9 Tips for a Successful Home Birth

Cont'd: Also, a better comparison of home versus hosptial births is to compare the neonatal deaths of a country like Holland, which had a high home birth rate, with that of America. Women also need to remember that ALL types of births carry a little risk. Yes, there are risks delivering at home, but there are also risks delivering at a hospital. Cytotec and other drug reactions are just a few of the risks you cannot forsee in a hospital delivery.

My best suggestion? Google birthing options, read the Mayo Clinic's book on pregnancy and delivery, and then watch Pregnant in America and the Business of Being Born. Read it all. Don't limit yourself. Women gave birth of tens of thousands of years before doctors came to be. Our bodies were designed for birthing.

Continued from above: In other words baby mortality was equal to low risk hospital births. In addition with many hospitals having cesearean rates in the 30-40% range and the risk of maternal bleeding, infection and other complications obviously higher due to major abdominal surgery, moms fare better and healthier in environments where they can be in charge of their bodies and their babies.

I appreciate the information provided. I do take issue with number 8 which is drawn from the Wax study which has some serious flaws in its statistics and methodology. The Johnson and Daviss study from 2005 looked at 5000 women and found "Planned home birth for low risk women in North America using certified professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that of low risk hospital births in the United States."

Cont' They attempt to paint birth in a painful, risky and out of control light, better left to "established professionals". What's frustration is that major media outlets can promote hospitals, OBGYN's and the benefits of institutional births, but they won't get behind the cause of natural birth lest they get the wrath of big business. Less than 3% of births happen at home in the USA because the health industry/fear propagandists keep Americans in fear of their own bodies and abilities.

WOMEN, trust your bodies; you are capable! Prolonged birth is Natural birth. If you have a hospital birth you are still in control. Don't get hijacked by nurse's and doctor's who want to tell you how to do what your body's innate intelligence already knows. It doesn't take a woman to see that this article, well meaning as it would seem, is just another tool of the birth industry. Every tip skewed to cause a second thought response. These are the same techniques seen time and time again.

I just have to say that I am having a home birth, and I LOVE all of your ladies comments! Let's hear it for strong, capable, informed women!

My first child was born at home unassisted and there weren't any problems, I did have prenatal care with a hospital clinic and lived 5 minutes away from the hospital. This time around I am have prenatal care with a midwife practice and will be giving birth at home again, but this time with a midwife and assistant in attendance.

I have had 3 hospital births and 2 home births. Each was right for us at the time. I think each person needs to trust their own feelings about how they want their birth to happen. I had wonderful experiences with both, at the hospital I have had both natural and epidural births.

My family was a mixed bag... some adamantly said that we were being stupid. But in the end, it is our decision, and if they don't like it, too bad. If you research, many of the complication of birth can be attributed to the interventions that are used. You can't use those same statistics on a birth that has less chance of interventions. Home birth isn't for everybody, you have to be comfortable and confident that your body knows what to do. Yay for natural!

I would rather have a comfortable, intervention-free, prolonged birth at home, than to be pumped full of god knows what so that the doctors can over power a healthy, normal, act of nature.

"The analysis excluding studies that include home births attended by other than certified or certified nurse midwives had findings similar to the original study, except that the ORs for neonatal deaths among all and non-anomolous newborns were not statistically significant." If your home birth is attended by a CNM you are less likely to have unnecessary medical intervention with the same neonatal mortality rate as you would in a hospital.

con't from above---but really this is my 3rd child and i know what i want and don't want and want and deserve support in my decision to do what i think is best for me and my child. all mine have been uncomplicated births and that's what i have prenatal care for to catch any potentional problems. i'm not anti-hospital just anti-interference of my bodies natural abilities and my confidence as a mother.

i have been mentioning the idea of a home birth around his and my family to test the reactions and all have been a NO! most are ligit concerns like what if......this or that...... emergency related concerns so i'm ok with those people

Doctors are good for what? Helping people who ar sick so ask yourselves this is my pregnancy a sickness that needs to be treated with medicine and confinement to a bed?

a birthing facility or a hospital regardless of what may be being said OUR BODIES ARE CAPABLE OF LABOR AND DELIVERY WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE AND ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS SIT BACK RIDE THE OCEAN WAVES OF CONTRACTIONS AND PUSH WHEN OUR BODY TELLS US AND I HAVE FAITH YOU'LL NEVER GO WRONG :)

IN MY OPINION we should all go back to the beginning ADAM & EVE. From the beginnig woman was to be bear child and because GOD said it it's a commandment so we need to start believing in ourselves and having faith that when WE are in labor no matter how long or short wether at home a

I don't think it's any doctors ( male or feamle) place to be cutting on a womans WOMB or telling her how long her labor should or should not be or that her pregnancy should only be limited to 40 wks Like really where is it written that all babies will be developed in that time? We as women should be feeling empowered and happy to give birth in our homes but science & technology have put us in a mind place where we feel unsure of the instincts GOD instilled in us when we were created.

Ladies lets think rationally GOD made the woman's body to give birth not a man. WOMAN and her body (giving birth throughout the CENTURYS WITHOUT any help) were her on earth before doctors. why can't we just believe that everything happens for a reason and that they happen according to GOD'S plan? Women have been birthing each others babies at home for centuries but as with anything in life there are going to be complications but SO WHAT BECAUSE THIS TO SHALL PASS!!!!

The meta-analysis takes unassisted homebirths into account, and admits that in births attended by a professional midwife, the neonatal mortality is THE SAME as a low-risk hospital birth!!! Don't let headlines fool you!

You can find a summary of the study at http://www.ajog.org/. The ratio of neonatal deaths was 2.09 with a range of 1.20 to 3.63. That means for every 1 baby that died in a hospital, 2 died during home births. They studied over 11,000 home births versus over 27,000 hospital births, but the study is a metanalysis, not just one study. For births that didn't have a neonatal mortality the interventions were lower. You have to buy the full-journal article to get the actual numbers.

"Women who delivered at home were more likely to experience problems such as... prolonged labor." Obviously... if there isn't a doctor or hospital policy pushing pitocin and other interventions on you there are going to be more "prolonged labors". However, I question the assumption that a longer labor is a problem. If both mother and baby are healthy, why not let the labor unfold naturally and on its own timeline?

"...the risk of death to newborns intended to being delivered at home is nearly twice that of babies intended to be delivered in hospitals." Okay, the risk is doubled, but what is the real outcome. Are there actually more deaths or do they just think the risks are there? I know the risk of c-section at the hospital is almost 30%. I appreciate understanding that the risk is greater, but I'd rather know about the actual number of death compared to hospital births.

Portland has a lot of options for home births, birthing centers, doulas, and midwifes. Check out www.pdxkids.org and the pregnancy resources for all sorts of options.

Home birth is wonderful! Find an experienced midwife and go for it! You'll never get such personal care at a hospital. Don't let people scare you with "what if" scenarios and babies that were only saved "because they were at the hospital" . Chances are the hospital caused the crisis in the first place. I'm not anti-hospital, if you're sick (i.e. a complicated or risky pregnancy) but most people don't need those interventions, and they cause more harm than good.