Having baby at home seen as safe option

Having baby at home seen as safe option

news.yahoo.com

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – When attended by a registered midwife, delivering a baby at home is a safe alternative to delivery in a hospital, according to a Canadian study.

The findings echo those of a Dutch study published in July that found that a planned home birth is as safe as a planned hospital birth, provided that a trained midwife is available, a good transportation and referral system is in place, and the mother has a low risk of developing any complications.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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I cannot stand the thought of anyone ever losing a child, the thought alone of it ever happening to me is just the most heartbreaking feeling you could ever possibly imagine, it must be completely devastating and I cannot feel nothing but sorrow for anyone who ever has.

The reason I've posted this here is because I 'almost' lost my wife back in 2005, she suffered a Postpartum hemorrhage shortly after giving birth.

She was given the drugs oxytocin and methylergonovine that each help the uterus to contract to stop the bleeding but it didn't work so she had to have a minor but major lifesaving operation, and thankfully she was saved in no way that could have been done at home.

Seeing my wife's heart stop for those few seconds is a really hard feeling to describe, I'm just very thankful She was in the Hospital with plenty of staff around or she most certainly would have died.

The Midwife also considered her to be "at low risk of developing any complications."

If you are indeed a woman reading this who is pregnant, don't worry yourself over this because apparently what happened to my wife was a really rare occurrence, but if you are planning to have a home birth, I suggest you buy an incubator, lots of towels, a few bags of blood and a life support machine just incase, you really can never be too safe... or better still just go to a hospital! Remember that's just my opinion, I'm certainly no expert.

I did a little bit of research and according to several sources, 536,000 women die per year of avoidable complications in pregnancy in childbirth, more than 99% are in developing countries, and die because of infection, lack of facilities and trained health care workers. And it's not just the women that are at risk.

According to a 2006 study, 8 million children are born annually with serious disorders, 3.3 million of them worldwide died of birth defects that year.

Maybe a home birth is the best or only option for some?
I don't know but, my unprofessional advice is be ready and waiting at the Hospital, like I said, I'm no expert, that's just MHO.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 7-9-2009 by ChemicalSubstance]

Originally posted by ChemicalSubstance

The findings echo those of a Dutch study published in July that found that a planned home birth is as safe as a planned hospital birth, provided that a trained midwife is available, a good transportation and referral system is in place, and the mother has a low risk of developing any complications.

These are some pretty big "provideds." What the article really seems to be saying is that home births are safe if there are no complications or unforseen cicumstances. Even without any mishaps I'm sure a trained midwife is an essential asset.

Although I have known people who have had had perfect and healthy babies at home, I wouldn't take the risk.

Some people avoid hospital births for religious reasons or distrust of medical practices in general, and I suppose some think that women have been having babies since the beginning of the species so it's the natural thing to do. But the fact is childbirth was the leading cause of death in women until well into the 20th century. Not to mention all the babies who died because of birthing complications or improper handling or the death of the mother.

Why go back to less enlightened times?

MY good friend, his grandmother lives across the street from me..im a small red cement huose. The house back in the early 1900's was our citys water pump house. My friend, is 35 years old now, i am 34. He wa born in the bathub in that house, in august 1974. Today, 35 yers later his is fit, a total survivor, knows everything from electrician too auto mechnics to camping to fitness. i was born in a hospitol..but was born with jaundus. I was in bad shape when born. The doctors knew what too lool for at that time. I am sure tis safe to be born at home, yes...but supose thier was in fact, something seriously wrong witht he baby when born? perhaps the uymbelical chord might get tightly wrapped around the kids neck..a doctor would respon immediatly.. most i assume might panic in fear and start messing thigns up.
ide feel safer with the kid being born on hospitol. thier are too many factors that can go wrong, without the trained eye and knowledge a present docotr can tell right off the bat.

Originally posted by ChemicalSubstance

The reason I've posted this here is because I 'almost' lost my wife back in 2005, she suffered a Postpartum hemorrhage shortly after giving birth.

She was given the drugs oxytocin and methylergonovine that each help the uterus to contract to stop the bleeding but it didn't work so she had to have a minor but major lifesaving operation, and thankfully she was saved in no way that could have been done at home.

[edit on 7-9-2009 by ChemicalSubstance]

Same thing happened to my wife - boy was that a lot of blood. She was given some sort of shot and herbs. The bleeding stopped but she had a lot of clots inside her so the midwife went elbow deep and got it all out....interesting experience indeed when she was digging....much like the movie Alien before they bust out...anyways other than the hemorrhaging everything went fine that night.

reply to post by Sestias


Thanks for your reply.

I see exactly where your coming from. A midwife is an essential asset if you know there is a low risk of developing any complications, but of course you never know, just as me and my wife didn't and was actually considering a home birth.

Most of what I said in my OP is most probably just the effect of what the experience had on me, and also knowing that the midwife would never have been able to handle that situation.

