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DIY delivery

ADRIANA BARTON

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 10:14 AM EDT 17/05/07

Unassisted childbirth - at home, no doctors, no midwives - is moving into the mainstream ...Read the full article

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  1. M G from Canada writes: I realize that for centuries women gave birth without assistance, but I can assure you that I don't think I am anywhere near brave enough to do this if I ever find myself getting ready to have a child!
  2. Sharon G from Canada writes: It's absolutely mindboggling how dumb North Americans can be. Childbirth is risky business - maternal mortality rates in places where women don't have medical care are huge. See the WHO's page at: http://www.who.int/features/qa/12/en/index.html

    In Canada, it takes an Ob/gyn four years of medical school and five years of residency to complete his or her training. It takes a midwife four years to complete a BSc in midwifery, and Canadian midwives are often also nurses. This is specialized training. You can't get that kind of help from a website or a book.
  3. Bernard Kahn from Vancouver Island, Canada writes: Sure, you can have a great delivery at home, unassisted. You can also have a great trip in your car without a seatbelt. But in case of emergency, you'll be glad the seatbelt is there. And in case of emergency, you'll want a trained person available. We're hearing all the warm and fuzzy stories because the dead women and babies aren't talking.
  4. Kay Ay from East of To., Canada writes: My sister's friend spent barely 6 hrs in hospital to have her first child with a mid-wife and no medication. I was in awe. It was such a good experience for them. I guess I was envious too.
    This totally would've killed myself & my child ... too many unforseen complications.
    At the risk of sounding over-cautious there must be a happy medium here. While most people would never intentionally risk their child's life to avoid a hospital there will always be a certain percentage who will apply the simpliest "happiest" reality to giving birth at home. I guess you can always dial 911 if you have to.
  5. Nancy Crozier from Toronto, Canada writes: Medical interventions can sometimes impede rather than assist labour, but I'm aghast that advocates of unassisted birth don't see that a happy medium between the quality of the "experience" and the health of the baby - and mother - is necessary and possible. A sudden emergency well into an uneventful labour almost took the life of our second baby; he - and possibly I - would have died without assistance on hand.

    Why, why, take risks when it's possible to find that happy medium?
  6. Bonnie Lass from Canada writes: I'm currennlty expecting and I for one plan to have my baby in a hospital with doctors and nurses and heart monitors and pain meds! No thank you to the at home unassisted childbirth! I am waaaaaay to scared of something going wrong to try this on my own with info from a web site. I know that women have been doing this through the ages, and many women today don't have access to hospitals, doctors and midwives for their births, but I DO and I plan to take full advantage of what's available to me!
  7. Luna Nova from Canada writes: Whenever I hear talk about home birth, it is invariably linked with the mother talking about what SHE wants HER experience to be. That's all well and good, but this isn't about you necessarily. This is about a new and precious life. Wouldn't you want all available resources and expertise to ensure they arrive safely in the world?
  8. Sara Cooke from Vancouver, Canada writes: And in response to "Luna Nova" - do you seriously think that YOU - a stranger - could possibly care more about the "new and precious life" coming into the world than the child's own mother?? You think home birthing is some sort of extreme sport that mothers choose, with their child's life at risk?

    A multitude of studies have been done that show there is NO GREATER RISK to a low-risk (i.e. typical) mother or child for choosing a homebirth. For instance, the Public Health Agency of Canada in Ottawa recently released a study showing that mortality rates for midwife-assisted low-risk homebirths were comparable to hospital mortality rates - and that the rates of intervention (c-section, forceps, etc) was halved.
  9. Kinga Breining from Canada writes: M G from Canada writes: I realize that for centuries women gave birth without assistance
    I don't know about that; Hasn't there always been a female relative or midwife-type to assist women in labour through the ages?
    Personally, I would be totally (di)stressed NOT having anyone (except my husband and toddler) with me during delivery.
    What next; don't vaccinate your baby because that's bad for them too?!
    Oh wait...
  10. Bonnie Lass from Canada writes: Sara Cooke...your information misses a major point. This article is about unassisted home births, not home births with a trained mid wife who is a health professional. Your information refers to the low risk of assisted, not unassisted home births.

