Homebirth and Oppression of Women - Page 8

[Periwinkle]

Good history of the problem:

http://www.cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/nar/win95/shira.html

[orangebird]

The statistics indicate that the second you walk into a hospital your risk of a cesarean increases by 30% (or so, given the hospital/OB/CNM's specific stats).

Your risk actually increases by about 600% (six hundred) assuming the rate would be about 5% if you stayed home (I'm not solid on the 5% statistic, it is just a number I have heard. I've even heard numbers as low as 1% but that is probably only including the lowest risk women who chose to HB in the first place. But for sure we know anyhting above 15% is unacceptable by WHO). But your risk increases to about 30% when you walk into the hospital.

Great thread! I totally agree it is going to change the status quo if enough of us take a stand against the current system. The negative bitch in my head thinks that the system is too big and powerful for us to break through it and change it. The myths and traditions run so deep in the collective conciousness of our culture. But maybe we are the beginning, maybe we will start to see a change in our grand-daughters' generation.

OK, I have to read some more posts, I think I only got a quarter of the way through and couldn't get the numbers out of my head

[annakiss]

Originally Posted by mara

But your risk increases to about 30% when you walk into the hospital.

This is what I meant.

[cottonwood]

Originally Posted by Arwyn

Outcomes for mother and baby are best when there's a 1-5% cesarean rate (not zero, and definitely not 30%!), and some more 5-10% of women do need to be in at least a consult relationship with a specialist (OB), possibly giving birth in hospital.

Originally Posted by Arwyn

The above numbers are a best idea synthesis of reams of data from homebirth and natural birth practices (The Farm has something like a 1.5% cesarean rate, the CPM study showed an average of what, 3%?) and information from the WHO (which says very conservatively that there is no known benefit to having an average cesarean rate above 7%).

Birth works, and it's safe, but nothing in life is perfect, and sometimes it does need a little more help.

I do understand that nature does not have a 100% success rate. What I meant to get at was that the stats you stated are conditional (on cultural mindset and style of birth management) and do not reflect only the natural failure rate of birth.