I stumbled upon a story this morning about a woman who chose to give birth in her Sydney Australia home and within minutes of giving birth, the outer body, beautiful and natural experience became seriously life threatening. The baby was also under severe duress while the mother lay bleeding to death. The midwife called in the emergency and a medevac helicopter arrived, taking 30 minutes to stabilize the pair and flew them to the nearest hospital where they are both doing fine after proactive medical intervention.
It leaves me to wonder, this small, yet growing sub-culture that engages in hating medical intervention (a sub-culture that has become so self-loathing and hateful towards progress itself or “intervention”), isn’t it selfish to denounce the medical community, only to call upon it to save one’s life when it’s needed? It’s one thing if one’s life is in danger dure to an accident, but is it wrong to secretly wish this woman gets a $25,000 bill for the medivac, as I secrety do (which I’m sure is only a fraction of the cost)? After all, valuable resources were taken away for a knowingly risky choice. In my opinion, she knowingly put her and her baby in harms way.
A Physician wrote about his thoughts on the matter in this letter to the editor of The Border Mail in Australia:
I REPLY to the letter from Janet Fraser, national convenor Joyous Birth (The Border Mail September16), which demonstrates perfectly the misinformation this minority group puts forward as “evidence-based” facts.
This group has some dangerous ideas, convincing anxious expectant mothers that a home birth is safe.
The evidence-based facts are that it is at least three times more dangerous to have a baby born at home than in a hospital, because when something does go wrong, often without warning as in about 30 per cent of all births, there is not the expertise and immediate assistance from a team of professionals, including midwives, obstetricians, paediatricians and anaesthetists.
None of the obstetricians in Albury-Wodonga support home birth, and no sensible experienced midwife would agree to deliver a woman at home when the alternative is to offer a safe delivery in hospital with immediate support available.
When a person works for 35 years doing high-risk obstetrics, seeing perfectly healthy women suddenly have a complication that is a risk to their lives as well as their baby, is it any wonder that I feel saddened by the ignorance of home birth groups which are trying to take us back to the dark ages.
The data measured by the Victorian Government proves the Wodonga obstetric team has one of the best outcomes for women and their babies.
Rural women and the dedicated team of midwives and doctors do not need to be insulted by a city based group of ideologists, telling us what is safe in our environment.
— DR PIETER MOURIK,
Wodonga
Admittedly, it is difficult to get accurate data. Those opposed to home births often cite a much higher risk than those that support it, although even in home birthing organizations, I have read that home birthing is safe in about 90% of the cases (and given they have an agenda, I take that percentage with a grain of salt).
The most common argument for homebirth is that of the feminist who believes that the male dominated medical community is trying to suppress women and rip their babies out of them to establish their dominance and to demean women. I say this is a major crock. There are plenty of female gyne’s out there and to assume that male doctors generally have a hatred of women is paranoid and delusional. Their job is keep you and your baby healthy and while some misjudgements can and do occur (nobody’s infallible), I cannot buy that it is all part of a vast conspiracy to keep women down. In fact, I think women are so self-absorbed with their own victimization, that they lack reason sometimes. I’m sure there are some male doctors that hate women, I’m sure there are a lot of female doctors that hate men, but all of them love their paychecks and common sense would dictate that they put their personal feelings aside to thwart off malpractice suits.
Generally, I think those that choose to become physicians, do so because they’re smart enough, have a “God-complex” and want to make a lot of money. The way to do that, is to be a good doctor and minimize mistakes. I actually would rather have a doctor with a “God-complex” than an indecisive ninny that based his or her decisions on political correctness or sappy emotional baggage.
Another point to consider is that many midwives are practising without licenses and the more disturbing trend, the one of “unassisted” birth where no person of expertise or birthing experience is present, except one’s family, only furthers concern. In some states, unlicensed midwives are being prosecuted, and why shouldn’t they be? The New York times reports:
Midwives see it differently. They say the ability of women to choose to give birth at home is under assault from a medical establishment dominated by men who, for reasons of money and status, resent a centuries-old tradition that long ago anticipated the concerns of modern feminism.
Chloe Hendrix-Petry’s birth has not given rise to criminal charges, but a prosecution against another midwife, Jennifer Williams, is pending in Shelbyville, Ind. It was prompted by the death of a baby named Oliver Meredith that Ms. Williams delivered in June. But she is not charged with causing or contributing to Oliver’s death.
Instead, to hear the county prosecutor tell it, the case against Ms. Williams is not unlike one against a trucker caught driving without a license. Read the rest…
Unlicensed midwives, like other unlicensed individuals acting under the guise of legitimacy, ought to be held to the same standards as anybody else. Nobody is above the law.
It is my opinion that people should be allowed to make their own choices, even foolish ones. My hope is that people are completely informed of the risks involved in home births and not just risking the lives of their babies for their own political agendas and hatred of progress that has done far more good and has extended millions of people’s lives. I feel that having a home birth is an unecessary risk that I wouldn’t want to be a part of, however, there are thousands of women who think otherwise and as empowering as they might think that makes them, I think it makes them just foolish people that got lucky.
Posted
July 30, 2008 at
12:45 pm by
Allison J 
Comments (7)
Posted
December 30, 2007 at
12:15 pm by
