Kirsten on Home Birth and safety

But Is Home Birth Really Safe?

There are two main reasons that people assume a hospital is the safest place to give birth:  the presence of medical doctors and technology.   A backup plan is a must in a home birth for an emergency situation, but for women who are low risk, research supports certified midwife attended home birth as a safe alternative to hospital birth.  

While doctors may have more extensive formal obstetric education, certified midwives undergo rigorous training to become experts in the practical aspects of labor and birth. In a busy hospital setting, doctors may only be present for the final stage of labor as the mother begins to push.  Nurses primarily monitor labor, often caring for several women at one time.  Midwives are familiar with the entirety of labor and delivery and give one-on-one care throughout.  Nurses and doctors often rely on elective medical interventions such as electronic fetal monitoring, labor induction, and episiotomy which can result in adverse outcomes even in low-risk women.  Midwives use safer alternative methods such as intermittent listening and perineal massage which would be difficult or impossible for busy doctors and nurses in a hospital.

In these days of iPhones and wireless everything, we tend to trust technology above all else—perhaps to a fault.  The United States may be one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world but in 2003, thirty-one countries had lower infant mortality rates.  The countries with the lowest mortality rates were those where midwifery is an integral part of obstetric care and where births more commonly take place outside of a hospital.  According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. infant mortality rate drops from 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births to 2.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in midwife-attended birth.  I take all statistics with a grain of salt because there can be so many contributing factors, but these numbers still give pause.

This barely scratches the surface, but hopefully provides some basic support for the safety of home birth.  If you want to read more on this topic, please dig deeper! There are a ton of great books out there, including Gentle Birth Choices by Barbara Harper, which supplied the research for this post.   

Comments

[Anna]

I think it’s really all about what’s right for you :) I’ve had my three in the hospital and will be delivering there again this fall. I’ve had two amazing experiences there and my doctors were in and out the whole time checking on me and even coming in just to talk :) I guess not all Doctors are the same but mine have always been there with me and very much hands-on. The nurses I’ve had with all three have been encouraging, supportive, and just fun :) My husband and I have also kept all our babies in the room with us all day and night while we stayed in the Hospital. They only went to the nursery in the morning to see the resident Pediatrician before we left to go home.
I’ve also had several friends who have had homebirths with no complications and for them that was the way to go.
For me my Hospital births have been wonderful, joyful, and I couldn’t ask for a better Doctor or nurses :) For each woman the choice you make is the right choice for :)

[Kirsten]

I agree--it's all about what choice works for YOU. I think that if you're nervous and uncomfortable with your attending staff or the place you're giving birth, it can only serve to make you more anxious and your labor more difficult! I like talking about home birth as often people haven't heard about it as an alternative--it's another choice a woman can make, and choices are good! But it has to be YOURS.

[Monica]

For those in the Reston area, I highly recommend the Loudoun Community Midwives. All the fun of a midwife but in a hospital setting. They are fantastic ladies and my birth experience couldn't have gone better. (They deliver at Loudoun Hospital.)

[Monica]

For those in the Reston area, I highly recommend the Loudoun Community Midwives. All the fun of a midwife but in a hospital setting. They are fantastic ladies and my birth experience couldn't have gone better. (They deliver at Loudoun Hospital.)