I was told about an article on CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/16/ep.vbac.birth.at.home/index.html

about a woman who refused to have a 4th C-section demanded by her doctor. ?Instead she decided to have her baby at home. ?She did so successfulyAnswer to a CNN column about a woman who had a VBA3C at home. Wonderful article. Here is my answer:

It surprises me how many comments there are criticizing this intelligent woman for making a choice for herself and her baby. Especially those who? belittle the idea of birth being a marvelous and exalting experience, and saying that a healthy baby is more important.? These people do not know much about birth, in my opinion.

A natural home birth is so much better for the mother and the baby that there is really no comparison. Birthing women need to feel safe and comfortable and surrounded by people they trust.? This is key to a good birth and a faster one as well.? We are “fight or flight” animals. Anyone who deals with animal births knows that intervening is dangerous and apt to cause a bad outcome.

Why don’t doctors realize this with all their education? I can only assume it is because almost NONE of them have ever been present at a home birth. They are taught only about problems that can arise, not about a peaceful birth. They are taught surgery. No one explains the power of a woman’s body to these OBs, today.? Some older doctors know about this, but they are very few.

Fear of lawsuits trumps a woman’s right to have the birth she wants. There was a post from an angryOB who sneared at the woman in the story for listening to Ricki Lake. Well that doctor is very, very wrong and honestly I could use all the exact derogatory words he used towards Aneka to describe what I think of HIS knowledge about birth. I have had 5 babies. I have caught in my hands the warm wet baby that my daughter decided to have at home. I have seen home birth. I have studied to be a doula. Perhaps not trained in medicine but so what? Birth is NOT a disease.

If you have a sniffle would you go to a surgeon who specializes in OPERATING ON NOSES? Of course you would not. Yet women go trustingly to their doctors and to the hospital thinking that THEIR wishes will be granted or even listened to. Fear has permeated the world of childbirth and that needs to be cleared up.? TV shows showing the MOST medical births possible frighten women and prepare them for interventions.

If you want a natural birth do NOT allow your baby to be induced. DO NOT allow any interventions at all. Some say that the first intervention is leaving your home in the first place. The safest, cleanest, quietest and most comfortable place to have a baby is in your own home. Doctors are shocked at this advice. Do your own research. It is ALL out there on the Internet. Birth is safe. Interventions are dangerous. TRUST BIRTH. Trust your body because it knows what to do.