Interesting Guardian article today on home birth

[Belle]

Quotes Leonie Penna from Kings:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/16/home-birth-trial-or-rewarding?INTCMP=SRCH

[Saffron]

A very interesting and emotive article indeed.

It raises several issues, one of which is the banning/criminalising of home births, already a reality in some Western states. This smacks of a male-dominated ideology to me (so sorry fellas!). Surely the better thing to do would be to identify and address the risk factors associated with home births, rather than to simply remove the option of them altogether. I'm not opposed to hospital births. I'm simply opposed to removing the right to choose.

The article touches mainly on two points of view: hospital birth vs home birth. But what about a third option? In countries like the US and Switzerland, birthing centres are a popular choice. They are like a home-away-from home for women in labour, but they are NOT a hospital. They are like a small hotel attached to the hospital or within minutes drive. Midwives or obstetric nurses oversee most of the care. You generally have your own room for your entire stay, no need to transfer from the labour ward to the postnatal ward. You can come to the birthing centre as soon as your contractions start, no need to be turned away from hospital b/c you are dilated enough. Any of your family and friends can come and go at any time day/night. Even children are welcome. There might even be kitchen facilities etc. You can generally have gas/air, and you might even have an induction or an epidural at a birthing centre. Then if you need emergency obstetrical treatment, the transfer to hospital is only minutes away. They just wheel you over to the next building, or some centres even have a dedicated ambulance service.

Obviously I'm generalising. Not all birthing centres are this fab (well, the ones in Switzerland seemed pretty cool, but that's Switzerland for you!). But my wish for other women is that there would be more midwife lead birthing centres, so that women would feel they had a safe option that offered the comforts of home and without the institutionalism of hospital settings.

xx

[ClareC]

Tommy's HFH section is great, on the same corridor as the medical bit so most of the benefits of home with Dr's and medical kit a stones throw away!

[Belle]

My friend gave birth in a birthing centre in Essex and it sounded amazing - they were the only ones in there, husband got to stay over - private room with double bed!

[Ruth_Baldock]

Wow, that DOES sound amazing!

[ladywotlunches]

There is a new birthing centre at Lewisham hospital. By all accounts its great, and living in Se22 you should be able to choose it over Kings. Downside I suppose is that Lewisham maternity ward itself isn't meant to be as great as Kings if you did have to transfer...

[Kes]

St T's home from home is really good, I was there when I had my daughter but sadly complications meant I didn't stay there. If it's straight forward you get to stay in your own big room with your partner (there's a sofa bed) and go home within 24 hours. If it gets complicated at least only have to transfer along the corridor (longest walk of my life though!)

It does seem utterly draconian to outlaw home births, I know a couple of people who've had such quick labours that the docs actually told them to go for home births in future (envy envy) as there was no point even trying to get to hospital. I do however feel that there is too much emphasis on achieving the mothers ideal "birth experience" , I don't have the stats to know if this is putting babies at risk but I'm sure it contributes to the number of women who (like me) get sucked into it all and end up utterly traumatised when it all goes wrong.

K

[Beagle]

I realy didn't know what to make of this article, thinking about it now I actually thought it was poorly constructed. It did reinforce for me how lucky Dulwich is to have the choice of homebirth. And it did also make me wonder about those women who have incredibly quick births. If the legislation changes are they supposed to run the gauntlet of traffic to have a (legal) hospital birth?

[Belle]

Yes, I'm not sure the article was structured or even written that well - but some useful insights from a wide range of people. I did also think, hang on - doesn't the Guardian/Observer run a feature on this topic every month?! Not that I'm complaining, all v useful food for thought.