I'm gonna be a mommy for the first time!!

[sewaneecook]

So, this is my first pregnancy. DH and I are SOOOOOO excited. We'd been TTC for 4 cycles and I just got blood work to confirm everything! We're both 26 and been married for 2.5 years. I grew up with a La Leche League leader as a mom (if I don't BF, I think I'll be kicked out of the family). I can't wait to be a SAHM (I really enjoy my job as a massage therapist, but I was born to be a mommy!).

Birthing options are slim pickins in my area, so I would REALLY like to do a home birth. DH is really hesitant, so if you know any good books or statistics (he's a math person) please let me know. I assured him that if he's not 100% behind me on it, I won't do it. My only other options are a hospital birth or a birth center that's 90 minutes away (and that is a good compromise, but it's so far away!).

[fromscatteredtribe]

congrats

i loved my homebirths and they are generally safer than hospital births for normal women with normal pregnancies.

i am not having a baby just saw your post and wanted to say congrats
welcome to MDC

[Maxine45]

Congrats!
I'm a first timer too :-)

I don't have any stats but the book Misconceptions by Naomi Wolfe was good for me. Describes the over-use of unnecessary medical interventions in hospitals, and makes a case for midwife assisted births.

[luckymama]

congratulations & welcome!!! i don't have info on stats, but i've got a dh that is the same way. so i will be watching this thread in the hopes of finding something that might convince him.

[lotus.blossom]

:
Sounds like we have some things in common! I'm pregnant with my first and I'm also a massage therapist! I plan to continue working as long as my belly doesn't get in the way! Good to see you here!

[~pi]

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!

I am a math geek and PhD student in a particular field of medical research. I did a project for school a couple of terms ago on this very issue. Our topic was the concept of Place in healthcare; my group was assigned "hospitals" and so we decided to use birth as our context. So I will have to dig up the reference list, but I will do that and get back to you. Bottom line is that there is lots of evidence that for low risk births, home is just as safe as hospital and also has a lower rate of interventions.

I won't be having a homebirth myself due to medical complications, but I'm very glad for those of you who are thinking of/planning one!

[~pi]

OK, here you go. It's a long list and the project covered a lot more than just the homebirth/hospital birth issue, but I'm sure you can figure out from the title which references will be most useful:

References

Albers, L., & Savitz, D. (1991). Hospital setting for birth and use of medical procedures in low-risk women. Journal of Nurse Midwifery, 36(6), 327-333.

Akhter, M. (1976). The use of ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology, Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 26(3):64-7.

Beauchamp, T., & Childress, J. (2001). Principles of biomedical ethics. 4th edition. New York: Oxford University Press.

Berwick, D. (2003). Disseminating innovations in health care. JAMA, 289 (15), 1969-1974).

Beverley, J. (2000). Testimonio, subalternity, and narrative authority. In. N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln, Handbook of Qualitative Research, (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Brook, D. (1976). Naturebirth: Preparing for natural birth in an age of technology: foreword by Peter J Huntingford. London: Heinemann.

Chamberlain, M., Soderstrom, B., Kaitell, C., & Stewart, P. (1991). Consumer interest in alternatives to physician-centered hospital birth in Ottawa. Midwifery, 7, 74-81.

Cohen, N., & Estner, J. (1983). Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. New York: Bergin and Garvey.

Coyle, K., Hauck, Y., Percival, P., & Kristjanson, L. (2001). Normality and collaboration: Mother’s perceptions of birth center versus hospital care. Midwifery, 17, 182-193.

Davis, E. (1992). Heart and Hands: A Guide to Midwifery. 2nd edition. Berkeley: Celestial Arts.

Enkin, M. et al. (2000). A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. (3rd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press

As far as I know, this was one of the first sources to debunk the "episiotomies are better than tears" myth and was responsible for a shift in practice in Canada. OT - Murray Enkin actually came to our presentation! It was so thrilling to meet him.

Flinterman, F., Techlemariam-Mesbah, R., Broerse, J., & Bunders, J. (2001). Transdisciplinarity: The new challenge for biomedical research. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 21, 253-266.