    I do agree though that Luna Nova may be a bit off base in suggesting that mothers to be who choose home births are doing it for selfish reasons. Maybe I'm naiive but I tend to give these mothers (and fathers) the benefit of the doubt that their intentions are good and they want what's best for Baby. I simply feel that for me, home birth is too scary, with or without assistance! If this is right for you, knock yourself out!
  11. Sara Cooke from Vancouver, Canada writes: Bonnie Lass - I know the article was about unassisted childbirth. I actually wrote a post before the one above, but for some reason it hasn't appeared yet. In the one that shows up here, I was solely responding to Luna Nova's comment about home births - not the assisted/unassisted element.

    Oh - and it sounds like you'll be the one "knocking yourself out" - not me. (hehe - sorry couldn't resist - the labour drug thing.)
  12. Sheila N from Canada writes: Nice article.

    It is not always possible to find a happy medium, and I would choose unnasisted birth over a medicalised hospital event.
  13. d peacey from Calgary, Canada writes: Is it really so crazy? In Calgary, you can't get in to see an obsterician even if you are pregnant -- they want you to see your family doctor unless you are very high-risk (ie, triplets). The kicker is, it is impossible to get on the caseload of a family doctor. So, it is entirely possible (probable, even) that you could go through your whole pregnancy without seeing a medical professional, especially since midwifery is not covered in Alberta and it is over $3000. And then, you show up at the hospital and there is no room so you lose your child in the waiting room in emergency because the staff are "too busy". (true story).
    So, is it really so crazy to have your baby at home where you are at least prepared and comfortable?!
  14. i want mcdonald's delivery! from Canada writes: the human race did just fine without the liberal nanny state when it comes to childbirth and rearing. its a family choice, and none of the government's or anyone else's business. great to see in this day and age..self sufficiency.
  15. Just trying to make sense of it all from Canada writes: Fortunately this is one situation where Darwin's theory will be demonstrated. It is hard not to feel some empathy for women who prefer to be unhindered in their births, but if you think unassisted home births is such a great idea, have a look at graveyards from the late 19th century. The number of mom and or baby graves is staggering. This may work, and we'll here the good news stories, but the downside is there, too. Good luck.
  16. Angela Hoy from United States writes: While some may think it is risky to give birth at home, it is also risky giving birth in a hospital, where intervention in a natural process can cause great harm to the mother and baby as well.

    I applaud any woman who has enough confidence in her body's natural abilities to give birth unassisted. While some births do require intervention, the vast majority happen without incident.

    And, most women who experience unplanned c-sections desire to have a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), which, unfortunately, most hospitals and doctors no longer allow. They claim their anti-VBAC policies are in place for safety reasons...but most won't tell you how dangerous c-sections are when telling you that you MUST have a repeat c-section. And, they make far more money cutting you open than they do letting you labor naturally for a vaginal birth, on your and your baby's schedule.

    Congrats to Nicole Becker for her unassisted home VBAC! :)

    Angela Hoy
    Author of
    DON'T CUT ME AGAIN! True Stories About Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC)
  17. Susan Low from Vancouver, Canada writes: Something this article doesn't get a chance to touch on is the self-filtering that occurs before someone plans a home-birth, either assisted or unassisted. Consider if you will that a pregnant mother KNOWS whether she is in good health and if this delivery is likely to have problems. It's not as if we pregnant women go through 40 weeks of complete ignorance of the state of our health and bodies! I highly doubt any family would plan an unassisted childbirth if they had knowledge of any existing condition that would make it MORE dangerous to give birth unhindered than in a hospital or with a skilled assistant.

    I just think our society has NO faith whatsoever in women's own knowledge of their own bodies, and therefore we assume that the mighty doctors must somehow save women and their babies from themselves, when in fact it is valid to view the situation the other way around. What do women have to do to save their bodies and their babies from the "well-meaning" doctors who would intervene in a natural process through observation, monitoring, placing women in stressful and strange situations, and then dosing them with drugs intended to replace what the body naturally produces.

