decided on homebirth instead.
Suzanne Stauss
Hi Sarah, I have a question to ask. Who is considered a low risk pregnancy? My daughter is about 13 weeks pregnant with her first baby. She is 31 yrs. old about 5′ 4″ tall and about 115 lbs. and white. I myself had to have 4 C-sections, and my mother had to have her babies C-section. In my case the babies were big and I failed to progress even after they broke my water when I was 5cm. dialated and then put on pitocin. I would have loved to have given birth naturally but was unable to. Would you still recommend a birth center birth for my daughter?
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist
Midwives have some sort of criteria for establishing low risk. You will have to ask to see for sure. Your daughter sounds like she fits within the guidelines from what I remember.
sara r.
Low risk is entirely dependent on the mother herself, not family history! According to my family history I would have been “high- risk”- my mother lost twins at 26 weeks, had another set at 31, and another preterm birth after that. However, I myself had a very normal pregnancy and a fast, easy birth. Low-risk would mean no GD (although even that can be easily controlled with diet, but most midwives will transfer care if diganosed), good blood-pressure readings consistently, no history of preterm labor…etc. If your daughter continues to have a normal, healthy pregnancy, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t consider a birth center. If there is a problem that presents during labor, they could transport to the hospital for further assistance. Most people don’t realize that most transports are not emergencies, but for maternal exhaustion, long labors, or mom wanting pain meds. Midwives generally stay with the mom and therefore recognize potential problems before they would have been caught in the hospital.
IntegraNaturopathics (@AndreaBeaubrun)
“The hospital is no place for a low risk birth” – find out why more women are choosing to give birth at home http://t.co/T9DejqfM #midwife