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That hospital was at fault, waiting 2 hours because of BLOOD TYPE!???? Are you kidding me? I also disagree with your thoughts on what is motivating women to seek more personalized care from a homebirth midwife. I assure you, it is not because it is “fashionable” or “in style” but that women are tired of being treated like pawns in the hospital. Not all hospitals are bad, but alot are. C section rates in our country are out of control and being caused in the most part by intervention happy doctors. The fact of the matter is, most times, birth is a safe, low risk, natural process. Midwives are trained to seek out problems during delivery and figure out a way to fix them. If it means transporting, then so be it. A lot of obstetricians will not work with homebirth midwives, hence why they do not have back up OB’s. That hospital should be ASHAMED of itself. I have never heard of a woman having a baby stuck in the birth canal for whatever reason and being made to wait 2 HOURS for emergency care. Also, that is just ONE case. I could tell you hundreds of happy stories of homebirth. I had both of my children at hospitals. I educated myself and had a doula present. I DID attempt homebirths both times but it was not meant to be and transferred to hospitals, where I received immediate care from staff there and I was not in any distress, nor were my babies. That hospital should be ashamed of themselves.
Also, not all midwives are CNM’s some are CPM’s. My midwife was a CPM and extremely knowledgable, we checked numerous references and inquired about her education, certifications, what supplies she would bring to my birth, and made sure all was in order. On that note, I also agree that this Midwife sounds neglegent. I also think the parents in this particular story may not have done enough homework on this particular midwife. With all this said, I have met some amazing OB’s, CNM’s, and CPM’s. I have also met their counterparts. Being a pregnant woman means being a smart consumer. Your HIRING this person to assist you with the birth of your child. Educate yourselves and learn all you can about them. I do agree with having back up care with a local OB office. I saw midwives (CNM’s) at a local OB office for contingency care and because I was paying my homebirth out of pocket, my insurance paid for the contingency care. All parties were aware of my plans and it gave me the avenue to have all the knowledge necessary to make the appropriate choices for my own births.
Thanks for your comment, Victoria and we can agree to disagree. But what’s interesting about both of your attempted home births is that you ultimately ended up in a HOSPITAL where you were taken care of and had, I’m assuming, healthy babies. Believe it or not, I’m not a great fan of hospitals and pray that I never have to be admitted to one. But if I do, I know that the difference in my care will have a lot to do with the physician or nurse practitioner or takes care of me; not the institution itself.
Victoria said,
July 3, 2012 at 10:34 am
That hospital was at fault, waiting 2 hours because of BLOOD TYPE!???? Are you kidding me? I also disagree with your thoughts on what is motivating women to seek more personalized care from a homebirth midwife. I assure you, it is not because it is “fashionable” or “in style” but that women are tired of being treated like pawns in the hospital. Not all hospitals are bad, but alot are. C section rates in our country are out of control and being caused in the most part by intervention happy doctors. The fact of the matter is, most times, birth is a safe, low risk, natural process. Midwives are trained to seek out problems during delivery and figure out a way to fix them. If it means transporting, then so be it. A lot of obstetricians will not work with homebirth midwives, hence why they do not have back up OB’s. That hospital should be ASHAMED of itself. I have never heard of a woman having a baby stuck in the birth canal for whatever reason and being made to wait 2 HOURS for emergency care. Also, that is just ONE case. I could tell you hundreds of happy stories of homebirth. I had both of my children at hospitals. I educated myself and had a doula present. I DID attempt homebirths both times but it was not meant to be and transferred to hospitals, where I received immediate care from staff there and I was not in any distress, nor were my babies. That hospital should be ashamed of themselves.
Victoria said,
July 3, 2012 at 10:46 am
Also, not all midwives are CNM’s some are CPM’s. My midwife was a CPM and extremely knowledgable, we checked numerous references and inquired about her education, certifications, what supplies she would bring to my birth, and made sure all was in order. On that note, I also agree that this Midwife sounds neglegent. I also think the parents in this particular story may not have done enough homework on this particular midwife. With all this said, I have met some amazing OB’s, CNM’s, and CPM’s. I have also met their counterparts. Being a pregnant woman means being a smart consumer. Your HIRING this person to assist you with the birth of your child. Educate yourselves and learn all you can about them. I do agree with having back up care with a local OB office. I saw midwives (CNM’s) at a local OB office for contingency care and because I was paying my homebirth out of pocket, my insurance paid for the contingency care. All parties were aware of my plans and it gave me the avenue to have all the knowledge necessary to make the appropriate choices for my own births.
drlindagalloway said,
July 3, 2012 at 9:09 pm
Thanks for your comment, Victoria and we can agree to disagree. But what’s interesting about both of your attempted home births is that you ultimately ended up in a HOSPITAL where you were taken care of and had, I’m assuming, healthy babies. Believe it or not, I’m not a great fan of hospitals and pray that I never have to be admitted to one. But if I do, I know that the difference in my care will have a lot to do with the physician or nurse practitioner or takes care of me; not the institution itself.