ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) released a statement opposing the choice of homebirth for women earlier this year (specifically, after the release of "The Business of Being Born"), saying, "Choosing to deliver a baby at home, however, is to place the process of giving birth over the goal of having a healthy baby." This is a ridiculous statement on their part. I chose to birth my babies at home because I believed it to be the best and safest place -- with no time constraints, augmentation of labor, or restricted laboring and birthing positions.
ACOG is the one failing, not midwives! The statistics coming out of the majority of American hospitals are disgraceful. We have the worst statistics and spend more per birth than any other country in the world. I am outraged by the suggestion that by birthing at home, I am putting my baby at risk. The statistics are on my side, not on theirs. I am a mother that loves my children -- how dare ACOG accuse me otherwise. I am an educated woman, with a Bachelor of Science -- my husband has a Master's Degree and is a CPA -- we are intelligent people who researched our options and made an educated decision about where to birth our babies.
ACOG is using the fear of childbirth to scare women into keeping birth in the hospital. I am so tired of scare tactics when it comes to childbirth. This is a normal, natural process! How on earth did we ever make it to this point in time? Doctors have been attending birth in a hospital for less than 100 years. Both my parents were born at home.
This is a woman's rights issue. It's not about health care. ACOG is trying to take away our choices. The insurance companies listen intently to what ACOG has to say already. I am always talking with women who want to have a homebirth, but their insurance will not cover it. A homebirth will cost anywhere between $2500-$5000. That is significantly less money, so it just seems absurd that the insurance won't cover a midwife. This is a perfect example of the influence ACOG has in taking away our rights and choices as birthing women. Instead of attacking the midwives and homebirth, ACOG needs to fix their own set of problems. And here's the kicker: Only 1% of women give birth at home. Why do the doctors care so much?
ACOG wants to interfere with the licensing of midwives. Really, OBs are almost in a different profession. That sounds crazy to the average reader, I bet. Doctors are trained to look for something to go wrong. I believe that they want something to go wrong so they can be the hero, save the baby, save the day. They talk about the goal of having a healthy baby, but they are all scheduling inductions and c-sections. Anyone who has done any research at all knows that these are not in the best interests of the baby!
I really take issue with ACOG dismissing women who value the birthing process, as if it doesn't matter. It is okay to want a good birth experience. How dare them make a woman feel bad about that, like she is being a bad mother for desiring that for herself and her baby. Birth matters! It is a doctor's way of dismissing women's valid requests for good health care and respectful, positive births. Recently, a report on NPR stated that the level of empathy a mother has for her child is directly related to whether she had a c-section. So obviously, the birth process does matter. As I've mentioned before, there is a link between postpartum depression and not feeling the birth, whether the birth is a c-section or with an epidural. The birth hormones are not released naturally when the process is tampered with. These hormones play a role in bonding and breastfeeding too.
Our maternal death rate and infant mortality rate in this country are outrageous, so don't tell me that it's about a healthy baby! Mothers and babies are dying in hospitals as often, or more, than at home. This is about pride. They need us to believe that we need them. Don't get me wrong, about 3 % of women actually do need a c-section for various reasons. We need doctors trained in this type of surgery. But when a woman wants a natural, unmedicated birth, she should go to a midwife, not a surgeon.
I can't help but laugh at the timing of ACOG's statement. If you have not seen "The Business of Being Born," you absolutely must. Link to it, watch the fantastic trailer, and just buy it. You'll want to watch it over and over and pass it on to your pregnant friends. If you don't want to fork over the $30, rent it on Netflix. These are the only two ways you can see this movie. If I were a doctor, I wouldn't want my "patients" to see it. I've picked up a number of students who saw this movie, fired their doctors, hired midwives, and have had wonderful, intervention-free birth center births and homebirths. Birth is great, but I believe it's better when you get it out of the hospital.
When we decided, at 33 weeks, to have a homebirth, I had people say to me, "That just seems so dangerous, so irresponsible." I have to tell you, for every single thing that happened -- whether it was the Group B Strep test at 36 weeks, or where to deliver the placenta (it was a water birth), whether to give the baby the eye drops or a Vitamin K shot after the birth -- I had to give the midwife an answer to all these questions. I had to be informed on what these things were. I was in total control. All the responsibility was placed squarely on our shoulders. When you birth in a hospital, it's so easy to just turn all the decision-making over to the doctor or nurses. You just follow along with procedure and protocol.
I absolutely believe that birth, in this day and age, is safer outside of a hospital with a capable midwife attending your birth. We must fight for our rights as birthing women, even if you are finished having children or don't even have children, to stand up to ACOG and demand that this right to birth at home not be taken away. ACOG should not be allowed to be in charge of licensing a midwife to practice. They really don't even know what a midwife does -- if they did, they would learn from them and adopt their practices!
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