Home Birth vs. Hospital Birth? What do you think?
Posted by Sarah on May 9, 2009 · 2 Comments
It seems that the battle over birth continued with this a study led by OSU assistant professor and midwife Melissa Cheyney.
The study compared birth records in Oregon’s Jackson County from 1998 through 2003 to attempt to find whether a correlation existed between poor health outcomes and homebirths.
A link between the two factors was not found. It did however find ongoing conflicts between doctors and midwives with physicians asserting that only hospital births were safe. This finding is in line with a 2008 American Medical Association resolution (pdf), which stated:
The safest setting for labor, delivery and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex.
Personally, I couldn’t imagine having my baby at home. She was 10 lbs 02 ounces, measured 21 inches long and refused to come out naturally. After 3 hours of serious pushing, she had not dropped at all and refused to fit through my pelvis. I think her head circumference was 15 inches. On top of it all, I tested positive for strep, needed to be on antibiotics during birth and ran a fever. There is no way I would’ve done this at home. Why risk the life of my child or myself?
On top of it all, the day after she was born, at 2AM, the nurses rushed it to take her away because one of her blood tests showed signs of infection which indicated possible spinal meningitis. Birthing at home, for me? No thanks!
Have you given birth in a hospital or with the help of a midwife? What was your experience? Did you experience tension between doctors and midwives?
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Hi Sarah,
My first son was 10 pounds 2 ounces and my second was 11 pounds 2 ounces. I cannot imagine having them in a hospital. Both boys were slightly out of position and large, and my first was nine days postdates. I was also Group-B Strep positive with both pregnancies. My labors were long, and I pushed for four hours with my first, but my skilled midwife assisted his delivery with no episiotomy, tearing or complications. I’ve been told by physicians in my community that virtually no doctor here would have been able to deliver my boys naturally.
In preparation for my home births, I read voraciously–from pregnancy books to medical journal articles. I made the decision I believed was best; you made the decision you believed was best. The evidence shows that both settings achieve similar, good outcomes. We both deserve the legal option to choose our birth attendant and birth location.
Sarah Perdue
I would NEVER in a million years attempt a home birth. Everytime I tell people that my stance on this is non-negoitable, and I find it INSANE people would want to take the risks they do with a homebirth I am usually meet with a response like “Woman have been giving birth for centuries and/or birth is a natural process and it happens all the time in nature and you don’t need to be in a hospital like you are sick.” Yeah I know women used to have babies at home (in tee pees, in feilds, etc.) all the time. And guess what – a lot more of those women died in the process of giving birth. Don’t people watch old movies or read classic books!?! Like the mom is always dying in childbirth back then. Okay I am teasing about the old movies but it is the medical advances that make birth so much safer today. My sister hemorraged after her baby – if she had not been in a hospital to get blood transfusions she would have died. Even if the consequences are not fatal or there is time to get to a hospital to do an emergency c-section or whatever – if your baby is in distress do you really want to have to move yourself in the middle of your labor/and take those extra 30 minutes or hour it can take to get you into an OR!?
I know the chances are a homebirth will be fine – but why even take a chance? Because if it is not , you will never be able to live with yourself.