Oh, don't get me started....too late, already did. Probably all of you who check in here are aware that I gave birth to my last 3 babies at home. Under no normal circumstances would I dream of darkening the door of a hospital while in labor, and even the thought of hospital birthing again is enough to make me need a drink ;-) Obviously I am a strong proponent of midwifery and frequently encourage low-risk mothers to consider what I believe to be the best and safest model of birth care -- STAY HOME! Some new media attention has recently been shed on the whole home birth issue, with the documentary spearheaded by Ricki Lake, called The Business of Being Born. I highly recommend it, and applaud her willingness to take on this topic in a society decidedly UNfriendly to the home birth culture. But boy did she ever scare the birth establishment! OBs and hospitals everywhere are scrambling to convince people that Lake (and the producer, and everyone in the film) are just fringe quacks and liars to boot. I love it when they get this defensive...means something is going right. So now they, in their elitist medical wisdom have passed a resolution designed for damage control in the wake of the film's success, as well as an attempt at greater future control in birth legislation. The medical establishment would never want it to get out to the masses that, shhhhhh....women can give birth on their own.
17 June 2008
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6 "atta girl"s:
Oh, good grief! Heaven forbid women make their own choices about where they can give birth. After all, these people aren't pro-choice, right?
Oh, I guess its ok as long as they as making choices the powers that be agree with. Other than that, choice is a bad thing.
OK, I'll shut up now or I will get started as well. I'll have to check out that film!
Couldn't agree more! Thanks for pointing that out - I'll have to make sure to pick it up!
HOw funny, I just logged on to your blog to get your email so I could forward you the email I got from The Business of Being Born to inform you of it. Guess you are already in the know!
Way to go, Kris! Tell us how you really feel! :) And God Bless you for it!
Although I've done the home birth thing. My favorite is still a midwife, a jacuzzi and a birthing center... it's the way to go :) Glad someone is addressing this issue so many of us view as normal.
Err...I hate to be the overly fastidious one here, but do you have any medical evidence to prove this newfangled idea that "women can give birth on their own?" (Remember -- as I've had repeatedly impressed upon me as a parent with a developmentally challenged kid -- your *own* experiences are merely anecdotal; what I'm asking for here is something published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and preferably within the last two years.)
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