After watching "The Business of Being Born," I felt like I had learned a lot about home births. I had heard of home births before watching the movie, but I guess I did not really have all the information. I really try to stay away from labeling people or letting a stereotype define a person, but I definitely had some assumptions about home birthing. I assumed that women who would choose home births really value the idea of natural childbirth. They see the naturalness of home birthing as something to be valued, whereas many other women see it more as something to be avoided and treated with drugs or epidurals. In all honesty, I see nothing wrong with births that take place in hospitals, but I think some information about birthing in general as been misrepresented.
For one, I was surprised to find out that home births can be much safer than hospital births. As a nursing major, I was very interested to know that certain drugs are used more out of luxury or due to the physician's preference instead of simply considering whether the drugs were necessary. Also, it seems like the drugs weren't always the safest route for the mother and baby. In the documentary, I learned that pitocin can basically speed up later. However, in the process, the contractions can become more and more intense, making the mother feel like she really needs an epidural. Then, the epidural can actually slow labor down to the point that the baby is distressed. This can lead to an "emergency" cesarean section even though the whole situation could have been avoided if pitocin had not been used. This was shocking to me because I really feel that physicians should be doing all they can to minimize complication. They should not be using drugs that have a high chance of causing complications, especially if they are not completely necessary.
I was also surprised to know that there are issues with insurance covering home births. From what I have learned, I think it can make sense for a woman to choose home birth, especially if she has had continuous prenatal care and all major complications have been ruled out. Obviously, anything can happen during a delivery, but if all major complications have been ruled out, it seems that a trained mid-wife could handle the situation perfectly. Therefore, I do not think it makes sense for an insurance company to be hesitant to cover home births due to the fact that they can be perfectly safe. Also, one of the women featured in the film brought up a good point by saying that she wondered what was on the hospital's "agenda" to make hospital births so costly, when home births are much less expensive in comparison. I think this just kind of shows society's views on birth. I don't think anyone is necessarily trying to take away from the natural birth process. However, I do think America has a tendency to always be moving forward and taking advantage of the "next big thing." This is shown with new fashion trends, technology, and all kinds of medical advancements. Our society views "new" as better, so I think we are hesitant to see the benefits of home birth because it is natural and may feel like a step in the wrong direction.
I know I haven't really introduced any new information for you all to think about, but I just had to share my interest/shock at some of the information I learned from the film. I would love to hear about what you all learned from the film, and I would be interested to know what you thought/knew about home births before this class.
I also found an interesting article if anyone else cares to read up more about home births vs. hospital births:
http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor-and-delivery/hospital-birth-home-birth-debate_70709
I also find it somewhat odd that insurance companies refuse to cover home births but at the same time I can also kind of understand. So many things can happen during a birth and a midwife is only trained to do so much. Even though they say they rule out all major complications I find that a little hard to believe, because its hard to predict what can happen during any process with the human body and if they are in a home environment its hard to be completely sure that nothing will go wrong. In hospitals there are all the professionals close enough to get there in time to help with any complications that can arise. On another note I really do think homebirths are a very naturalistic way of doing things. Its more comfortable for the baby and the mother which can reduce stress, which is always a good thing. Homebirths are much more personal and that can be extremely important for mothers. I see nothing wrong with homebirths as long as your comfortable enough and trust your midwife enough to know what to do.
ReplyDeleteTo e honest, I was not only unfamiliar with the home birthing process, but I also never considered home birth for later in life when I do decide to have children. I don't have anything against home birth, I just never even really knew that home birth was an option, or even a safe option at that. While evidence was given that home births can be safe if pre-birth complications are ruled out and that certain administered drugs used in hospital birthing can cause complications, I would personally still feel more comfortable and would choose to birth a child in a hospital. Like Jordan said, you never know what could happen during a birth. So many possible complications could take place and I would only be comfortable if a professional with the technological advancements in our developed medical practices could utilize. However, for those women confident enough and brave enough to do home births, more power to them. In relation to the class, everyone has a choice. Tis entire process has definitely opened my eyes to that option and educated me more.
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