DIY Deliveries: More Women Go It Alone (US)

[Epacris]

Hmmm very interesting... here's my 2 cents worth...

I think birth (like lots of things in life) is all about risk assessment and what level of risk you are prepared to accept. This "acceptable level of risk" will be different for everyone. There are well identified risks associated with giving birth, for the mother and the baby, that you can't do anything about. No amount of education or exercise or positioning or anything will prevent some of the things that sometimes happen during birth. Sometime it's just luck. And I'm not saying that things can't be done to help make all sorts of situations better, I'm just saying that sometimes all "other options" become exhausted.

I think unnecessary medical intervention is a separate issue. To reduce this I think education is the key, of medical professionals, mothers, fathers, and society in general. You also need to have good communication between you and everyone around you. You need to feel that you are able to speak and will be listed to. You need to feel that you will be told what you need to know, when you need to know it without any "baggage" (e.g. like the anesthetist needs to have his lunch break in 30 mins). And if necessary, you need to change your situation so that you are more comfortable with the people around you (yes, I know, easier said than done).

I had a wonderful hospital birth. It was truly the most amazing experience of my life. I had gas. I had an episiotomy. I was absolutely dreading having an epi, I told my ob this, we did everything we could to avoid it, but when the time came, DS was a compound presentation with his arm next to his head, a fast labour (my first and less than 4 hours from the very first contraction) and an epi was the best option for all of us at the time under the circumstances. So in the end I felt it really wasn't a big deal (for me) in the scheme of things.

We have private heath insurance so I can choose my ob. Yes we can afford it but we choose to afford it, going without many, many, many other things because it is a priority for us as a family.