A little frightened here.. - Page 2

[MsBlack]

ONLY WOMEN GIVE BIRTH....ONLY A MOTHER DELIVERS HER BABIES....all others are mere supporters of her process.

Hmmmm, Mr. BeLIEve, maybe something like the above should be your mantra during this pregnancy.

No way your wife will be able to do her work in an efficient and happy way if you are wearing your Lead Paramedic Hat!

See, your usual job is to fix things that are broken (or get the fixing started anyway, so that the docs/surgeons can carry on). Your usual job is to deal with problems, emergencies, crises. Which is great! You just have to remember that you are not trained to deal with normal birth, which is of course a normal, healthy process and NO sort of emergency or problem or crisis. Wonderful for you to be learning as much as you can--I'd say, just be careful to realize that a great deal of what you already know about human bodies and helping them will simply not apply to being a dad at his woman's birthing of their child.

This has to be a time when you take off that Lead Paremedic Hat, step away from your usual manner of being In Charge, and become a willing supporter of Mom's work.

[Amila]

Ugh. Read Born in the USA if you want to read more about why you shouldn't follow the beliefs of ACOG. Good luck! I know its hard to be the minority.

[plantmama]

I sort of got the impression that Believe IS the mom delivering, but correct me if I'm wrong.

[georgia]

Hey, Believe! Congratulations and welcome to MDC

I think you'd be interested in reading this ACOG rebuttal

My brother has been a paramedic for well over a decade, and he'd also be the first to say he makes a horrific "patient" The thing is, in most circumstances, birth is not a medical event. It's a huge paradigm shift for many of us

Here is a great list of Mothering articles for you to check out if you're interested.

and here's a great Henci Goer link, too

[jeliphish]

I believe the AMA and the ACOG need and have to make these "blanket" rules for the general population.That doesn't mean it's the right decision for you and your family.
Homebirth is not the safest option for all women....especially a lot of the population I work with. There are families and people who are living in filth, drug infected homes - would I ever advocate for a baby to be born at home under these circumstances....absolutely not. And lets face it, some women just don't give a crap enough to be generally concerned about the welfare of their child.
I don't think it's some conspiracy to keep the hospitals and doctors rich.....birth IS a business and some women want that "care". People who want to 'buy into the business" absolutely have the right to do so...or they can decide to do what's best for their families and homebirth.

I could go on forever LOL...

[smeep]

Originally Posted by dylan1984

If you get a good midwife, your baby won't be delivered by a complete stranger. My midwife has taken more time to get to know me and my family and our actual personalities than any doctor ever DREAMED of. She is truly like a family member now.

:

My midwife is a part of my family and took the time to get to know me as a person, not just a client. In fact, I came across the email of the midwife who helped birth me and 3 of my 4 siblings and emailed her. It's been 20 years since I've seen her (since my youngest sister was born) and she still remembered us - not just that, but EVERY one of our births and even details! Imagine how many babies she's caught since then in 20 years and she still remembers everything! Not one of the doctors I saw with DS before I found my midwife took the time to get to know me as a person. I would now birth in a hospital ONLY if I was at huge risk and needed the rare assistance only a hospital could provide, and even then I would still hire my midwife, out of pocket if necessary, to attend the birth. I can't imagine birthing without her.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by BeLIEve

The AMA supports the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ official recommendation that “the safest setting for labor, deilvery, and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, that meets standards jointly outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics and ACOG.” -AMA

I'm having my first baby in August, and my wife and I are having a hard time deciding if we should homebirth after reading this. It's got her and I a little scared.

I haven't read any of the replies, but I thought I'd mention that, at various times, doctors have supported routine episiotomy (cutting every woman's vagina during birth), "twilight sleep" (doping labouring women to the nines...and I've seen some of the few OBs that were around at that time joke about the way women behaved under the influence), taking newborns away from their mothers for extended periods of time (for no real reason), discouraging and/or forbidding (through drugs to dry up the milk, often administered without consent) breastfeeding, etc.

Even now, episiotomies are frequently performed. Many (most?) OBs have no idea how to attend a breech birth, so they automatically do a c-section, which has lifelong repercussion for the woman's reproductive life (ask me how I know). Once a woman's water breaks, she's put "on the clock" due to the risk of infection...but they continue to stick things up her vagina to increase the risk of infection (yeah - that makes all kind of sense).

Doctors don't know everything...and they make no money off a homebirth, which makes their stance on this subject highly suspect, imo.

[2+twins]

My dh is also the lead paramedic at his job and he did just great at our homebirths (all four of our children). The thing is, it's never been a *medical* event. It's been a normal, natural event. He didn't NEED to put on his paramedic hat and save me or the baby from anything. The midwife should not feel like a stranger, as others have said. She'll become a person near and dear to you and your wife's heart, from my experience and from what I've heard from countless other home birthers. It's like finding a new great friend - one who puts you at ease and who you can talk to about anything, only she also has this great skillset which you'll put to use (whether that means she ultimately does nothing more than offer verbal support or whether she needs to step in and actually assist - and believe me, she will know WAY better how to assist the birth process than you, no offense intended, but you simply are not trained in it like she is - and I know this from my own paramedic dh).

Take a deep breath, try to let go of everything you've heard and start to read. Learn for yourself and form your own opinions on the matter. Books: Pushed, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Baby Catcher, The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. DVDs: Pregnant in America, The Business of Being Born, Orgasmic Birth, Gentle Birth Choices (comes with the current revision of the book by the same name).

Last, I find that asking a potential midwife every question you have about the what-ifs and anything else you can think of always puts people at ease. It's the unknown that's so scary, but once you find out how it all works, it makes so much more sense and that fear is no longer there. Good luck on your journey!

[ZoeyZoo]

I wouldn't take too much faith in the AMA's recommendation. They have actually been trying to make it illegal for years (search the activist boards for more info).

Check out books by Henci Goer. A Thinking Women's Guide to A Better Birth is a good one. She is a medical researcher that reports the pros and cons of procedures that are routine. You'll be afraind to step foot in a hospital. She also includes some of the medical studies IN the book so you can take a look with a critical eye. She has a website with some articles too at www.hencigoer.com

I hope someone can post the link to the British Medical Journal study showing that HB is as safe as a hospital birth. Actually outcomes were better for the homebirths.

[2+twins]

Originally Posted by ZoeyZoo

I hope someone can post the link to the British Medical Journal study showing that HB is as safe as a hospital birth. Actually outcomes were better for the homebirths.

That would be here: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416

[Proxi]

I think the one thing (straw that broke the camels back I suppose) that convinced me that I would have a homebirth when I became pregnant was that I read the World Health Organization said the best C-section rate is around 10-15%, and my city (Edmonton, Alberta) was sitting around 30%..... WAY over what it should be for absolutely no good reason. I don't want a c-section unless there is a GOOD reason, not the "the baby might not turn so lets schedule a c-sec two weeks before your due-date to not even give it a chance to turn" like so many of my friends have experienced.

It is also about where you and your wife would feel most comfortable. The hospitals near where I live have a very minimal chance of me being able to have a water birth, something I fairly certain I will want (I run to my bathtub at the first sign of headache/stomach ache/stress/anything lol) and I wouldn't have a private room. I am a very private person, so I don't want to share the day after I have my baby with a stranger. I definitely would not feel comfortable there, and so homebirth would be the best option assuming a healthy pregnancy.

(http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/.../en/index.html)