Husbands and Home Birth: A Call for Women to Educate Men

by Kathleen Quiring on February 29, 2012

I recently read a thoughtful, thorough article comparing the different options of birth settings available to mothers: home, birthing center, and hospital.

The author concludes the article by explaining that she personally chose to give birth in a hospital because her husband felt uncomfortable with a home birth, and she wanted to be submissive to him in the matter. In fact, she admits that she didn’t even bother to give much thought to the question of a home birth after her husband’s initial response.

The comments to that article were filled with similar stories: women who may have wanted to give birth at home opted to birth in a hospital because their husbands were uncomfortable with the thought of a home birth.

When I mentioned this to a friend, she said, “Oh definitely. My husband doesn’t want me to have a home birth, either.”

Let me begin by saying that I understand that these husbands are objecting to home births primarily out of love and concern for their wives. They want their wives — and their babies — to be safe. They believe hospital births are the safer option. It’s wonderful that these men care so deeply about their wives’ well-being.

But these men’s objections to home birth are also rooted in ignorance, fear, and androcentrism (more on these in a moment), and that’s a problem. I don’t think, then, that the matter of childbirth is one in which female submission is entirely appropriate.*

Before I go any further, I also want to say that I’m deeply impressed by these http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwomen’s lack of resentment or bitterness towards their husbands. That takes a level of maturity that I don’t entirely share.

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Why are more women birthing at home?

BY Ricki Lake

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the surprising news that home birth rates jumped 29% between 2004-2009. For non-Hispanic white women, home births increased a dramatic 36%.

Many experts are trying to figure out what caused this enormous spike, but no one is entirely sure.

Some say that an increase in the number of women without insurance is a factor since home births are more affordable than hospital births. Others counter that insured women often pay out of pocket for home births because it isn’t covered under their policies.

Many childbirth professionals feel the increase is a result of more education and informed choice. They say women want more control over their environment and a one-on-one relationship with their birth attendant.

A few articles cited my 2008 documentary The Business of Being Born as a contributing factor combined with the “celebrity influence” of women like myself, Gisele Bundchen, and Cindy Crawford who have shared our positive home birth stories.

Personally, I think there is some truth to almost all these theories. I know firsthand that The Business of Being Born has opened many people’s eyes to the possibility of a home birth as a more mainstream option. But I think attributing the trend to being Hollywood-driven is kind of silly.

First of all, very few celebrities have natural births or home births and the ones who do rarely talk about it publicly. Secondly, celebrities may influence beauty and fashion trends but there’s a huge difference between getting a sexy tattoo and having a twelve-hour, unmedicated labor! Believe me, nobody has a natural birth or a home birth to be fashionable or trendy.

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Homebirth Ryan Gosling

Please check this site out, it is hilarious! Homebirth Ryan Gosling

A Beautiful Birth Video

Birth from Josh Rask Films on Vimeo.

Home births are making a comeback

By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

January 26, 2012, 10:05 a.m.
Home birth is making a marked resurgence in the United States, according to data released Thursday by the federal government.

A century ago, most births took place at home. But the rate fell steadily and slipped to less than 1% of all births by 1969 and just over 0.5% in 2004.

Though still not common, home births have risen 29% from 2004 to 2009, according to the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2009, the most recent year for which data are available, 0.72% of all births took place at home. The trend is particularly noteworthy among white women. Home births among that group rose 36% since 2004 and accounted for more than 1% of all births in 2009.

The northwestern part of the country has the strongest trend in home births -- 2% in Oregon and 2.6% in Montana. The sheer lack of transportation in rural areas may play a significant role in home births in some areas, the authors of the report stated. Cost might be a factor too, because home births are about one-third the cost of hospital births.

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My Attraction (HomeBirth After 3 c-sections) HBA3C. A story of healing ♥

An OB Pushing Her Baby Out At Home? Say It Ain't So!

Is it wrong to admit that when I got this birth story I thought I was being Punked? Only the sure knowledge that Ashton Kutcher couldn't waste his time on me assured me that this wasn't the case. Though probably rare, this is a birth story from an obstetrician. (I admit, I still have doubts. I must be very, very jaded!)

Seriously though, I have had four medical doctors in my classes trying to have natural births. Sometimes even the people who are part of obstetric America realize that "that" kind of birth isn't what they want.

Congrats to this mom on her lovely home water birth. May we all have beautiful births like this.

