Ren i was the birth assistant with SIL's #1 and it was my primary motivation for a homebirth. The VitK was like icing on a big medicalised doctor-centred (rather than baby or woman-centred) interventionist cake. Classic cascade (induction for EDD+10, gels, painful pre-labour, AROM, sinto drip, morphine, vomiting, epidural, posterior baby, slow dilation, low BP, fever), she was lucky to avoid forceps (though the Ob came in with them in his hand after she'd pushed on her back (she'd been given the epidural at 3cm and bubs was still posterior 9 hours later, a stint on her side finally allowed rotation anterior but then caused random decelerations so she went back on her back to push) for 40 minutes waving them above her, in litho (basically right at her vagina, between her feet which were velcro'd into the stirrups so she couldn't move them should her epi wear off a bit) and saying "If you don't get the baby out i'll use these and you and your baby don't want that!"). It was truly awful. Seeing her baby come into the world was wonderful but it was like watching people flush a miracle down a toilet. She was totally disempowered, her baby was not treated with respect by all the staff (needle-sticker being the worst offender) or even talked to when handled, and the two took a long time to bond. In fact they still obviously struggle compared to her #2 who she had with one shot of peth, a few sucks of gas and a lot of bouncing on a fit ball in the shower.

It was the most beautiful and saddest thing i had ever seen.

Bx