AMA Says WHAT??
This article just pisses me RIGHT OFF.
That is such BULLSHIT. First of all, what SHOULD BE the most important point here: hospital births are not safer for a low-risk pregnancy! (1 2) There have been NO studies that show that hospital births are safer. It *feels* safer. It should be safer. But the United States – which has more hospital births than almost all other first-world countries – ranks #42 in terms of infant mortality rates. One would think, since we have all this technology and super hospital stuff to rely upon, it would rank better than all those developed countries who depend heavily on midwives and support homebirths.
But that’s not what pisses me off (not today, at least). What pisses me off is that the AMA is trying to take our choices away. They are trying to make it illegal to give birth at home. Even supported by a well-educated, experienced midwife. THAT pisses me off. Who the fuck are they to make the decisions for us? People are allowed to smoke during pregnancy, to make very poor choices – KNOWN poor choices, as supported by research!! – and yet giving birth at home, a decision made for all the RIGHT reasons (in most cases), they are trying to make illegal?? Who the hell are they protecting? Their pocketbooks? Their reputation?
And I’m not fighting for myself. I suggested to Den, once upon a time, that we could consider a homebirth for the next child, if everything goes splendidly for the first. Obviously that did not happen. Homebirth is completely off the table for us. I feel like my hospital did a very good job in supporting us, encouraging us, getting us through a rough time. They gave ME the decisions, did not force anything on me. Obviously we did not have a live baby to worry about at that point, but I ended up having a natural labor (for the most part – though not entirely by choice). I am VERY confident that at MY hospital they would be supportive of a natural labor next time.
But I know not everyone has a hospital like mine, where delayed cord-cutting is the norm, and birth balls and squatting bars are available for everyone. I do not believe that my decision to give birth in a hospital will make me any safer – I just know that I am going to be paranoid and needing constant reassurance that I wouldn’t otherwise have needed.
The whole damn system is fucked up here in North America. (I’d say “The U.S.”, but I don’t think Canada is any better off.) The c-section rate is skyrocketing, which is NOT a good thing. Infant and maternal mortality is NOT getting any better. It’s just a damn mess. Because of finances and worries about lawsuits and all kinds of crap.
Gah, just makes me flaming mad.
I have home birth for all my 4 babies. In England it is quite unusual, especially for a first birth. But it was where “I” felt safe, hospitals make me feel out of control, “unsafe” if you like.
While considering my options I researched home birith, In the years before WW2 doctors were considered the “best” to look after mothers, during WW2 birth was passed back to MW ( all the Dr’s were busy with injured soldiers) and infant mortality WENT DOWN, after WW2 , back comes the Dr’s and infant mortality WENT UP.
Hospital or Home there should be a choice, I really like your point of smoking etc , but HM is not even an unsafe option, what are they trying to protect ??? It baffles me.
I’m glad your hospital were so throughtful of your needs and it will be a great place for your next baby to be born.
I completely agree with you. While I see a midwife, I personally would not choose to have a home birth because I feel most comfortable in a medical setting but that does not mean it’s not the very best choice for some people. We did need medical intervention during my son’s birth and had we been attempting a home birth there could have been severe complications. That being said, my childbirth educator (and good friend) had one hospital birth with a TON of medical interference resulting in an episiotomy for a tiny baby and two very successful home births resulting in almost no tearing and babies both over 10 pounds. Just because there wasn’t a doctor there doesn’t mean it wasn’t the best thing for her and her babies. I can’t stand when organizations think taking away rights will actually help people. How ridiculous.
A funny thing – my sister had her first children at home attended by a midwife and now prefers to birth in the hospital and will this last time. I started off definitely of the mindset of “I want a hospital and all the requisite equipment/drugs” and by the last time, if I could have, I would have much rather done it all at home with a midwife and no one else. I never felt near as humiliated and upset by any of my delivery experiences until that last time. The place where you delivered Devin sounds wonderful.
I agree – no one should take choices away from us – particularly THOSE choices. No one can see predict the future, whether in the hospital or not. There is nothing wrong with becoming informed and putting that together with your knowledge of you The thing about choices are – even if you make the very best one you can make at the time, if something goes wrong, it will feel like the very worst one. I think that fear (and the fear of lawsuits) leads to a lot more meddling and intervention than necessary.
