dangers of homebirth news piece

[babygirlie]

I just thought people here would want to add their opinion to this article.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/127689363.html#idc-cover

It's about a woman who's child died at a homebirth and I feel, while it is sad, does not convey the majority of experiences and worries me even that people will assume the worst if you choose a homebirth.

This woman made a conscious decision to homebirth and then claims she didn't know the dangers and therefore it's the midwives fault

[kathrineg]

If the midwives didn't know how to resuscitate an infant to the point that they were arguing about it, then they should never have been attending births in the first place. That is not a risk of homebirth, that is negligence and a complete lack of adequate training. I highly doubt they told her "we have no idea how to preform basic life-saving procedures for your child".

[Jane93]

You know -- actually ousting incompetent and dangerous practioners is good for a profession not bad for it. 

It is pretty clear that these midwives (who per other sources allegedly let this women labor for 8 days, didn't take her in to the hospital despite mec. stained waters and didn't even have an aspirator in their equipment bags) are not the sort who the "movement" should be defending.

[RachaelsMommy]

I hate stories like these, where the mothers don't bother to do their homework and look into the midwife's qualifications before hiring them. Then, instead of accepting their role in their child's death, they want to pass laws that take away MY right to choose an unlicensed midwife.

[kathrineg]

How do you know she didn't do research/homework? It's not like midwives advertise that they don't understand basic emergency care. What would you have done differently?

[philomom]

Oregon law if pitifully lax on midwifery. I'm surprised we don't see more like this.

[Jane93]

Rachael'sMommy --

You do realize that there is nothing requiring any unlicensed midwife you interview to tell you the truth about her morbidities/mortalities/experience/training/education or even if she has any criminal charges against her?  What is a mother to be to go on in such circumstances -- rumor?

Besides -- everyone's supposed to "trust birth" anyway, right?  So the fault is never the midwife's, only the mother's no matter what the midwife might do (or not do)...

[Sijae]

You really shouldn't believe everything you read.  Whenever you know the real story you realize how inaccurate and full of lies "news" really is.

[Beccadoula]

I haven't read the article.  But, I would like to point out that babies die in the hospital all the time and it doesn't make the news at all...

[Kanna]

Originally Posted by Beccadoula 

I haven't read the article.  But, I would like to point out that babies die in the hospital all the time and it doesn't make the news at all...

You wouldn't happen to have some statistics / studies / further information on that "babies die in the hospital" claim? And more details? Like what they die of? Under which circumstances?

If so, it'd be nice to integrate that kind of information into the current discussion  ^_^

[Kanna]

Originally Posted by Sijae 

You really shouldn't believe everything you read.  Whenever you know the real story you realize how inaccurate and full of lies "news" really is.

Actually, people have been following the events on the mom's and the midwives facebook accounts and the dad and a few friends of the family were posting to an article on registerguard. Most of it has been deleted since, but I got to read some of it beforehand and the article seems to be pretty much spot on.

[cinderella08]

http://www.10centimeters.com/friday-fallacy-babies-die-in-the-hospital-too/

Yeah, babies die in hospitals too

[rajahkat]

Add my opinion? It's hard to say without having been there what really happened. Some things sound exaggerated, which I would expect with the emotional trauma involved.

I think it speaks volumes about the damage hostility between midwives and hospitals can cause. Avoiding transfer due to fear of mistreatment by hospital staff either because you're a home birth mom or a midwife is obviously dangerous. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it does make me think about it.

[Annie Mac]

I think licensing requirements are a good idea, personally. It sounds like the issue here was someone saying they were qualified to do something they didn't entirely understand (and that's a generous way of saying it). As far as hospital deaths never making the news, they can if there was some serious mistake alleged & a lawsuit has been filed, as in the case of these midwives. For example:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/16/bc-victoria-newborn-death-anesthesiologists.html

It surprises me, actually, that there are no set standards and educational requirements throughout the United States, or even state to state. Birth can be risky.

[joycnm]

This reminds me of women who go to their local hospital to have their baby without doing any research beforehand.  They wind up being coerced into a c-section and have PTSD and THEN do their research.  "I didn't know this hospital had a 46 % c-section rate."  Then for their NEXT baby, they research and find the right fit for them.  Until all our care-providers in the US are properly trained (doctors and midwives) the woman must do some amount of research and take on some amount of responsibility.  Oh, and for those that are dubious that babies still die in hospitals should know that the US ranks something like 27 in the entire world for neonatal mortaility--that means 26 other countries have LESS babies die in the neonatal period than in the US.  Since 95 % of all babies in the US are born in the hospital, it stands to reason that a LOT of babies still die who were born in the hospital.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by cinderella08 

http://www.10centimeters.com/friday-fallacy-babies-die-in-the-hospital-too/

Yeah, babies die in hospitals too

Meh.  It's already been addressed ad nauseum, both on MDC and elsewhere, how there are countless pitfalls of relying on CDC Wonder to bolster the anti-homebirth cause. 

[Mama2Kayla]

Originally Posted by joycnm 

Oh, and for those that are dubious that babies still die in hospitals should know that the US ranks something like 27 in the entire world for neonatal mortaility--that means 26 other countries have LESS babies die in the neonatal period than in the US.  Since 95 % of all babies in the US are born in the hospital, it stands to reason that a LOT of babies still die who were born in the hospital.

Do you have a link for this?

[Viola]

Originally Posted by kathrineg 

How do you know she didn't do research/homework? It's not like midwives advertise that they don't understand basic emergency care. What would you have done differently?

I think asking basic questions about what they do in emergency cases.  I knew my midwife had pitocin and methergine, and carried oxygen to every birth and knew how to perform infant CPR.  I asked her about transfer rates, why she transfers, what would happen in event of a transfer, etc.   Now you could argue that I only knew what she told me, but I think if someone is choosing a homebirth and then says, "I didn't know things could go wrong?" there is a disconnect there.  Of course no one really thinks their baby will die, just like no one thinks they'll be the one to die in a car accident, but the fact is that babies and mothers still die in childbirth.  I'm sure the two teachers in NJ didn't think they would both die of c-sections 2 weeks apart from one another, but it happened.  

I feel like we don't talk about the risks of things related to childbirth, whether in the hospital or out of it, and women will find out after the fact that there are risks associated with certain procedures and activities related to childbirth.

[joycnm]

Sorry, I was wrong.  US ranks 30th, behind 29 other nations as of 2005.  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db23.htm

[Turquesa]

To be fair, in the homebirth safety context, we need to consider neonatal mortality instead of infant mortality.