Babies by the dozen but medic says home birth too risky

[PumpkinZulu]

Oh and do not forget, many of 'these' doctors refuse to consider things like unnecessary c-sections, episiotomy, unnecessary interventions, non consensual interventions and any other form of birth rape a 'risk'...it's all okay so long as the end result is a healthy baby, right? Like that baby not so long ago that had his skull crushed and his eye popped out of his socked as the good doctor pulled his mother down the table with a vacuum...but omg, just imagine how much worse it would have been if they let the labour progress normally and let her have a normal vaginal birth

[meow]

Meh. This guy never says anything worth listening to. The most upsetting part of the article is that he was awarded best rural doctor!

[onthefly]

It's kinda funny that similarly in WA we have politicians defending homebirth programs against doctors - must be votes in it.

[Trillian]

I have taken a *meh* attitude to anything like this in the media now as there could be 100,000 homebirths without a single problems and ****wads like him and Peske and Ted will still say it is unsafe. It not only proves that they have an irrational hatred of homebirths that is not based on statistics and evidence but rather is personal, but also reinforces the theory that they think they are God himself and the only ones who can save all these stupid women from themselves.

[onthefly]

reinforces the theory that they think they are God himself and the only ones who can save all these stupid women from themselves.

Yeah, their complete lack of respect for parents' ability to make rational decisions for themselves is the bit that annoys me most.

[Kazbah]

Forgot to post this last night - sent this letter off to the editor:
In regards to the article in today's paper "Babies by the dozen but medic says home birth too risky", I would like to understand why (mostly male) doctors feel the need to deny women a choice.
Last year I travelled to Canberra and stood in the rain with thousands of women to let our voices be heard. Our voices that were raised to demand a choice.
Low-risk pregnancies don't need to be medicalised. Educating women as to what is "normal" and what isn't can truly take the pressure off a failing medical system. Greater community support has a follow-on effect of lower rates of PND.
I am lucky to be able to compare a medicalised OB model of care against a midwife-model of care with two pregnancies. One model tells me the worst-case scenario while the other model performs the same tests, and gives reassurance that the body can look after itself and if necessary, further tests can check if medical intervention is required.
One model is empowering. One model sets me up for success as a mother, and the other model removes my instincts. Guess which model.
And they wonder why women want a choice.

[JennaJayen]

Just read this - I wonder if they will end up doing something at my local hospital to shut down a lot of what they do there? I just found out that the entire ward is completely Midwife led (though no homebirths unfortunately) and OB's are only called in if things start to go wrong or if the mother requests it.
Kind of makes you wonder what is so different between a Midwife-led ward and a homebirth with easy access to the hospital if things go wrong?