After unplanned homebirth, dad cuts umbilical cord to SAVE BABY'S LIFE! - Page 2

[lunarlady]

I read it and thought that if that same family heard about lotus birth their heads might explode. Not cut the cord at all? Crazy! So sad that cutting the cord was such a priority. Not just a "wow, look at our kid" moment, but a "oh no, medical emergancy!" On the plus side it sounds like everyone is healthy and that family now has a great story to tell at parties forevermore.

[MegBoz]

Originally Posted by amber87507

I remember when I was younger watching shows like "911" where a mother was giving birth at home and it was treated like a life/death emergency, and since I didnt know anything else, it seemed exactly like that.

emphasis added
Exactly! And if I hadn't read "The Thinking Woman's Guide" I would have also continued to believe what OBs told me:

• eating & drinking in labor can kill your baby (a pediatrician said this to a friend at her shower)
• cEFM is not only safe, not having EFM on continuously could result in a dead baby
• Induction is not only safe, but going beyond 41W is horribly dangerous
• AROM is not only safe, but beneficial
• GBS is horribly dangerous & the ABTs are fine (Oh, and the vaginal exams are risk-free & vital too)

etc. etc. etc.

Sad. Just sad. It's one thing if people have fear of birth after being educated (like in the case of agoraphobia - I would imagine those people, intellectually realize the world isn't that dangerous, but that doesn't stop the fear.) Fear is an emotion & emotions are difficult to control & often won't be tamed by reason, facts & logic.

But it's the fact that people are so IGNORANT about birth - they simply DON'T KNOW simple facts that I find so dreadfully sad.

[*MamaJen*]

Originally Posted by MegBoz

But it's the fact that people are so IGNORANT about birth - they simply DON'T KNOW simple facts that I find so dreadfully sad.

I agree. What I found even worse was the fact that a journalist and her editor were also that ignorant about birth, and that kind of blatant misstatement of biological fact made it into the mainstream media, which people generally believe to be true (and granted, I'm a print journalist and I can't tell you how much we look down our noses at TV reporters, but still).

[phreedom]

Before I read the article, I was expecting a tight nuchal cord or a true knot in the cord or something like that in which cutting the cord would be more of a "life saving measure". This does not appear to be the case.

I'm glad that the baby was delivered safely and I imagine that the parents must have been afraid. Especially if a home birth was not something they were accustomed to or prepared for. Why was there such a weird emphasis on the cord cutting? (not to say anything of the dirty scissors and string...)

[rabbitmum]

Very weird that people know so little about something as basic as birth!