October 2011 issue of Freedom's Phoenix magazine - fr33aid

Continued from Page 6 - Birthing Choices:
Doctor’s Intervention or Mother Nature's Intention?
the labor which often, but not always, results in
a spiral of other interventions. A common example
would be the early breaking of the water
to “speed up” the rate of labor; however, this
puts the mother at risk of infection and the baby
at risk of damaging in the birth canal and often
results in the next intervention of drug induced
induction because the baby cannot survive without
amniotic fluid very long.
Two: The woman takes an epidural to ease the
pain of contractions and labor slows to a near
halt, resulting in artificial induction of labor to
counter-act the slowing caused by the pain medicine.
Three: The doctor convinces the woman that
there is some medical threat looming in the future
that can be prevented by the early induction
of labor. One such threat is that baby will be too
big for the mother to push out, which is incredibly
rare and rather unlikely when you consider
the pregnancy hormones that cause the loosening
of joints (yes, including your hips) in order
to facilitate the process of birth.
Four: Some sort of scheduling issue arises such
as the doctor going on vacation (yes this happened
to someone very close to John and I) or
the doctor pushing the woman to induce so he/
she can be the one to deliver the baby. It has
been reported that OBGYNs only get paid in
full if they deliver the baby themselves.
Five: The baby decides he or she is not ready
to enter the world on their pre-determined “due
date” (40 weeks gestation) causing the doctor to
scare the mother into inducing, which is strange
considering stillborn rates decrease at 41 weeks.
Most first time moms give birth between 41 and
42 weeks.
Considering how high the intervention rates
have become in our country and how often there
are interventions performed when they are not
necessary, one finds it hardly surprising that the
United States has the highest infant mortality
rate of any Western civilization.
These are the issues that lead me to explore
another way when it came to my own birthing
choices. Upon further research I found study
after study that show the simple presence of a
birthing Doula (experienced non-medical birthing
assistant) lowers
the rates of epidurals,
induction, and
other interventions
including Cesarean
Section. This is likely
because they are
trained to help calm
the mother and build
her confidence instead
of scaring her
and making her feel
weak. Doula’s also
protect the mother by demanding hospitals stick
to their birthing plan and advocating on behalf
of the mother during her time of great pain and
wild emotion. These rates decreased even further
when compared to mothers who birth with
an experienced midwife at home or in birthing
centers (outside of the usual hospital environment).
In fact, most other countries have midwives
attending births even when a doctor is
needed to deal with a medical emergency.
As we armed ourselves with research, John and
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I became increasingly determined to keep our
birthing experience away from the hospital environment.
We decided to hire the best midwife
in Texas with full confidence that she can deal
with most minor medical issues (such as cord
around neck or breech baby) and the confidence
that she has built strong working relationships
with doctors at local hospitals who will respect
our birthing wishes in the event of a medical
emergency. Not only did she open the first birthing
center in Texas, but she is also known for
her extensive apprenticeship program in which
she trains other women to walk in her footsteps.
We knew she was our perfect match when we
found out she has spent decades as an activist
and could not only understand our lifestyle
choices, but respect them as well.
In addition to carefully researching who would
be helping deliver our baby, we also researched
the various ways to ensure our baby has a peaceful
transition into the world. We finally settled
on the idea of a home birth with a birthing tub
so baby could enter the world in the most loving
and secure environment that we could provide.
Daddy will get to catch baby and he won’t be
forced to wear a space suit in order to participate
actively in the labor. As a team, we are
prepared to welcome baby without all of the
fluorescent lights, medications and loud noises.
Both of our mothers will be here to attend the
birth with our midwife and her two assistants.
We could not be happier with our choice to provide
baby with this setup as their entrance to the
physical world.
Did I mention the entire prenatal, birth, and
post-partum service provided by our midwife is
costing us under $4,000, including the cost for
the birthing supplies? If the risks imposed by
medical interventions aren’t enough to have you
consider a non-hospital birth, maybe the cost
will. A typical hospital birth now runs around
$20,000!
Currently I am two days “overdue” and patiently
awaiting the arrival of the newest addition to
our family. I look forward to describing our experience
using the midwife from start to finish
in a future article, including the results of our
planned home birth. Happy birthing!
Catherine’s daughter, Aliana Elizabeth, was
born at home in Texas on October 3, 2011.
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