CDC says home birth on the rise

[Ann-Marita]

"She said a likely cause of any increase is a desire to avoid the interventions hospitals perform, ranging from cesarean sections and epidurals to controlling when the mother is with the newborn."

"...ACOG strongly opposes home births. Although ACOG acknowledges a woman's right to make informed decisions regarding her delivery, ACOG does not support programs or individuals that advocate for or who provide home births."


Here's the link:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellnes...ory?id=9998349

[emnic77]

Perhaps my hostility towards ACOG is showing, but this line:

Although ACOG acknowledges a woman's right to make informed decisions regarding her delivery,

just chaps my butt. Sure, they might ACKNOWLEDGE that right, but they sure as heck don't give a rat's behind about it past that.

[Turquesa]

This line irked me:

"Until the results of such studies [favoring home birth] are convincing, ACOG strongly opposes home births.

Translation: "Until the research tells us what we want to hear . . . "

The Big Push put out an awesome statement just today. I love the way that they frame the issue:

The increase predates the release of actress Ricki Lake’s film, The Business of Being Born, which the American Medical Association cited as a leading factor behind the new consumer demand, a claim echoed in an anti-home birth position statement from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

[MoonJelly]

The slant mentioned above is because it's ABC News. You can count on them to squelch any sort of enlightened idea or topic.

Try this article:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...rth04_ST_N.htm

And to be fair, it's technically not on the rise, but up slightly from a 15-year-drop. Still interesting though. I do wonder what we'll see in subsequent years.

[*MamaJen*]

Yeah, the new data is from 2006. I really bet we'll see big increases in '07 - '09.

[thefreckledmama]

More like...

"Until we find a way to profit from and control them, the ACOG strongly opposes home births."

I would venture to guess that one day soon, if not currently, that insurance-or rather lack there of, will start playing a larger role in women seeking midwifery care as well. There's a huge number of women who don't have or can't afford health insurance, and don't qualify for Medicaid-so paying for a homebirth with a midwife would be much less of a financial hardship than paying for an OB and hospital birth.

Which is ironic, because I think you definitely get "more" when it comes to midwifery care vs. obstetrical care...but I digress.