    However, that's not to diminish any woman's right to choose birth in a hospital or a birth centre or in their home with a midwife attending. Each woman should have the freedom and the right to choose the birthing place and situation that feels safe for them, knowing their own bodies and trusting that knowledge. Some women just know they will need medical assistance to cope with labour pains, and we should respect that. We should also respect women who have the confidence and the knowledge to swing at the other end of the pendulum.
  18. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: My reply to Sharon G.: Childbirth is not a "risky business," as you say. Statistically, only 1-3 percent of births will involve a serious complication. In addition, maternal mortality rates are so high in 3rd world countries for many reasons: poor nutrition, poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water and extremely poor access to proper medical assistance in the case of a life-threatening emergency, to name a few. These are not factors that Canadian women have to contend with, so your comparison is rather flawed. "In Canada, it takes an Ob/gyn four years of medical school and five years of residency to complete his or her training" because she or he is training to be a specialist surgeon. Obstetrics is a wide and complex field. Catching babies is not one of the things that make it so, however. In an uncomplicated delivery the Ob shows up at the last moment, puts on rubber gloves and hold our her hands...it's not rocket science. I think you are truly misunderstanding what UC is all about. We are not trying or wanting to recreate a hospital delivery room at home, nor do we feel the need to be our own midwives. In actuality, we feel that it is entirely reasonable to expect that 97-99 percent of births will happen without event and that it is therefore not necessary to have medical personel present. In any case, midwives, although thoroughly educated, do not and may not practise medicine. They only oversee births that do not need medical help. In an emergency their only course of action is to help you get to a doctor. There are still maternal and infant mortality rates in Canada, and since the vast majority of births occur in hospital, we are talking about deaths that occur mainly in hospital. I weighed the risks and chose UC. I felt it was the least risky choice for my perfectly healthy pregnancy. Had I gone to hospital I would have had a 1 in 4 risk of a repeat C-section, which is 4 times more likely to be fatal than vaginal birth.
  19. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: My reply to Luna Nova: The philosophy of UC is that *avoiding* the interference of medical experts or midwives is what gives our babies the best chance of arriving safely into the world. Please remember that mistakes and tragedies happen in hospitals too; it is a misguided sense of security that says we can ever ensure a perfect birth outcome. In any case, it is only logical that an expectant mother who loves her unborn child will make the choices she feels reduces as much risk to herself and baby as possible, so long as she is properly informed about what risks truly exist. Sadly, our cultural practice of drugging women (and therefore their unborn babies) during childbirth rarely includes educating the women about the harm these drugs are causing. Then again, there are many woman who take narcotics and have epidurals during labour knowing full well it is affecting their babies negatively. They take the drugs because they would rather be comfortable - sorry baby. Unfortunately this practice is so embedded in our culture that we don't often question how selfish and careless it really is. I hardly consider that staying home, avoiding hospital superbugs, and opting to not drug my baby during labour was a "selfish" choice on my part. She is infinitely precious to me and I gave her the healthiest possible birth. Indeed, it is the best, most loving thing I have ever done for her.
  20. David Howell from Saltspring Is, Canada writes: I have a BIG problem with people who go for unassisted Childbirth at HOME. Should there be a complication they are almost assuradly putting the health and life of the child at risk. Should you want an unassisted childbirth I urge you to set it up at the hospital. Then if there is a problem you can get medical attention immediatly. I would like to relate my own experiance with childbirth to you. It was our first child and my wife had a very normal pregnancy without any complications. When labour began we went to the hospital. The labour progressed for some time. My wife was slow to dialate so the baby did not come out. However all was Ok. Fortunatly my wife was fitted with a fetal moniter. This measures the pulse rate of the child and the contractions of the mother. It is normal to see the infants heart rate increase during and following a contraction. However the infant heart rate should slow down between contractions. Should the infant get it's cord fouled up or pinched off, it's supply of oxygen is deminshed and it's pulse will increase and not slow down but cont. to climb as it is trying to compinsate for a lack of Oxygenated blood from the placenta. This is what happened to our baby. The nurse on hand immediatly recognized this problem and brought it to the attention of the attending Dr. My wife was rushed from the birthing room into the operating room. An emergency ceasarian was performed and my son was handed to me a few moments later. A healthy babyboy. Who only moments earlier was in risk of suffering brain damage or death from a lack of Oxygen. He is now 27 but I remember that moment as if it was yesterday. Have your baby however you like, but have it where, if an emergency developes, the appropriate steps can be taken to protect your baby and yourself.
  21. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: My reply to "Just trying to make sense of it all "

