I write this post not because I think that all women should give birth at home, but because I feel that all women should have the legal RIGHT to give birth where they choose to do so. This, rather than being cornered into delivering at a hospital because the majority of culture think they should or because midwives are bullied into becoming more rarely available than they are even now.
You may think I'm crazy or even irresponsible (and believe me, I know that many of you do) for choosing to have our 4th in the comfort of our home. That's ok - dh, and I, and God worked all that out. :-) My issue now is not convincing you of my position, but rather just to educate you that there are those of us who NEED midwives to be available and who WANT the choice of how our littlest blessings are introduced to the world!
So with that little bit, I'll leave you with some info on an amazing midwife - Diane Goslin. She did not attend to Lincoln's birth, but I met her when she came to the aid of a friend who, without Diane, wouldn't have had a choice for her labor and delivery. She is a humble and godly women and has years of experience in helping women to deliver their babies. She has practiced midwifery in PA for 25 years and has attended over 5,000 births without any charge for negligence or endangerment. The medical board charged her last year with "practicing medicine without a license" and ordered her to "cease and desist" from attending births. She is a sweet, dear lady and a very experienced birth attendant who loves the Lord and loves helping mothers. I am thankful that last week her court ruling has been reversed so that she can continue to help the families that need her! My friends' family (as well as many, many more families) are thrilled with this ruling and they posted more about it here.
Hurray Diane! God bless you for your perseverance!
(For those curious, here is the Midwives Model of Care and The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth.)
5 comments:
I couldn't agree more. While I have read all the literature about homebirth and understand that it's NOT putting yourself and your baby at risk, I decided it wasn't for me. But I did decide that should we have another child, I might like to do it at a birthing center, with a midwife and not at the hospital with a doctor I've never laid eyes on before. I was also interested to hear that my mom wanted a homebirth with my brother, almost 30 years ago. It's a shame that women aren't given the opportunity to use our brains and make the best decisions for US.
You have a good point, Andrea. I have a friend who had her fifth at home and was very pleased to be able to see the same midwife throught her pregnancy and then have that same lady help her through the birth.
When I had Sam, I looked into midwife-assisted births (ie, midwife only medical carer for the birth, continuous midwife care throughout pregnancy) here and found that it was only possible if I was having a home birth. So it is funny how different places have different rules.
In the end, because I was trying for a VBAC, I booked into one hospital. At my prenatal visits they agreed to go with my birth plan but when they re-read it when I was in labour they told me they would have to transfer me to the tertiary hospital. And there, although they didn't like my wishes (such as no "just in case" drip line in and intermittent monitoring rather than continuous) they let me stick with my plan, at least after I'd signed a waiver.
Sam was born after my longest, hardest labour. I am glad I read so much about VBACs so I knew my reasoning and could stick with my choices. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would have ended with an "emergency" caesar.
~ Sharon
PS, Jeff has always said "no homebirths!" he just doesn't want to do any cleaning up of mess, or at least that's what he says.
~Sharon
Andrea,
I definitely agree that the choice should be protected.
God has never laid on my heart the option of homebirthing, and like you, I am completely content with our choice. I also have NO issues with anyone who God leads to decide differently.
While I don't have friends who have chosen homebirth in this area, I do have a few who have used birthing centers instead of a traditional hospital.
We should all protect that choice. I have used a midwife for the last 2 births (even with T being a month early) and have been quite pleased. Our midwife was truly a blessing for me in both situations!
Hey, I have a good friend who is training to be a midwife she just recently posted about this on her blog too! Her site is http://midwifesc.blogspot.com/ She posted a site called The Big Push for Midwives http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/ You might be interested in it.
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