I agree! I’m so glad you took the time to post this awful article and refute its claims. Unfortunately, the AMA is already doing damage. There are no certified midwives and homebirths are not allowed where I live, in Missouri. If I want to give birth to my child at home, my husband will have to be my only attendant and I would have to say that it was an accident, that we tried to go to the hospital and just didn’t make it. I hate the idea of my child’s first moments being a lie, so I plan to give birth at The Farm in Tennessee with midwives in attendance, http://www.thefarmmidwives.org/ . Either that or I’ll move to Norway, where 2/3 of births are at home with midwives! Norway has the highest fetal and maternal survival rates in the modern world and the lowest c-section rates as well.
Thanks again sharing your thoughts. I love reading what you have to say about births.
i live in a state where it is ILLEGAL for you to plan a home birth with a licensed/certified professional in attendance. meaning a physician/nurse midwife cannot schedule a home birth with you and provide care that, say, your insurance might cover, etc. this does not surprise me as i also live in the state where the AMA was “born” no pun intended, i promise! it all just makes me sick.
I couldn’t agree more. Birth is a sad state of affairs in this country (and some other places–for instance, some areas of Latin America has a cesarean section rate of 95%!!!).
How crazy of a world is it, where a woman is seen as having the ABILITY to make her own choice regarding abortion (and abortion isn’t risk-free for the mother, either) but when it comes to home birth, even if the woman knows and accepts any and every possible risk–she is deemed UNABLE to make that choice for herself?? Where is the logicin that?
I had an unwanted (and very UNECESSARY) cesarean for my first child. I am NEVER going to go to a f*cking hopsital again! They can kiss my @ss! Thats why I am in the situation I am now! I live in Connecticut, and home birth with a CPM is okay, so when I finally get pregnant with #2, it will be a home birth–after a cesarean!
HA HA! Take that AMA!
While I certainly don’t agree and express a certain amount of rage at the AMA’s statements, but I do have to say, many of the comments on the cited article are very encouraging, coming out in the support of a woman’s right to choose homebirth and of the midwife profession, regardless of whether they’d choose the option themselves.
I tend to think that this is an issue that awareness needs to be raised to, because it’s STAGGERING how many people are unaware of their options nor realize that they’re under attack.
The readership on my blog isn’t of the mommmy/pregnancy demographic… and when I watched Business of Being Born and blogged about it, I was stunned at the reaction I got from some people. “This is a serious issue in our country [the US]? I had no idea!”
Yep, it is illegal in Alabama to have a midwife help you give birth at home. Someone would have to drive to TN to have a midwife.
What ever happened to our freedom?
I personally prefer a hospital. There are two hospitals in my area to deliver. I think one is better than the other when comes to patient care. The one I delivered at let me know straight up that they would not do anything unless I wanted it done. They even had birthing balls, water births, etc. I went natural and they supported me through out the entire labor. I was not required to be strapped to a bed at all and they actually encouraged me to walk and use the birthing ball. My husband got to cut our son’s cord and they encouraged him to stay in our private suite with us. (which he was going to do anyways) I always recommend that hospital to anyone having a baby. They also a lactation nurse come into our room after the birth and help with breastfeeding. All women should have a choice in their method of delivery.
While I would never even consider a home birth I do still think women should have that choice if that’s the route they choose to go. I personally am high risk so it’s not an option. I also know first hand all the things that could go wrong so for my own comfort and safety I’d always choose to have drs around so any emergency could be dealt with immediately at a hospital. But to each their own. I labored all day and my daughter went into distress so I was an emergency c-section. My dr was wonderful. I think the most important thing about giving birth is being with a health professional that you completely trust so when they speak you hear them and trust what they are telling you. That to me is much more important than where you give birth. My hospital stays were second to none and I’d not hesitate to refer anyone to my hospital or my dr if moms to be were looking for that advice. Again its a personal decision though and its unfair for anyone to take that away from a person.
I have to say, I’m honestly not surprised. The AMA lobby is absolutely notorious for using their clout to attempt to push out anyone they see as “competitors” to their business.
Recently here in Virginia the AMA lobby tried to push through a bill that would prohibit anyone who was not an MD, DO, or DDS from legally claiming the title “Doctor”. If it had passed then my husband (a DPM) would have been out of business, as he would have no longer been a legal practitioner of medicine and would have been prohibited from being able to receive payment from Medicare or private medical insurance. The bill didn’t pass, thankfully, but this sort of behavior is typical.