    I have to feel some sympathy for anyone who doesn't realise that the high rate of infant and maternal mortality in the 19th century was due to disease and ignorance about germs and proper hygiene, both at home and in hospital. We are talking about a time when people dumped human waste directly into their drinking supply, had not developed many effective medicines and treated illness with blood-letting. Oddly enough, the human race survived even these times and this fact only confirms to me how amazingly well childbirth works.
  22. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: To David Howell:

    Setting up an unassisted birth at a hospital is impossible. The whole point is to stay home and have no one else there. I know this must sound risky to you, since you had a frightening experience with the birth of your son. I would like to say, however, that UC does address complications, only in a different way. We take precautions, just different ones. I have heard of many scenarios in which a birth that would normally have ended in an emergency c-section in hospital was resolved safely at home, without medical attendants.
    I think that Adriana did a great job with the article, although it only gives a brief introduction to UC. There is so much more that would need to be said in order for someone to gain a full understanding of what UC is all about and to consider that it is indeed a decision based on wise and careful judgement rather than throwing caution to the wind.
  23. V B from Canada writes: I had both of my children at home, and had massive haemorrages with each child. I would really have hated giving birth in a hospital: I really do believe that like other mammals human females are far more likely to have successful deliveries if they are in familiar surroundings, with privacy, etc. etc.....but I just can't imagine that I could have coped with an unassisted delivery: with my first child it took two midwives working together, with 'stuff', to deal with the situation, and the second birth was smoother only because they were prepared in advance. My sense has always been that in traditional societies the role of the midwife was always an important one, and while I can truly understand wanting to keep the birth as unassisted and as private as possible, I personally would at least want a midwife to be in the house and instantly available if anything started to go wrong.
  24. Bonnie Lass from Canada writes: I am just wondering if anyone knows...are there any classes or support services for people who ar eplanning an unassisted home birth or is it up to the parents to research this using books and web sites? See, for me that is part of what's scary about it...I am someone who needs to feel that all my bases are covered, and I am not sure I'd feel comfortable with info from a web site only. If unassisted home births becomes a trend, perhaps parents who have done it could initiate some kind of information sharing/support groups to make sure others who are planning this have the right information and support.

    Just a thought : )
  25. Jane Q. Public from Toronto, Canada writes: I cannot help but think that we are moving backwards here instead of forwards. Having a home birth? Fine, if it's uncomplicated pregnancy up until then, and you have a trained midwife with you. If that's what you want go for it.

    But going without proper prenatal care, and purposefully birthing your child without a trained professional - simply stupid. Think about it - if your baby died because of your choice, how could you live with yourself?

    This also reminds me of the folly of the vegan parents who let their baby starve to death - STUPID.
  26. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: To Bonnie Lass:

    As mentioned in the article, the main support system for families who have unassisted births consists of many online groups where women from across Canada, the U.S. and the world can interact and share wisdom. In addition, a group of us here in Canada are working towards having better supports in place for Canadian families who choose to have UC - so basically, exactly what you are suggesting. Childbirth was always a woman's art and we are definitely reclaiming that wisdom of ages past in our UC communities. Of course, there is always also the option to seek medical or midwifery care should the need arise. UC-minded folks do sometimes seek care: they may find all is ok and return to having a UC, or they may find reason to remain in care for the rest of pregnancy. When you hear of lovely UC births it is because a) 97-99% of births when left alone happen without event and b) people who UC are generally very cautious and well-researched and make sure they are healthy and fine before childbirth occurs.
  27. Jane Q. Public from Toronto, Canada writes: Jodie, you can prepare and hope all you want to be part of the 97-99% (your stat) of births that go well, but unless you're God or posess some sort of psychic powers you NEVER REALLY KNOW if you could be a part of that 1% that goes bad.

    Are you willing to gamble with your baby's life?