The headline saying that home births are just as safe as hospital births just doesn't seem to make sense. It would seem obvious that being in an hospital is much more safer than being at home.

IMHO the headline is dangerously misleading.

reply to post by ziggy1706

yes...but suppose there was in fact, something seriously wrong with he baby when born? perhaps the umbilical chord might get tightly wrapped around the kids neck..a doctor would respond immediately.. most i assume might panic in fear and start messing things up. I'd feel safer with the kid being born on hospital. there are too many factors that can go wrong.

This part is pretty much what I'm saying, thanks for your reply.

Hospitals often cause complications. One practice that leads to complications is that of having the birthing mother lie on her back during labor and delivery. The weight of the uterus and baby goes against a vein that supplies blood to the baby. This can cause distress in the baby leading to c-section.

Another practice is that of starving the birthing mother during the labor/delivery. Labor is an intensive body process which requires nutrients. Hunger/starvation causes labor to slow which leads to more c-sections. Also, when mother does not eat, neither does the baby. The longer the labor, the longer the baby goes without eating. The baby can thus go into distress which leads to c-section.

Many c-sections result in infections and other complications.

Forcing birthing mom to labor on her back also increases pain involved with the labor process. Back pain can not be alieviated since she can not move into more comfortable position.

Hospital births are not all that safer for everyone. Sometimes the hospital policies cause problems which would not otherwise have occured.

I had all three of my kids in the hospital, with the last one the cord

was around her neck, she was delivered safely, I hemorrhaged after

she was born, these were two serious occurances Im glad I was in

the hospital, my choice is for delivering at the hospital, because

of emergencies like this... it is a choice that mothers have to make.

[edit on 8-9-2009 by truth/seeker]

This is happening in the UK too. Yes it would be lovely to have your child born at home but as previously posts have said complications are very common even with normal pregnancys.

All the people I know have had some kind of compliction and I had to have an emergency c-section despite having a very normal pregnancy. I went for a selective c-section for my second cos I didn't want to go through a similar experience.

I find this advice worrying, espcially as we are being told in the UK that there is a shortage of midwives and trained staff. I believe it is a way of reducing costs, althought the spending of the NHS is ridiculous with no long term planning.

At our local hospital (4 miles away) they have moved our ante-natal dept (and A&E despite having a section of motorway that is recordbreaking in the number of accidents) to another hospital some 20 miles away, Several years ago they spent a large amount of money to refurbish and update the wards!

[edit on 8-9-2009 by YarlanZey]

reply to post by Jessicamsa

Many c-sections result in infections and other complications. Forcing birthing mom to labor on her back also increases pain involved with the labor process. Back pain can not be alieviated since she can not move into more comfortable position. Hospital births are not all that safer for everyone. Sometimes the hospital policies cause problems which would not otherwise have occured.

Thanks for that!

Under Obama Care all these risks would/ will be increased greatly as every mother will rush to the hospital for FREE care! Obviously increasing risks of infection and putting heavy pressure on stressed doctors and nurses.

Hospitals are sourses of major infections in this case of the post partem uterus. If the mother has a birthing problem the risks of complications from infection are increase many fold being in a hospital.

Stay at home, be educated and informed and have medical professionals ready is always a reasonable choice!

I just want to know why child birth in humans is so difficult that it was the leading cause of death in woman until the 2oth century. Why is it less likely to happen in all the animals in the world except us?

And how come WE take so long to walk? The bulk of animals in the world are walking within hours of birth. How come us Humans have to waiit it out?

I demand answers, and God, you better provide them. Im serious we gonna have to fix it. Maybe genetic research can discover why we have to wait so long?

reply to post by DYepes


Cause Eve had to break the one and only rule I had.~ God

My first two births could have gone off with out a hitch at home. both boys had the umbilical cord wrapped around their necks, but it was cut both times prior to delivery and could have been done by a midwife. I had planned for a tub birth my my youngest but to my great disappointment she was born prematurely requiring delivery in a hospital.
With my first I had an unnecessary episeotomy just so the Dr. could hurry along the birth. This is a major cause of modern day hemorrhaging.

reply to post by DYepes

I don't think it's the delivery alone that causes the majority of difficulties. Otherwise healthy women can develop problems during pregnancy like high blood pressure, diabetes etc. If left unchecked these conditions can escalate during later gestation and delivery.

The saddest thing I've ever read was a stack of letters I found in an old antique trunk. They were from a daughter to her mother. She was pregnant with her first child and developed either high blood pressure or diabetes I can't remember which anyway overtime she got much worse. In her last letter she said she had to quit crocheting as she was going blind. At the end of the stack was her and her baby's obituary.

I had 2 uneventful pregnancies, short labors with natural deliveries. After my first my bleeding wouldn't stop. The Dr. sounded concerned and was aggressively massaging my abdomen. He later told me I lost a lot of blood. I was sure glad to have the staff available.

