According to CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association
Journal 181.6/7
(2009): the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the United Kingdom has issued a statement
supporting home birth as a “viable choice for women with uncomplicated
pregnancies”.(377)
This article shows studies of
survival rates in home births and makes a strong argument that home birth is
really a safe practice. Studies show that death rates in home births are less
than 1 in 1000. It goes on to explain that midwifes are highly trained medical professionals
and it would be safe to trust them. (383)
“The decision to home birth in the US is impeded
by government regulation of the government, but also by professional organizations,
society and the insurance industry” (Cassidy, 2006 pg650). This article talks
about how the “home birth rate would be higher if women were offered a viable
alternative to hospital birth and if women perceived birth as a natural and
social event rather than a medicalised event”. (650) This society seems to view
child birth as always hazardous when in reality it is a natural process and
there are not usually complications.
I chose these
two references from the online library database because I found the sources to
be credible and they have been recently updated. I can use this up to date
information to help make my case that home births are indeed a safe practice. The
research used in both these articles contains a lot of data and make a point of
just telling the facts. I think there is enough information provided to give a
good overall picture, and I like that they use so many graphs because I ‘am a
very visual person. I have used the online library before and find it user friendly
and easy to navigate so that is where I like to go when I need to find a trust worthy
source. I have also been looking at google scholar and so far I’m impressed
with how organized it seems. I will also be using that as one of my main resources.
I really like learning about this topic and am really happy with how much research
is already done concerning it!
Works Cited
Shoo K. Lee, et al. "Outcomes Of
Planned Home Birth With Registered Midwife Versus Planned Hospital Birth With
Midwife Or Physician." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal
181.6/7 (2009): 377-383. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Nov. 2012.
Ashley, Sarah, and Jane Weaver. "Factors Influencing Multiparous
Women Who Choose A Home Birth --A Literature Review." British Journal
Of Midwifery 20.9 (2012): 646-652. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4
Nov. 2012.
It looks like you're on to a good amount of research on this. I'm really looking forward to what else you find out, on both sides of the coin. From my point of view this is something I was always very torn on. With my first child I was glad to be in a beautiful, clean, modern hospital with all the bells and whistles. We didn't really expect anything to go wrong, but I wanted to be in the right place if it did. I remember taking the pre-registration tour of the hospital and the tour guide bragging about the level of nicu they had, and how wonderfully safe the environment was, and the security was state of the art. Yes, she bragged about the alarm bracelets that they put on every baby at birth, matched to the mother, so they couldn't be stolen from the hospital.
ReplyDeleteBeing young, and inexperienced, and more than a little bit paranoid about this baby I was about to bring into the world, I thought that was awesome! Nobody could steal my baby, that was a great selling point.
By my third and fourth kids I had a different perspective. I saw the value of being in a comfortable place. I relished the thought of being in labor in my own comfortable bed, or bathtub. On the other hand, birth is a messy thing, and I'm not a fan of mess. I don't know that I would have been able to relax enough to have the baby at home because I would have been too concerned about the mess.
That being said, I really do have feelings for both sides of this argument, and by the looks of your research, I can't wait to see what else you find. Good luck!
What great credible and strong sources you have for your argument. I think home birth and birth at the hospitals can be different, but I don't think one is better than the other. For years there have been many home births and majority have been fine. I think former president Bill Clinton was home birthed in his Arkansas home. I think the great debate would be whether it is sanity or not. People think hospitals as sanitary with professionals and having all the right instruments to do the job. Maybe you could do research on how people feel about the sanitation of home birth and the tools necessary for it versus hospitals and people views on that subject. I think this would bring your argument to another side that most people think about when they tend to think about home birthing.
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