    Also, where are all the studies saying that epidurals "drug" babies? Do you have any factual evidence? After thalidomide, doctors are extremely cautious about giving any form of drugs to pregnant women ( I know, I've been pregnant). I know that there are alot of conspiracy theorists out there, and maybe you're just one of them...
  28. Kinga Breining from Canada writes: Just wanted to say thanks to Jodie Boychuk for responding to some of the concerns raised by readers; you have made some good points I had not considered.
  29. seeymore butts from Calgary, Canada writes: Sara Kook-so where are all of these "studies" you allude to? Are they conducted by the same people who demonstrated that four out of five dentists prefer the taste of Trident gum? Unless you provide a link to a study in a reputable, peer reviewed journal it means nada. Most mothers who do this are simply not well informed. Tell you what, if you choose to inflict an unassisted home birth on your child and they develop cerebral palsey with a significant cognitive deficit, I think it's only right that YOU foot the bill for the millions of dollars in health care this child will require.
  30. Jane Q. Public from Toronto, Canada writes: Conspiracy theorists: http://www.xkcd.org/c258.html
  31. C Renwes from Guelph, Canada writes: It's a common scenario - you get a bunch of new moms together and we all talk about our "birthing stories". Some sound romantic with water, music and laughing siblings in the background, while others sound dramatic, with horrible medical interventions that seem completely cruel and unnecessary.

    What exactly is the goal of delivering a child? The beautiful memory it creates for mom and loved ones? Or, a "healthy" baby to parent to his or her fullest potential? Each pregnancy and each delivery (like each child) is unique. Some pregnancies go according to plan even with "self-delivery". But sometimes more medical intervention is necessary and things don't go the way you hoped. In my case, my son's funeral wasn't part of the plan. Follow your instincts and do what feels right for you, but avoid getting sucked into the latest "birthing trends".
  32. Jane Q. Public from Toronto, Canada writes: Another quote from Laura Shanley (her webpage):

    "In the past several years I have received hundreds of stories from women and couples who have successfully given birth without medical assistance. Their stories speak for themselves. No one, however, regardless of their "expertise," can guarantee that a baby will be born safely. Some babies die. It's simply nature's way."

    Some babies die. Nice - try telling someone that just lost a baby due to a lack of appropriate medical care that "it's simply nature's way".
  33. K H from Vancouver, Canada writes: Interesting viewpoints here. I think I may be vastly in the minority of having an UNPLANNED unassisted birth at home - yes we planned the home part, but the active labour and delivery was super fast (1hr 20 min). The midwife arrived to check my dilation when my husband had our son's head in his hands, she didn't have any of her gear and threw her purse down and our son was out within 1.5 minutes of her arrival! Freight train fast is how i describe it. I also have a squeamish husband who wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle participating in the birth - he had no idea what he was capable of when his shining moment arrived! I've never been more proud of him, and he of me. We had extremely prepared ourselves in advance due to the home part of the birth, but wow we did not plan for this! It was a beautiful incredibly bonding experience, and for the second one my husband wants to do the whole thing on his own... with THE MIDWIFE PRESENT JUST IN CASE. I wouldn't consider for one second doing that without some kind of professional support available for the aftermath.

    Just think of how home repair DIY goes people...!
  34. natalie arsenault from Moncton, Canada writes: You can see in the language, people who are well versed in birth and those who are not. Like the gentleman who said," thanks to the fetal heart monitor, we realized there was a problem and she was whisked off for a c/s." Sorry to say that the problem started with the fetal monitor, if she had not had it she probably would not have been lying down, thus making surges more manageable for the baby and her and the cord would not have been pinched. It comes down to what you want as a mother for your child: i don't want my baby anywhere near a superbug, i don't want them wrapped in blankets that others have died on, i don't want the medical establishment taking the baby to the NICU for no good reason, i don't want to have to fight..
  35. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: From the article quote, "But the practice remains controversial enough to impel some midwives and authorities to intervene. When Ms. Boychuk declined the services of a registered midwife during her second pregnancy, the midwife - who questioned the safety of even an attended home birth after a cesarean - promptly called the Children's Aid Society. A two-week investigation ensued, but it was dropped because unassisted childbirth is not illegal." Woman decides to give birth at home unassisted and midwife loosing potential business calls CAS. CAS spends Canadian taxpayers money by conducting an investigation for two weeks only to find out that they cannot steal her baby as long as it still is in hew womb. Home childbirth is still not considered a crime in Canada, so CAS will have to wait for some other occasion to steal that child. They would have had much better luck if that midwife made some allegation of child abuse of their first child as CAS would have been able to get a court order to seize the child after it is born, for reference see Carline VandenElsen Case and Halifax Police standoff at; http://www.fathers.ca/carline_vandenelsen_case.htm Given Carline VandenElsen's experience, unassisted home childbirth offers no assurance that a child will not be stolen by CAS in Canada (or CPS in US), to feed multimillion dollars adoption industry. Next trend might be that all male relatives of an expectant mother will have to purchase some used AK47 machineguns, few buckets of .223 ammunition, and stand guard around the house during delivery delivery to prevent CAS and local police with battering ram breaking into the house and sizing the child.
  36. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: regarding epidurals affecting the mother and baby negatively: the following is taken from the package insert that comes with the medication used for epidurals (manufactured by Abbott Laboratories)