Enjoy-



Caden's Home Waterbirth


This was my first pregnancy. My “guess date” was Monday, Sept 19. I had a wedding of a close friend to attend Sept 17 and joked at the party to everyone that 'Peanut' & I had had a discussion and that he/she was going to arrive the next day. I had seen my MW, Lisa, on Friday, Sept 16 and had had my membranes stripped.

I was currently the chief resident in charge of the gynecology service at a busy inner-city hospital and we had a busy week planned – a week full of long surgeries and although I had prided myself on plowing through 60-80hr work weeks with nary a complaint, the thought of doing another week was almost more than I could handle. We made an appointment for her to come back on Sunday to restrip them again.

At the wedding I did dance a lot, which caused some non-laborish contractions but otherwise nothing to get excited about.

We had a late night and I didn't sleep all that well. I woke up at 6am with contractions that were uncomfortable but not really painful. I had watery bloody discharge in a fairly large amount and was concerned my water was broken. I was timing contractions at this time and when I had woken up they were about 5-6min apart. I gave up laying in bed about 7am and got up, sitting on an exercise ball, moving my hips during contractions. The contractions persisted and about 8am I decided to call Lisa and let her know that I had somehow managed to make an appointment for my labor! LOL

She thought I was just having bloody show and was not ruptured. About 9a I went to pee and there was just more of the discharge than I wanted to clean up, so I decided to get in the shower. The shower was really relaxing and made the contractions seem less intense but still frequent. However, once I got out they became more intense and required more attention. I could no longer sit on the exercise ball during a contraction so I went to kneeling on the floor and leaning over the exercise ball which worked great. Although they hurt more, I still felt in control. I was able to snack on some fruit here and there – luckily I thought to eat a substantial breakfast right when I got up before things got intense – my mom kept me supplied in cut up fruit and water.

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When push comes to shove, home births don't deserve to be demonised

Tara Moss
December 14, 2011

Monty Python's 1983 film The Meaning of Life begins with a woman in hospital about to give birth. Comedians Graham Chapman and John Cleese are dressed as doctors in scrubs, surrounded by expensive hospital equipment (including the machine that goes ''ping'').

''Don't you worry, we'll soon have you cured,'' Chapman tells the panting woman. When she asks ''What do I do?'', Cleese replies: ''Nothing, dear. You're not qualified.''

Childbirth is still seen by many as something best ''cured'' by a doctor in hospital. The rate of major surgery for birth has more than doubled in the past 15 years in Australia. More than 30 per cent of mothers now have a caesarean - more than 40 per cent in private hospitals.
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And caesareans aren't the only procedure on the rise. Obstetricians in NSW have been given strict new guidelines after a record 34 per cent of women having their first baby were induced in 2009 (more than 50 per cent in three hospitals), causing significantly higher numbers of emergency caesareans and other complications. First-time mothers who give birth in hospital here are now more likely to have a medical intervention than not.

While the medicalisation of birth is on the rise, the demonisation of women seeking natural births continues. A recent article in The Daily Telegraph by Miranda Devine labelled all home births dangerous and home-birthers as selfish "zealots".

It followed a previous article in the Herald in 2009 - the same year the largest study conducted into home births (examining 529,688 births and published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) concluded that home births for normal pregnancies were just as safe. In 2009, Devine quoted a doctor saying that ''100 years ago, one in 10 women died from complications of childbirth and [one in 10] babies''. In her article this year, she pointed out that ''3.5 million babies are stillborn, 90 per cent of them in impoverished Africa and Asia'', concluding that we have modern medicine to thank for our better birth outcomes in Australia.

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Five Reasons to Choose a Midwife for Your Pregnancy Care

By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com Guide

Using a midwife is growing in popularity as increasing numbers of women choose midwifery care in some form or another for their pregnancy and birth. Here are some of the top reasons given for choosing a midwife:

1. You’re a low risk woman.
Midwives generally only take care of low risk women. This means that your midwife has been trained to ensure that you do your best to stay healthy and low risk through out your pregnancy by guiding you in your choices towards healthy options. It also means that she is constantly watching to ensure you are within these healthy parameters, like a life guard, only stepping in when needed. Occasionally you will have a midwife in a high risk practice, she provides patient education in these settings.

2. You want a normal birth.
Midwives tend to have much lower intervention rates, like a lower cesarean and induction of labor rates. This eases the minds of many women who are hoping to avoid unneeded interventions. It also means that your midwife has plenty of ways to help you cope with pregnancy and labor that don’t involve medications when they aren’t needed. Some midwives do use medications in labor, depending on the location of your birth. Your midwife is also more likely to spend time with you, helping your through labor.

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