Home Birth vs. Hospital Birth |
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adapted from an article by Martina Benson, CPM-TN
To answer the last question first, ALL KINDS of people have their babies at home. They range in ethnicity, culture and religion. Amongst their differences, they have these things in common:
Naturally? “Yes,” some women say, “I gave birth naturally. I had a vaginal delivery in the hospital!” My questions to these women would be:
If these questions strike a nerve with you, or you feel your last birthing experience could have been different, you might want to find out more about Homebirth. Homebirth is for low-risk pregnant women. Midwives define a low-risk woman as a healthy mother without previously existing medical conditions, who doesn’t smoke or drink alcohol and who consumes a balanced diet of fresh and wholefoods. Homebirth mothers generally hae a good support system and feel positive about their pregnancy and impending new motherhood. In our practice, mothers should be pregnant with only one baby, which should be in a favorable birthing presentation (head down) by the time labor nears. It is crucial that their partners feel good about having a homebirth and are supportive of breastfeeding. Having a baby at home is very individualized for each mother - it is HER birth in HER home - and the midwife respects that, making sure that everybody involved is safe. Midwives DO NOT carry pain medication. Labor contractions are dealt with totally differently at home, where mothers are free to roam, and eat and drink as they please. Massage and Hydrotherapy are available as effective comfort measures. Laboring in her own environment, with non-invasive labor tools, makes the surges of contractions much easier to cope with and handle. Women rarely transfer from home to hospital because they “can’t handle the pain anymore.” What if there is a problem? Every woman planning to have a homebirth should have a collaborative care doctor available, who can be called upon for consultation or referral. Numerous studies prove that, for low-risk mothers, planned homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital delivery. In few instances, however, midwives need more medical help than there is available at home during a labor, birth, or postpartum. In this situation the midwife transports the mother to the hospital, most often into a physician’s care. Midwives support medical technology, when used wisely on an individual basis. Homebirth is legal in Tennessee, as it is in almost all other states of the US. Certified Professional Midwives (CPM’s) are licensed by the State of Tennessee (CPM-TN).
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