Goer, H. (1995). Obstetric Myths Versus Research Realities: A Guide to the Medical Literature. Westpoint, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Goer, H. (1999). The thinking woman’s guide to a better birth. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group.

This book has a huge reference list at the end of each chapter. Despite her assertions to the contrary, I will tell you as a researcher that Henci Goer is very biased, but her reference lists are useful.

Grinshaw, L. (1992). The rise of the modern hospital in Britain. In Andrew Wear, (Ed.), Medicine in Society: Historical Essays (pp. 197-218). Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Health Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, & Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. (2001). Retrieved from http://socialunion.gc.ca/ecd/intro_e.html on February 13, 2004 ©Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2001

Hess, D. (2003) Technology, Medicine, and Modernity: The Problem of Alternatives. Modernity and Technology, T. Misa, P, Brey, & A. Feenberg (Eds). (pp. 279-302). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Johnston, C. (1993). Ontario’s birthing center concept may have impact on hospitals, MDs. CMAJ, 148(6), 1004-1006.

Jones, C. (1990). Alternative Birth. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher.

Kitzinger, S. (1991). Home Birth. London: Dorling Kindersley.

Korte, D., & Roberta, S. (1992). A Good Birth, A Safe Birth. Boston: Harvard Common Press.

Leys, (2003). Health technology assessment: The contribution of qualitative research. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, 19, 317-329.

Longworth, L., Ratcliffe, J., & Boulton, M. (2001). Investigating women’s preferences for intrapartum care: Home versus hospital births. Health and Social Care in the Community, 9(6), 404-413.

Karasek, R., Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life, Basic Books.

Midgely, M. (2000). Biotechnology and monstrosity: Why we should pay attention to the “yuk factor” Hastings Centre Report, 30 (5), 7-15.

Mitchell, L. (2001). Baby’s First Picture: Ultrasound and the Politics of Fetal Subjects. Toronto: U of Toronto Press.

Mitchinson, W. (2002). Giving Birth in Canada, 1900-1950. Toronto: U of Toronto Press.

Mitford, J. (1992). The American Way of Birth. New York: Dutton.

Nisker, J. (2004). Narrative ethics in health care. In J. Storch, P. Rodney, & R. Starzomski (Eds.), (285-309). Toward a moral horizon. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Olsen, O. (1997, March). Meta-analysis of the Safety of Home Birth. Birth, 24, (1), 4-13.

Meta-analyses are the highest quantitative form of evidence in health care. This was an important article.

Riley, D (1987) The role of the obstetric liaison psychiatrist. In G. Christodoulou (Ed.), Psychosomatic medicine: Past and future. New York: Plenum Press.

Risse, G. (1999). Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals. New York: Oxford UP.

Rodney, P., Burgess, M., McPherson, G., & Brown, H. (2004). Our theoretical landscape: A brief history of health care ethics. In J. Storch, P. Rodney, & R. Starzomski (Eds.), (56-76). Toward a moral horizon. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Rosenfield, P. (1992). The potential of transdisciplinary research for sustaining and extending linkages between the health and social sciences. Social Science & Medicine, 35, 1343-1357.

Rooks, J. (1999). Evidence-based practice and its application to childbirth care for low-risk women. Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, 44(4), 355-369

Starzomski, R. (2004). The biotechnology revolution—A brave new world? The ethical challenges of xenotransplantation. In J. Storch, P. Rodney, & R. Starzomski (Eds.), (314-333). Toward a moral horizon. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Storch, J. (2004). Nursing ethics: Developing a moral terrain. In J. Storch, P. Rodney, & R. Starzomski (Eds.), (1-19). Toward a moral horizon. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Tavani, H. (2003). Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology, Wiley.

Tew, M. (1995). Safer Childbirth? A critical history of maternity care. London: Chapman & Hall.

Timor-Tritsch, I., Platt, L. (2002). Three dimensional ultrasound experience in obstetrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 14(6), pp 569-575.

Vanderburg, W. (2002). The Labyrinth of Technology, University of Toronto Press.