    "Local anesthetics rapidly cross the placenta, and when used for epidural, caudal or pudendal anesthesia, can cause varying degrees of maternal, fetal and neonatal toxicity....Adverse reactions in the parturient, fetus and neonate involve alternations of the central nervous system, peripheral vascular tone and cardiac function....
    Neurologic effects following epidural or caudal anesthesia may include spinal block of varying magnitude (including high or total spinal block); hypotension secondary to spinal block; urinary retention; fecal and urinary incontinence; loss of perineal sensation and sexual function; persistent anesthesia, paresthesia, weakness, paralysis of the lower extremities and loss of sphincter control all of which may have slow, incomplete or no recovery; headache; backache; septic meningitis; meningismus; slowing of labor; increased incidence of forceps delivery; cranial nerve palsies due to traction on nerves from loss of cerebrospinal fluid."

    see http://www.healing-arts.org/mehl-madrona/mmepidural.htm
  37. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: regarding the above quote by Laura Shanley: Ms Shanley lost one of her children as a newborn to a severe, untreatable heart defect. I think this detail puts her words into a bit better context. She was just stating a fact...that sometimes things go wrong with nature. My older sister passed away as a newborn from a serious heart defect as well. She was rushed to Sick Kids hospital, but she could not be saved. It was a tragic loss. It's hard to imagine ever having to bear such a thing, but the truth is that we all need to be in touch with the reality of human mortality and make peace with it somehow. I believe that is the point Ms Shanley was making.
  38. K H from Vancouver, Canada writes: Good frickin' grief people... the conversation is not about whether or not you're entitled to make your own choices or not, it's about the craziness of your decision compared to the ones we make individual to individual. Please don't spout off about how the law is coming to take your children for choosing your type of delivery, in Canada it is up to you... Karol, did you think for one second that maybe the midwife intervened due to her concern for Ms. Boychuck? She is having a vbac, and no matter what anyone says, that's a big deal - i am certainly NOT pro c-section (as i had a home birth, and as previously posted an UNPLANNED unassisted birth) but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you had the misfortune of being a c-section recipient, then you have scar tissue that is the weak link in subsequent births. If you don't have the personal sense of caution here, and choose to do things on your own, then I guess you have come up with some very good reasons in your own mind (and got your husband on board!). Once again, I am a home-birther, NOT a hospital advocate of any kind. But midwives? Yeah, I like having them around... are YOU personally trained for emergencies? How about when it's YOU having the emergency? Can you take control of the situation? I've been there, it's tough...
  39. K H from Vancouver, Canada writes: sorry for reposting, but still bothered by Karol's "CAS... cannot steal her baby"