As far as the walking thing taking so long...we're a complicated being. Our gestation period should be longer but the female body couldn't deliver a larger baby. The stresses of a longer gestation could kill or weaken the woman. A larger baby would put too much of a strain on bodily functions like the heart, liver, kidneys etc. So we have helpless little babies that our bodies are able to tolerate and we must finish gestation very carefully on the outside. Human children have a human community to protect them unlike a lone animal on the Serengeti whose offspring must be able to run from predators moments after birth.

I have known women who have successfully delivered at home but I preferred the hospital. Keep your stay short, keep baby close and refuse the drugs if you can. I don't like the idea of an epidural I've heard some horror stories. Since I live in an isolated region many new moms make appointments in larger cities to have their babies on a certain day, labor is induced with drugs. I've heard artificially induced labor is stronger and more painful often requiring pain meds. I don't like this idea at all lucky for me our little country hospital was still open and did deliveries. Our new improved hospital will not deliver babies! How ridiculous is that? It has to do with insurance. If you show up in labor they will transport you out.

reply to post by DYepes

Why is it less likely to happen in all the animals in the world except us?

Certainly dogs and cats have a high rate of loss in their litters. C- sections and birthing problems are common. Even in the wild animal populations there is a high rate of loss in their young. Nature tends to clean up the evidence rather quickly but the signs are there.

Human reproduction has its problems, then again we are a very successful species in the long run. We have how many billion alive now attesting to the prevailing successes recently. It also reminds us of how it wasn't so easy for our ancestors with diseases and birthing difficulties holding the population down for centuries.

whoa whoa wait... is this supposed to be news??

i was born on the couch for crying out loud. my mom didnt have any painkillers and i turned out a normal and healthy person.

why wouldnt it be safe to have a baby at home? do you think you need a bunch of meds being pushed into your veins to be able to have a safe childbirth?

what about all the people from ages ago who didnt have hospitals? their babies managed to survive.. did they not? if they didnt... we wouldnt be here today.

My wife wanted to have natural childbirth with our first born. After 30+ hours of excruciating labor, they discovered that my son's head was too large (92nd percentile) and an emergency c-section was required. As soon as he was out they handed him to me and while I was showing him to my wife (they were trying to do all the internal clean up that goes along with a c-section) she had a brief couple of seconds of incredible joy and relief. At the moment they said they were taking my son to the mother/baby room and asked me to follow, I hear my wife cry and say "God it hurts!" as I turn around and see she was spraying blood badly. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, choosing between going with my newborn son and wanting to stay beside my wife and hold her hand. This was in Tucson, AZ.

Two years later, in Washington State, when our daughter was born via c-section, I saw how things are supposed to go. After I had my daughter in my arms (wailing like a banshee as opposed to the exhausted little boy two years prior following 30 hours of labor) I sat by my wife's head so she could see and interact with our daughter while they got her cleaned and stapled up and then we ALL went to the mother/baby room together.

In both cases, home delivery would have probably resulted in disaster.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
My wife wanted to have natural childbirth with our first born. After 30+ hours of excruciating labor, they discovered that my son's head was too large (92nd percentile) and an emergency c-section was required. As soon as he was out they handed him to me and while I was showing him to my wife (they were trying to do all the internal clean up that goes along with a c-section) she had a brief couple of seconds of incredible joy and relief. At the moment they said they were taking my son to the mother/baby room and asked me to follow, I hear my wife cry and say "God it hurts!" as I turn around and see she was spraying blood badly. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, choosing between going with my newborn son and wanting to stay beside my wife and hold her hand. This was in Tucson, AZ.

Two years later, in Washington State, when our daughter was born via c-section, I saw how things are supposed to go. After I had my daughter in my arms (wailing like a banshee as opposed to the exhausted little boy two years prior following 30 hours of labor) I sat by my wife's head so she could see and interact with our daughter while they got her cleaned and stapled up and then we ALL went to the mother/baby room together.

In both cases, home delivery would have probably resulted in disaster.

how do you think people had babies before healthcare and hospitals were around?

how do you think people had babies before healthcare and hospitals were around?

there was a really high mother and infant mortality rate. i was born with a cord around my head and possibly as a result of that i have a permanent chemical imbalance in my brain that causes constant anxiety. if i were born at home, i might not be alive today.

i don't like hospitals though. maybe the whole crew could accompany the mother?

Originally posted by Donnie Darko

how do you think people had babies before healthcare and hospitals were around?

there was a really high mother and infant mortality rate. i was born with a cord around my head and possibly as a result of that i have a permanent chemical imbalance in my brain that causes constant anxiety. if i were born at home, i might not be alive today.

i don't like hospitals though. maybe the whole crew could accompany the mother?

yes but.. isnt that supposed to be a natural part of life? some babies live, some die. some mothers live, some die. instead the world is highly populated and medicated and staying alive longer. who ever said that was how the world is suposed to be?

my mom had 5 kids and wasnt sedated once, with any of us. she came out fine, and me and all of my brothers came out fine.

its natural and its beautiful. having a C section is a non normal part of human life.