Educating College Students about Homebirth

[Jaimee]

My dh is a professor at a University in the family studies department.  One of his colleagues who teaches a parenting class (which covers pregnancy and birth) asked me if I would be willing to come and speak to her class about homebirth and midwives.  I am thrilled to be offered this opportunity to enlighten others about birthing options.  I feel like it's a great responsibility and I would love some help compiling what information would be most helpful.  I will start by telling my son's birth story and there will be ample time for questions, but the professor would also like me to share some basic information.

So....

1.  What information influenced you the most to choose a homebirth?

2.  What statistics do you find the most compelling regarding homebirth vs. hospital birth?  And where did you get them?

3.  What is/was your greatest obstacle to having a homebirth?

4.  What resources did you use to choose your midwife, plan the birth (supplies, etc.), get support, etc.?

5.  What information do you wish you had known and/or what would you change if you were to birth again?

6.  Anything else you would share?

Thank you so much for your help!

[nilatti]

1. I grew  up in a community where HB was the norm, and I always knew this was what I wanted. Henci Goer's book convinced my husband.
2. There's that study from all of North America (or was it just US & Canada? don't remember) that showed that, for low-risk women, HB is as safe and has a much lower intervention rate. The other one is the fact that in Norway, where HB is normal, 30% of babies are born that way...the same % are born by C-section in the US! My local hospital has a 30% C-section rate, and I don't think they are safe or normal.
3. My insurance company!!! Apparently they don't want me to have a birth that costs 1/3 or less of what an unmedicated hospital birth does. Because they aren't worried about their bottom line or something.
4. I found some HB websites and googled for midwives in my area. 
5. I wish somebody had told me that newborns don't always open their eyes and look around right away. My son only opened one eye for the first few hours, and I was scared the other one might be missing! :) I also wish I had some stats on how common the average pattern of birth is. I expected to be in labor for 10 hours or more, and have contractions that gradually got closer together and stronger. Instead, my water broke, contractions started, and they were only 1 minute apart within an hour! I literally didn't know that could happen for a first baby.
6. My brother was born at home, a long time ago, and a few years ago, my dad tore down that old shack and put up a garden. Last summer, lil brudder got married...just feet from where he was born. There's something beautiful about connecting your life to a place, like that, to a home, and I want the same connection for my family. I also wish more people knew about the cascade of interventions that can CAUSE emergencies in the hospital. I hate when I hear people say, "My baby would have died if we'd been at home and couldn't get a c-section!" Sometimes that is true, but more often than not, they have a story that starts with FHM and Pitocin, and ends in surgery. If more people knew about that, I think they'd be more open to different birth choices.

[Marissamom]

1. I was a homebirth, as was one of my sisters, so I always considered homebirth an option. I chose a hospital birth with my first though, because I moved at 37 weeks, so didn't have time to find a midwife and build a relationship. my hospital experience was not a happy one, I got treated like less than a person.

2. statistics really didn't influence my descision

3. even though midwifery is regulated in my state and insurance covers it, there is only one midwifery practice close by, so to choose a homebirth was to give up any other choice in care providers. 

4. I used a local natural birth website to find midwifery options, as well as talking to local moms. and I've been going through HB websites like this one to plan. 

5. won't have my homebirth for another month and a half-ish. 

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

Cool!  

1.  What information influenced you the most to choose a homebirth?

Actually, I was first compelled to HB in a child development course!  Before the course I had a few friends who had homebirthed but I didn't think it was for me.  When I heard it presented in such a factual "this is one option" type of way in college I felt like it was something I may try.  Then when I became pregnant I talked to a nurse at the local birth center and told her that I was also considering HB.  She advised me to go for it saying, "It's a lot easier to change your mind from a planned HB to a hospital birth than the other way around."  

2.  What statistics do you find the most compelling regarding homebirth vs. hospital birth?  And where did you get them?

Honestly, I'm not all that up on the stats for HB I must admit.  I find lots of them rather frustrating as far as how they are applied and I hate that it's so hard to get your hands on the actual studies!  That said, stats on the rates of c-section in this country as well as our high intervention rates compared to our relatively poor outcomes are another reason I chose HB.  I like the WHO for international stats and I really like reading articles from Midwifery Today.  

3.  What is/was your greatest obstacle to having a homebirth?

None, really.  But, yes, it's harder to pay for them with insurance and that is a bit of a stresser.  

4.  What resources did you use to choose your midwife, plan the birth (supplies, etc.), get support, etc.?

I found my MW through MDC, actually, because she's a CPM in MD and not quite "legal".  I get a lot of supplies second hand and from the internet, library and etc.  Books on loan from the MW as well.  Support is easy to come by for me because my family is super accepting of HB.  