    I don't know anyone in Canada who wants to "steal babies", nobody likes to see children in foster care or orphanages. We want to see that the child's safety comes BEFORE the mother's, which I wholeheartedly agree with (after all, I would do anything for my son's safety today... if perfect strangers want the same, then I'm happy for that). People and our Canadian gov't do not want to see children taken away from their families, but when families seem to be making seemingly unwise and risky choices, SOMEONE has to step in and assess what's happening! Just think about the possiblities? I hate to think about our society going completely feral on us, with no one even attempting to throttle things... don't argue with me, just think about it...
  40. Jodie Boychuk from Dunnville, Canada writes: I told myself I wasn't going to reply to comments that suggested I am crazy, dumb, stupid...etc, but I feel I should quickly state that the CAS was never talking about apprehending my children...although it is hard to not consider that scenario when dealing with the CAS. Once they are called, they have to follow through with an investigation, i.e. you are guilty until proven innocent. I can only guess that my former midwife called them out of fear of her own liability. This seemed to be her main concern at our last meeting. She knew full well that my risk for uterine rupture was practically non-existant - as did I. Why else would she agree to attend my home birth?! What do you think she would have done for me if my uterus ruptured? Right, dial 911...something anyone with an index finger can do. And, by the way, uterine rupture is sudden, happens with little to no warning and is first detected by the birthing mother, not the midwife, so having a midwife there to watch for symptoms is also pointless. Please do a little research into the subject before flinging harsh accusations at a person you don't even know. Whoever suggests that I do not have a sense of caution, or that I preferred having a lovely experience over having a healthy baby simply doesn't understand, and isn't even trying to understand what truly motivated me to choose the birth I did. Why be so appalled that a woman would make a conscious, calculated choice to avoid the medical system to give birth and in doing so *succeed* in giving her baby the most healthy and gentle birth possible?
  41. G. Saunders from Canada writes: I'm glad to see this! I think many are skipping the fact that women are people and don't exist for their fetuses. Informed consent laws state women have the right to pick what care they want, or don't want in this case. Until a baby is born alive it has no rights of personhood and the mother's desires however "selfish" take priority. This option wouldn't be popular if our system worked. Having worked in this birth "industry" I can say that the medical model for pregnant and birthing women is failing and needs to be changed. I planned an unassisted homebirth because in our rigorous questioning of our midwife we realized that much of her training was out of date, biased, inaccurate and in some cases would impede the birth and put myself and my baby at risk. We faced thinly veiled threats, disrespect and condescension for suggesting altering the way the midwife wanted to do MY birth. We went unassisted, had all the equipment and knowledge we needed for anything short of a c-section, and enough to hold up until EMS would get here if we called 911 in an emergency. Even in hospital here it takes about an hour for an emerg. c-section to get set up. We lived 5 min. from the hospital. It was a safe option for us. Those choosing to birth unassisted are not uneducated. I've stumped both Dr's and midwives, my husband a close second. During birth we recognized signs that made the hospital a viable option so we called 911. The care in the hospital made me wish we'd stayed home. We were better educated on handling the problem we faced than the staff, we were mocked, procedures were performed illegally upon our child and myself without our consent (Informed consent laws extend to the parents wishes for child as well.) my requests were refused because they weren't "policy" etc. The pregnancies in which I had medical treatment the care was shoddy at best. Next time we're doing an unassisted pregnancy and birth and we know that we'll have far superior care at home on our own.
  42. Jane Q. Public from Toronto, Canada writes: I guess this is what happens when you have more money than sense. How many women in developing countries would love to have prenatal and labour care from a trained medical professional?

    As for Laura Shanley, I'm sorry - her website reminds me of "psychic" Sylvia Browne's. Blaming bad birthing/pregnancy experiences (i.e. even morning sickness) on the fact that a woman isn't thinking positively or isn't "spiritually connected" enough is only going to induce more guilt on pregnant women and new mothers for things that are beyond their control. You know, even good people who visualize and "listen to their dreams" get sick...
  43. Kay Ay from Canada writes: So where are the remarks from people who had a planned un-assisted home birth that didn't go well? I would suggest that this method of childbirth is only an option for a very small percentage of the population. And suggesting that going to the hospital is interfering with nature is just being ridiculous. I assume that the newborn is taken to a doctor at some point in the first week of life to be checked out and hope that isn't naive on my part. Am I alone in my experience of having a typically problem free pregnancy (twice) and then at the very end needing an emergency c-section? My mother, grandmothers, sister and even my mother-in-law all had natural births so there was no reason to think I wouldn't too. Homebirths shouldn't be illegal but if something does go wrong it has to be investigated just like in a hospital.
  44. Karen McKenzie from Canada writes: Way to go, Jodie. We went this route quite a few yrs ago, before midwifes ( invaluable I might add!) were widely available or found. Had one un -assisted and two assisted. ( five in total, first two in hospital, not bad experiences) My youngest is now 23. If we had waited for "permission" or "midwives to be legalized"... guess we would never have had them. hmm you have my support. Karen

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