Safety of a Homebirth
Having the baby in your home? Who would even think of such a thing? Wasn't that just back in the western days when doctor's had to deliver babies at home out on the prairie?
Not so. There are a growing number of women who have discovered the benefits of having your baby at home, or a homebirth as it is commonly called.
The practice of homebirths is usually called midwifery. Although usually not nurses or doctors, the people who are in midwifery are professionally regulated. I myself have seen the steady rise of homebirths through my practice as a San Diego certified midwife.
The people, generally women, who perform this line of work are called homebirth midwives. Midwives is a more common term that people are familiar with and means a person who attends childbirth and provides support during labor and delivery.
Now a midwife is usually not a nurse or doctor because in general a midwife generally believes that pregnancy and births are natural events and should be allowed to proceed naturally without drugs. This is contrasted with the medical model which believes that pregnancy and delivery should be accompanied by medicine to assist and improve the situation.
That out of the way, lets take a look at why women are having their babies at home. What benefits are making women choose homebirths?
First, when you have a midwife present, this can cause the time of labor to be reduced. Most women don't realize that the use of pain medications although seemingly helpful in regards to pain, actually slows the labor down. This actually creates more pain and makes the labor last longer.
Second, midwifery techniques in reality reduce the need for forceps or other intrusive devices during delivery. The process of naturally allowing the birh and delivery to occur is what causes the reduction of the need for those devices.
Third, is it reduces the possibility of a cesarean delivery. Most cesareans are performed because during labor, somehow a consensus was made that a natural vaginal birth was not possible. Either it was the baby's safety that was in mind or the mother's safety. When in reality the complication was created because the natural birth process wasn't allowed to happen.
These are just 3 of the benefits of having a natural birth at home. There are plenty more benefits, but most women would agree for pregnancy these are 3 huge benefits.
So although, most might consider it strange to want to have a child at home, studies have shown that allowing the natural birth process to happen is safer for the mother and the baby. With over 300 births attended as a homebirth midwife in San Diego, this has proven to be the case time and time again.