5.  What information do you wish you had known and/or what would you change if you were to birth again?

I'm planning my second HB (first was a planned HB transfer).  I'm more involved this time around, which is better for me.  I wish I had known some more of my options at home (and IV, for instance, would have helped me a lot).  In retrospect, I probably should have learned a bit about hospital policy.  

6.  Anything else you would share?

Good for you for doing this!!  

Thank you so much for your help!

[Jaimee]

Thanks ladies!  I was just thinking... wasn't there a Mothering Magazine article that refuted the flawed homebirth study that was recently released?  Anyone remember what issue that was in?  Or did I read that somewhere else?

[KimMamaLove]

I think it's wonderful you've been given this opportunity to present about homebirth!

1.  Combination of my experience with two hospital births with OB doctors (water broke, labor didn't start right away, induced, epidural), stories of friends' homebirths after my 2nd was born, and educating myself about birth after I found out I was pregnant with my third.

2. Watched The Business of Being Born, read Henci Goer's "A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" and an Ina Mae Gaskin book (title eludes me right now). I don't have to books anymore so I can't state exact statistics, but the history of the OB profession was eye-opening; in addition to the stats & acceptance of homebirths outside of the US, and the stats of homebirth safety versus hospital births in the US.

3.  My husband. His mother was a Navy nurse in the Maternity Ward, so it took awhile for the idea to sink in with him. After it did, he insisted on using a Certified Nurse Midwife, as opposed to a Certified Professional Midwife -- which I was fine with.

4.  I consulted friends and members of my local Holistic Moms Network chapter who have had homebirths.

5.  Not sure yet. First homebirth will occur in late April.

6. Please READ about the history of birth and the OB profession. My sister, an LPN at a pediatrician's office, is not happy about my upcoming homebirth. She says, "you can read all you want, but it still doesn't make you a doctor." Yes, she's right, but I'm not reading to become a doctor because for low-risk & healthy pregnancies birth isn't a medical process. I'm reading to educate myself to embrace the natural process of birth and trust that my body knows what to do ... something our society and my upbringing didn't teach me.

[crystal_buffaloe]

Awesome opportunity!

I haven't had a homebirth (and am not even pregnant yet!) but I wanted to answer anyway.

1.  What information influenced you the most to choose a homebirth?

The day my daughter was born (induction that ended in a c/s) was one of the worst days of my life. I don't have much faith that I could go into a hospital to give birth and be treated like a human being, and I'm doubtful that hospital policies would allow me to birth vaginally (or even without pain medication).

2.  What statistics do you find the most compelling regarding homebirth vs. hospital birth?  And where did you get them?

The fact that for low-risk pregnancies, planned homebirth is just as safe as hospital birth. The fact that other countries who have midwifery care and more access to homebirth have lower infant and maternal mortality. The fact that women in my BMI have a 50% chance of a c-section.

I found several studies linked from MDC and I do/did a great deal of searching on Pub Med.

3.  What is/was your greatest obstacle to having a homebirth?

My family (my mother, my grandmother, and my in-laws  [my FIL and BIL are doctors, my MIL is a former L&D nurse] were very opposed to the idea when I brought it up in my first pregnancy. I was on the fence and kind of frightened about the possibility, and when I met with that opposition, I dropped it.

4.  What resources did you use to choose your midwife, plan the birth (supplies, etc.), get support, etc.?

Information about midwifes and doulas in my area is available through the internet (most have websites of their own). I have friends who have since had homebirths or who are planning homebirths for current pregnancies.

My husband is very supportive of the idea to plan a homebirth for our next pregnancy. I also find the women here on MDC to be supportive. I read the VBAC and HBAC and HB stories on The Unnecessarian and sometimes read through the threads for my sort-of local ICAN.

5.  What information do you wish you had known and/or what would you change if you were to birth again?

Nothing yet -- I'm hoping to have my first homebirth sometime in the summer of 2012.

[harli]

I hope my answers count since I haven't yet had a HB nor am I currently pregnant but I really want another child and I really want a HB from here on out.

1.  What information influenced you the most to choose a homebirth?

I had a really really bad experience with my last birth. DH and I want more children badly but in all seriousness I think I would have a panic attack if the only option for subsequent pregnancies is to go to the hospital I went to previously(which is really the only option around here). I needed to know that there were other options out there and came across HB. After that point what convinced me the most was that nearly everything done in the hospital is non-evidence based. As a science person I find it very scary that doctors commonly don't follow science in this area. Most of my convincing was thanks to Henci Goer.  

