Birth Matters!

I visited Dr. Hall today (my chiropractor) so he could work on my tailbone.  A home birth advocate, he has copies of all of Ina May's books in his waiting room.  I picked up a copy of 'Birth Matters- a midwife's manifesta', Ina May's newest book, and I was stoked because it's the only one I haven't read. His wife, Melanie, let me borrow it until my next appointment so I could read it.


          {don't click. nothing will happen.}

I immediately flipped to the birth stories, indicated by the gray pages as opposed to the white ones.  This book is different than 'Spiritual Midwifery' and 'Ina May's Guide to Childbirth' because the births mentioned are more present-day and leave out words like 'psychadelic', 'waves', and 'trip'. Our midwife, Pamela, is mentioned in several of the stories.   They were beautiful and of course it made me think about my own story there.

I don't know why people are so afraid of home birth. Home birth is amazing, moving, fantastic, primal, peaceful, empowering, and all the other words that women in these stories have used to describe it.  I'm confused as to why women in our country think they must be in a hospital with an obstetrician. Why don't women research the statistics like Jon & I did: Although home births have risen approximately 20% since 2002, still only 1% of births in the US occur outside the hospital (and this factors in people who arrived at the hospital too late!). 1 in 3 babies is born via Cesarean nationally (as much as 75% in some hospitals), and today in the United States we, as women, are more likely to die in childbirth than our mothers were (most likely due to unnecessary interventions). There are 33 other countries that rank better than the US in neonatal mortality, and 40 countries rank higher than the US in maternal mortality.  Breech babies can be delivered naturally, but usually are not.  VBACs can occur, but usually don't. Babies are usually not too big to fit through your pelvis {I was told mine would be... she was only 7lb 10oz.}, and are often delivered by elective cesarean. With healthcare so advanced, why are our statistics so bad?

If you are not deathly ill, you don't go to the hospital. Pregnancy is not an illness. Obstectricians are great at what they do with dealing with pregnancy complications, emergencies, and necessary testing for high-risk pregnancies. {Ultrasounds, diabetes screenings, etc. are not necessary in low risk women. In fact, many studies I've been reading lately have shown the risks associated with even having 1 ultrasound. If I have another child, I will probably choose not to have an ultrasound even though they are SO COOL!}

I'm stubborn. I hate people telling me what to do. I don't like going into a physician's office and agreeing with everything they say and suggest just because they have a diploma hanging on the wall., so this includes doctors.  Don't be afraid to question them at appointments, in the hospital, and during your birth! Also, don't be afraid to look into other out-of-hospital options, be it a midwifery center or home birth. Don't be afraid to have the birth YOU desire. If your desire is to be in a hospital with an epidural or an elective c-section, that's cool, too.  Just make sure it's YOUR choice, YOU have given informed consent, and YOU are not making the decision because of informed coercion from your physician. Let faith, not fear, rule your decision.

I write all this because so many women do not realize they have a choice because health care in the US is all business.  Why don't women stay in the hospital longer to heal post-delivery? They have to turn those beds and bring in the benjamins, baby! Quantity, not quality. Midwives turn out to be more affordable than a hospital birth, even if you are paying out-of-pocket like we did.  And our quality of care was far superior to that I have experienced by any M.D.  {After everything I've been through the past 28 years, you know I have seen more than my fair share of M.D.'s. Some awesome, some not-so-awesome, but none of them remotely compare to my midwife.  Oh, and I'm totally not knocking on doctors because I so wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. That is, until I realised I didn't believe in a medical model of care.}

The point of my rambling is to make sure anyone who stumbles across this post knows that they have options, should not feel coerced or frightened into to doing what is 'best for their baby' from a physicians point of view, and to follow their motherly instinct.

Mothers know best, y'all.