When you check the rates of home birth and hospital birth using percentages of how many are done instead of straight numbers, the results are almost identical in the US. Home births are safe for women with no risk factors, and then, there should be a very qualified midwife there with all her emergency equipment (and not afraid to use it)j. I work at a hospital for high risk pregnancies and things can change in an instant. Having access to immediate emergency care is vital to all births. It doesn't mean you're going to use it, but it should be available. Also, knowing what your options are and being flexible with your birth plan is important. Bottom line is health for baby and mom. Sometimes the birth plan has to be thrown out the window, because unforseen things happen. Hospital births can be very safe. Interview your obstetrician or midwife and make sure they are on the same page with you. That goes a long way to have a satisfying experience. I had a midwife at a hospital for my first birth, and then the second birth was so fast, I didn't get a chance to choose, however they both went well, and I was high risk myself. Educate yourself, be prepared, be flexible. It's one of the most important events in you and your child's life.

Infection rates are also linked to the number of times that you are checked for dilation. Having a hand shoved inside of you every half hour really ups the chances of infection. If you are in labor for 12 hours, that is at least 24 times that a foreign object (hand or other) is introduced to the birth canal. Checking dilation doesn't make you dilate any further. It just makes you focus more on time and stressed out and impatient.

Marsha-

With home birth there is less chance of infections. I had my baby at home with a perfectly capable, trained home birth midwife. They brought everything they would need for newborn resuscitation. I was screened carefully all through my pregnancy for anything that would "risk" me out of a home birth. When the big day came I was able to walk, move, eat, take a hot bath, anything I felt that I needed to do. I labored how long I needed to. I wasn't rushed, pressured, or constantly monitored. Birth isn't a medical procedure. It is a perfectly natural act. Women give birth in caves and huts every day, even now, and they are just fine. If birth is so risky how did the population evolve to the numbers it has today?

If home birth is so horrible, why do other countries with less health care options have a lower infant mortality rate? I believe the US is #25 or 26, last I saw. The local hospitals around my home have a C-Section rate of over 30%! Every woman needs to make the best decision due to her circumstances, but I will not be talked down to by anyone who doesn't understand all of the options.

Alyssa, You stated that in every other country besides the U.S. low risk pregnancies are delivered by midwives. That is a false statement. And while it is true that "women have been delivering babies for 1,000's of years," they have also been dyeing too. My first "low-risk" pregnancy turned in a second. When they realized the baby was huge the OB. refused to do a C section for he had been labeled as a Csection Dr.. After 3 days of hell, vacuum, forceps, episiotomy, I had her. I was begging for Medical intervention. Because of the trauma, I had to have reconstructive surgery....but was glad that my baby and I made it. Next birth..New OB planned for big baby, delivered early and perfect. Next/Last baby went straight for Csection, BEST BIRTH EVER, no joke. If I had any of these births at home, I would have died. Truth is ya never know what is going to happen, and having a hospital on call is not good enough. Within just a few minutes a mom can die of blood loss and only a few minutes without air can make a baby brain damaged or die. Why take the risk?

She was on Saturday Night Live

ginger10487
WHERE IN THE WORLD DO YOU FIND THESE PEOPLE WHO IS THIS WOMEN ? I DON'T KNOW WHO SHE IS.
WOMEN GIVE BIRTH AT HOME EVERYDAY, SO WHY IS THIS WOMEN SO SPECIAL?

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Just because you don't know who she is doesnt mean the rest of us don't

MY MOTHER HAD ALL OF HER CHILDREN AT HOME THERE WAS A DR IN ATTENDANCE.WHEN SHE WENT TO THE HOSPITAL TO HAVE HER LAST ONE SHE BLED TO DEATH. SHE WAS 41 THIS WAS IN 1946. SO YOU JUST TAKE YOUR CHANCES HOSPITAL OR HOME OR CAR WHATEVER. I WAS 16 WHEN SHE DIED.I HAVE 4 OF MY OWN ,NO PROBLEM ALL BORN IN THE HOSPITAL.

phpoling, apparently you did not read the article last week about the midwife that tried to deliver a breech baby at home. The baby died. If that midwife had followed the protocol that the majority of midwives do, that in a case such as that, the mother should be in the hospital, it might have ended with the baby living. When I had my first baby, it was in a birthing room at the hospital. It was decorated to be like a bedroom. All of the emergency equipment was there, but behind curtains. It was very relaxing and fortunately, we did not need the emergency equipment. It was comforting to know it was there, just in case.

WHERE IN THE WORLD DO YOU FIND THESE PEOPLE WHO IS THIS WOMEN ? I DON'T KNOW WHO SHE IS.
WOMEN GIVE BIRTH AT HOME EVERYDAY, SO WHY IS THIS WOMEN SO SPECIAL?

Homebirthing when planned and assisted by a certified professional is SAFER than hospital birth. Do you research before you judge and make stupid comments. A homebirth is usually only done when a certified nurse midwife knows that it is a low risk pregnancy. Did you know that in every other country except the U.S women use midwives instead of doctors if they are low risk and homebirth is very common. As americans we have misguided belief that doctors and hospitals make every thing safe and that birth is a medical process, but its not. Women have been giving birth for 1000s of years. Even as recent as our grandparents was homebirth normal. Babies born at home have less risk of infection, less risk of truma during delivery etc. If you have a planned homebirth a hospital is always on call just in case and midwives do know what to do in case something would go wrong. I had my 2nd child at home with a midwife, i also had my husband, mom,dad, 2 sisters and my 18 month old with me. My son was 9lbs 4oz and came down crooked. my midwife knew exactly what to do without cutting me or making me have a csection. At a hospital i would have been made to have an csection simply because doctors are either clueless or too lazy to take their time.I was in labor 12 hours with him and not once did she say i wasnt progressing fast enough. I had my first child at a hospital and after 17 hours the doctor told me either get an epidural or get a csection because i wasnt relaxing enough to dialate fast enough for him. I wanted a totally drug free birth and he literally scared me into an epidural. Bottom line.... i love my home birth experince and when my husband and i have another baby i will give birth at home.... it is the safest, most relaxed and natural way to do it.