I'd love to have my next at home, when that time comes. For my first, years ago, I had a midwife but a hospital birth, and that went ok. Not bad, having nothing to compare it to. My second, last year, was with a supposed midwife/doctor (though I sincerely doubt she was really a midwife, other than attending a seminar and printing herself up a certificate) at a local hospital, and it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had. She lied to me, ignored me, left for two days while I was in labor, and then showed up at 8 AM, after a couple of hours of actual hard labor, took over from the previous shift's attending, and literally ripped my son from my body, pulling so hard she broke his collarbone, eight minutes after she'd walked in the room. No attention was paid to the birth plan we'd written up, to my birth partners there holding my legs up, or to my obvious pain, as she then yanked the placenta out a few minutes later, tearing the cord as she did so.

AAfter that, no more "doctors".

I respect your experiance, and I honor it. I profoundly wish I could share it.

At the same time, I would offer that I fear home-birth not because I fear mess or pain, but rather my own death or the death of my infant. While it is absolutely true that hospital methods are often -- indeed, more often than not -- asinine and counterproductive, it is also true that even the best methods cannot always make parturition safe or even possible. My own delivery would have been a disaster without medical intervention of the modern and agressive sort. Since the problematic circumstance involved -- my own physiology -- has not changed, I'm in for another medicalized birth sometime in the next few weeks.

I guess what I'm saying is that I envy your beautiful delivery experience, but even a radically different choice of venue or caregiver would not allow me to experience something like it. As we fight for change, I would aslo urge us to remember that modern medicine does have some benefits to offer to womankind.

Garrity has a good point about modern medicine have a place in childbirth. The fact is that if something goes wrong and the baby's air supply is cut off, there's only 8.5 minutes to get them out. So the safest place to have a baby is the hospital.

I'm glad I didn't know that when I had Xia in a birthing center. (In a big ole bed, in a big ole room. My favorite part was the nap the three of us took afterwards.) If I were to have a child now I'd probably look for a birthing center that operates out of a hospital.

I'm just chicken shit I guess, cause I would love to have another baby at home!

whoah whoah whoah. Garrity, you should know your opinion and experiences are ALWAYS welcome here, and I appreciate you adding your voice to this conversation. I might write a longer post later about why midwifery (and healthy competition for spiritual/emotional connections to birth) are better for those who, for whatever reason, need to give birth in the hospital.

In summary of that upcoming post, I doubt my hospital experience would have been any better had it been necessary, and I would like to see all women respected throughout the birthing process, regardless of their birth plan, through choice or necessity.

Janine...I love ya, mama...but research would indicate you are incorrect. The hospital is NOT the safest place to have a baby. It is arguably the safest place IF YOU ARE HIGH RISK. But there are many studies that indicate that hospitals increase risk for women who are not in a high risk category. They increase risk of intervention, of complication AND of death. I don't have the resources at my fingertips, but it is totally true and I have researched it several times. Please read articles about other countries in which birthing outside of a hospital is more common. I will try to link to them later when I am not so busy.

I just hate to see that assumption perpetuated on my blog. It is NOT true, although it's a widely held belief, and I can understand why you would assume it to be true.

Thanks, mamas!

Hmmmm. I'm gonna have to clarify. Safest place to have a baby refers to the example regarding breathing obstruction. My info came from my cousin, who was a mid-wife who became a doctor. She's the one who got me hip to the cascading effects of the various interventions used in hospitals.

So...yes, I agree that on one level the hospital is the worst place to have a baby, especially in terms of intervention and the complications that arise from it.

The 8.5 minutes though, I'll check on that.

I feel a bit...uh...out of my element when it comes to a topic like this...

But I feel confident in saying that both hospital births and midwifey births are for softies...wimps, if you will. You want to see how it's really done? Try giving yourself a c-section.