2.  What statistics do you find the most compelling regarding homebirth vs. hospital birth?  And where did you get them?

Again nearly everything in Henci Goer's book. The stat's that are most compelling to me are how IV's, EFM, lithotomy pushing position etc....are all bad and that on avg. HB is just as safe or safer then hospital birth. 3.  What is/was your greatest obstacle to having a homebirth?

As of right now I only know of 3 (possibly 2) midwives who service this area. So that could potentially greatly limit my ability of having a HB. I'm also in a non-HB friendly area. I'm scared that if something goes wrong my DH and I will be prosecuted for child neglect or some other ridiculous thing like that.

4.  What resources did you use to choose your midwife, plan the birth (supplies, etc.), get support, etc.?

Well I'm not quite there yet but so far the research I've been doing into these matters are forums like this one. 5.  What information do you wish you had known and/or what would you change if you were to birth again?

I wish I had known how abusive the hospital I birthed at was. I asked all the right questions but was lied to and in the end getting out of the delivery room as fast as possible was all that really mattered to the doc even though he had been with me for probably less then 7 min's or so. If I am blessed enough to birth again I don't plan on stepping foot in that hospital ever again. 6.  Anything else you would share?

If it were me what seems to get people who know nothing about HB the most is that the things they typically do in the hospitals are non-evidenced based and have been shown to cause complications. So I would really emphasize that to the students.

[Treeof3]

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

So....

1.  What information influenced you the most to choose a homebirth? I had a hospital birth with my first and went to the most natural-birth friendly hospital in the area.Used a practice with  1 OB and 4 CNMs. The CNM on call the day I went into labor was not one we liked. Perfect awesome med free birth... then she pulled my placenta, inverted my uterus and caused a cascade of issues ending with pph,D&C,and a post- surgical hemoglobin of 5. But at the time no one admitted any of this...they claimed they "didn't know why" and that I should definitely seek their assistance to birth in the future.  Dh and I weren't sure that risking my life was worth another pg when we could just adopt. After hours of research we discovered the reason for my pph in a Midwifery Today magazine. I researched local mws and told my story. The pph didn't even risk me out of their care. SCORE! I've had 3 births since that first disaster and NEVER bled more than normal. Just goes to show "they" aren't always right.

2.  What statistics do you find the most compelling regarding homebirth vs. hospital birth?  And where did you get them? I used Midwifery Today to sway me back to birth in the first place, but the statistic in our area of the country is 30-40% C-Section rate at the local hospitals. The WHO rate is so much lower and that was concerning to me. I wanted to do ALL I could to avoid that! Its also the reason I planned for a natural med free birth with baby #1.

3.  What is/was your greatest obstacle to having a homebirth? Family - in my situation, my family was understandably concerned that I was taking an even bigger risk than most would. After my first hb, they were SOLD and brag to everyone how great it is - even tho neither of my 2 sisters chose natural birth at all.

4.  What resources did you use to choose your midwife, plan the birth (supplies, etc.), get support, etc.? We have a "GreenGuide" in our area where ppl write reviews of natural living products and services. The area mws are all listed in there. After I made a connection with my mw,she pointed me to supplies and support.

5.  What information do you wish you had known and/or what would you change if you were to birth again? After 3 home births and 4 total births... My whole family is now birth junkies. My oldest children were at the last 2 births and participated by cutting the cord,fetching drinks and blankets etc. I wish I had the "guts" to homebirth the first time around instead. I wish I  had connections back then (9 years ago) to Mothering Forums and other like minded moms so I wouldn't feel so "weird" and would have had to sift through less "bad information". I didn't know I'd be so "high" from natural birth either at home or hospital. That is something I focus on now when labor gets hard - knowing I'll get that surge of endorphins when its over and be so giddy I cry with joy and can't sleep for hours.

6.  Anything else you would share? I wish more people were really aware of the facts and the way things are done in other parts of the world compared to America. I hope we maintain our right to birth as we choose (well,most of us that have that right in our state anyhow).   But moms research as much as they care to. I now try to never get up in anyone's face about choosing a "standard american birth". I mean, almost everyone knows McDonald's is NOT nutritious food, but there's a LOT of people who eat there on a regular basis anyways. Not everyone cares about the same things we do and not everyone feels strong enough to "go against the grain" anyhow...I can't get on anyone's case about hospital birth because I wouldn't want them on my case about homebirth. Motherhood is a LONG road of hard choices and belittling anyone for any choice that doesn't bring overt harm (as in harm officially classified as abuse) gets none of us anywhere. I now find myself building up and validating the moms who chose differently. They didn't know or didn't care and me coming across as though "I know better than you-oo and HB is the be-all end-all" does nothing to advance the face of HB. OK - off soap box now. :)

Thank you so much for your help!