A small but growing trend, which presents unique challenges in cramped NYC apartments.
More concerning are the complications that can occur when home births don’t go according to plan:
The patient, who had a severe postpartum hemorrhage, was transferred far too late for her own safety. “She was in dire straits, she needed multiple blood transfusions, and she wound up needing a hysterectomy, which could have been averted if she had been given the appropriate medications . . . Many low-risk pregnancies become high risk with no warning and can become urgent within minutes.”
As an aside, I’m not sure why this story is headlining the Times’ Home and Garden section, rather than the Health section.
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{ 5 comments }
It’s a shame that there’s so much bad press about home births. Yes, occasionally a home birth does go wrong, but the vast majority are safe, wonderful, empowering experiences for mother and baby.
Does anybody talk about how very, very often problems occur in hospital births? And most of the time, those problems are caused by the technological interventions themselves, and not because the women had a faulty body or a bad process of labor.
We have friends who had their baby in their car on the way to the hospital.
The baby was fine but the car was never the same again! It smelled. Giving birth is very messy. At least in a hospital they get you cleaned up. Would you want your house to smell?
Home birth/ hospital birth . . . . there is NO good epidemiological evidence proving either is superior–although ACOG, true to form, has issued official, quite misleading statements, criticizing home births.
Each approach has different sets of risk: Yes, hemorrhages can be scary in homebirths. But, hospital births offer (epidemilogically demonstrated) higher risks of c-section, infection (like with MRSA), and interventions of all sorts.
Pick your poison, but do so with the knowledge that from a medical point of view, neither approach is “proven” better.
The NYT has a long history of relegating anything regarding women to the “style” or “home” section.
I agree with Sarah. If one is to fairly analyze the situation they MUST look at both sides. What happens when hospital births don’t go as planned? My mother suffered postpartum hemorrhage after the bith of my little brother. She delivered him in a hospital. The reason she hemorrhaged was due to “meddlesome obstetrics”. Her doctor pulled out the placenta while it was attached to the uterus. She had a few transfusions, almost died, and had to have a hysterectomy. I admit, it is unfail to judge all doctors based upon one, or a few doctors imcompitencies. Likewise, it is unfair and myopic to judge midwives and homebirth in this manor. I would encourage people to actually talk to women that have experienced (a planned) home birth and compare the stories with hospital births. Also, do your homework before you start making serious stabs at home birth…..The previous argument regarding the “smell” is ridiculous.
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