Wagner, M. (1994). Pursuing the Birth Machine: The Search for Appropriate Birth Technology. Sydney & London: ACE Graphics.

Waldenstrom, U., & Nilsson, C. (1993). Women’s satisfaction with birth center care: A randomized, controlled study. Birth, 20(1), 3-12.

Webster, A. (2002). Innovative Health Technologies and the Social: Redefining Health, Medicine and the Body. Current Sociology, 50(3), 443-457.

Wen, S., Mery, L. S., Kramer, M. S., Jimenez, V., Trouton, K., Herbert, P., & Chalmers, B. (1999). Attitudes of Canadian women toward birthing centers and midwife care for childbirth. CMAJ, 161(6), 708-712.

Wertz, R. (1989). Lying-in: A History of Childbirth in America. New Haven: Yale UP.

Wiegers, T. A., Keirse, M. J., van der Zee, J., Berghs, G. A. (1996). Outcome of planned home and planned hospital births in low risk pregnancies: Prospective study in midwifery practices in the Netherlands. BMJ, 313, 1309-1313.

Williams, K, Umberson, D. (1999) Medical Technology and Childbirth: Experiences of Expectant Mothers and Fathers, Sex Roles, 41 (314), 147-167.

Williams, S. (1997). Modern medicine and the “uncertain body”: From corporeality to hyperreality? Sociology of Science and Medicine, 45, 1041-1049.

Wilson, CB (1999). The future of hospitals. BMJ. Nov 13;319(7220):1287.

Wiseman, H., Vanderkop, J. & Nef, J. (1991). Ethics and technology: Across the great divide. In H. Wiseman, J. Vanderkop & J. Nef (Eds.), Critical choices! Ethics, science and technology (pp. x-xiv). Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing Inc.

Non-Academic References

http://www.homebirth.org.uk/pain.htm
http://www.texas-midwife.com/choices.htm
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/texts/gcps/gcps0046.html
http://www.ob-ultrasound.net
http://www.allaboutmoms.com/hypnobirth.htm
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/8992.htm
http://www.birthbalance.com/scripts/links.asp
http://www.paternityangel.com/Preg_i...nTestIntro.htm
http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/a...mies/index.php

[elsanne]

Oh my heavens Maria, your sig says it all, you are wayyyyyy an overachiever. Your own standard of normalcy, indeed! I like you!!

So, here's a simple stat for you that I can't back up with names or anything, but that I learned in childbirth class with Sol (first preg):

95% OF ALL BIRTHS NEED NO ATTENDANCE WHATSOEVER. No midwife, no no one. So, 95% of the time, you are the one, the only one, that is necessary to bring this child into the world.

I dunno: it made me feel better knowing that!

CONGRATULATIONS, by the way! A first preg is sooo very special. Mine sucked beyond belief but this one is already a thousand times better.

[paisley]

Hi sewaneecook! Congratulations and welcome to MDC!

[~pi]

Thanks, Elsanne.

Originally Posted by elsanne

95% OF ALL BIRTHS NEED NO ATTENDANCE WHATSOEVER. No midwife, no no one.

That is an interesting and compelling stat!

[elsanne]

In a thread-hijackin kinda way, maria, I see your sig says you're planning OPOL and then there are 3 languages there...*eyebrows raise inquisitively*? How many did it take?

Sol is a bilingual babe herself, with me being her English input and the rest of the world in Spanish.

[sewaneecook]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! ~pi - I'll definitely have to check out some of your list! It's quite extensive! Thanks for sharing.

[~pi]

Originally Posted by sewaneecook

~pi - I'll definitely have to check out some of your list! It's quite extensive! Thanks for sharing.

No problem. I hope it helps. Sorry for the length, I just didn't have the emotional energy to filter it since it would have involved looking up some of the references and I'm kind of grieving the fact that I can't have a homebirth. (I posted a thread "worried about finding a midwife" on this topic.)

Elsanne, I am starting another thread to answer your question so as to not completely derail this one!

[firsttimemama]

Congrats! I'm a first timer too.

[HaveWool~Will Felt]

Welcome to all the first timers!!!! So very happy for you!