There are so
many women that have their baby in the hospital because they do not even
realize there are other options. For a hospital birth the woman has to leave
the comforts of her home, pack some things and drive to a hospital. She gets
checked into a room that is not comfortable or familiar and waits for things to
start. The birth is uneventful and soon they are being discharged. This is when
the dad realizes in his haste to get his lovely bride to the hospital, he
forgot the car seat. A few hours later the family opens the door to their house
and enters with their newest addition. The mom is so tired and starts crying
because she can’t remember what the nurse told her about breast feeding, so she
decides to bottle feed instead.
Now we are going
to look at a home birth. The woman goes into labor and so she calls her
midwife. The midwives shows up about thirty minutes later and assess the mom,
everything looks good so now they wait for the hard labor to begin. As they
wait the midwife reassures the woman that she is doing great and they talk
about ways to make the process easier. a few hours later the woman delivers her
baby and the midwife assessed mom and baby. All is well, so the midwife get the
birth weights and encourages the mom to drink fluids. The midwife shows the new
mom how to breast feed, and helps her get settled. The dad is also doing things
to help and is relived that the midwife will be staying overnight to help out. The
next morning the midwife leaves and the family starts to readjust to their home
life.
The difference in these two births is that when you are in the hospital, you leave the comforts home behind and add some stress because you are in an unknown environment. Delivering a baby in a hospital would cost upward of $10,000, compared with the roughly $3,000 it would cost to hire a home-birth midwife to take care of the entire pregnancy. (Michelle Goldberg Jun 25, 2012 4:45 AM EDT)
According to the National Center for Health Statistics Home births have a lower risk profile than hospital births, with fewer births to teenagers or unmarried women, and with fewer preterm, low birth weight, and multiple births. (Home Births in the United States, 1990–2009)
So there is a cost difference and it is NOT as scary to have
your baby at home when you realize the survival rate is good and the health
might be even better than the hospital. We need to start looking at more facts
and not just deliver in the hospital because someone tells us that it is safer.
I think this topic is interesting. My sister gave birth in July and I know it was hard for her to decide what she wanted to do. My cousin Brianna is a midwife and so is my old teachers partner. They both offered to help her with a home birth and to be honest she gave it a great deal of thought. She really liked the idea of being at home, being comfortable, having things she would need for the baby around her, and not having to deal with the hustle and bustle of the hospital. On the other hand she was worried about not being at the hospital because it was her first child, she had gestational diabetes, scared about how long she might be pushing for, and most of all what if something was wrong with the baby. In the end she decided to give birth in the hospital not because someone told her she had to but because it put her mind at ease knowing that someone could help her /the baby if needed. I remember watching on TV once that they had a birthing center connected to the hospital. It gave the patients a more cozy atmosphere (home like with plants and a bed with a nice comforter) but was just a few steps away from the hospital if more urgent attention was needed for the mom or baby. I think there are so many unknowns when you are dealing with giving birth. Every women is different and might react differently to different situations. It really is about someone comfort level. Maybe knowing that people are there should something go wrong is one women’s cozy/comfortable feeling where another women might get that feeling from giving birth at home. It is great that we have options and I don’t think one is better than the other.
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