Photo by Anselm

One way would be to point to the scientific studies that back up the safety of home birth. I was so happy to see news of a study showing that home births are safer than hospital births for low risk pregnancies. Yes! Shout it from the rooftops! Do more studies! Spread the word!

Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts? Have you heard word about when the book the sequel will be released?

P.S. My husband read this post and wants to say the following: “People who are planning a hospital birth can benefit from watching the movie too because it points out common mistakes that hospitals make such as pushing epidurals and other pain medications and unnecessary interventions such as pitocin. The movie can help women and their partners manage the care in the hospital and avoid common pitfalls in hospital births that taint the experience.” (I love that man — he reads my blog AND agrees with me!)

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

It’s a complex and somewhat disturbing book that is more like four books in one. The thing that keeps me reading though is the relationship of the women. In the red tent each month they celebrate their femininity and their abilities to create and sustain life. Take this passage describing the birth of the narrator Dinah:

After Rachel wiped me clean, she handed me to Zilpah, who embraced me, and then to Bilhah, who kissed me as well. I took my mother’s breast with an eager mouth, and all the women of the camp clapped their hands for my mother and for me. Bilhah fed my mother honeyed milk and cake. She washed Leah’s hair with perfumed water, and she massaged her feet.

Now that is how we were meant to give birth, to be initiated into parenthood, to receive the support necessary to care for ourselves and our children. Imagine how wonderful it would be if each new mother were attended to by some combination of her mother, grandmother, sisters, aunties, and midwives! Imagine if each breastfeeding mother had the on-going support of other mothers experienced in nursing! The La Leche League model of mother-to-mother support has filled in some of the gaps, but I still wish such support were passed from generation to generation within each family as well.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

The average uncomplicated vaginal birth costs 68% less in a home than in a hospital, and births initiated in the home offer a lower combined rate of intrapartum and neonatal mortality and a lower incidence of cesarean delivery.

“The Cost-Effectiveness of Home Birth.” J Nurse Midwifery. 1999 Jan-Feb;44(1):30-5. Gee, what a novel concept — care that costs less but has a better outcome!

I did an informal survey of sources online to determine that the average hospital birth costs around $8,000 in the United States, depending on exactly where the mother lives. That does not include the additional costs of an epidural or cesarean section, nor does it include the prenatal care from a physician, which costs anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000. For the sake of discussion, let’s say the total cost of prenatal care and physician-assisted hospital birth is approximately $10,000. Compare that to my prenatal care and home birth with a midwife, which cost a total of $4,300. That’s $5,700 — nearly 60% — less! And I was far happier with my home birth experience than my two hospital birth experiences.

Guess how much of that $4,300 my insurance company covered? $2,947.08. Compare that to what the insurance company theoretically would have paid for physician-assisted hospital birth: $8,000! By that token, the insurance company should have been paying ME to have a home birth. My choice of home birth saved the company over $5,000. And the irony is, I had to fight to get the company to cover a home birth at all. Because there were in-network midwives who could attend births at a hospital, the insurance company initially denied my request for a homebirth. I had to have my midwife write a letter to the company stating that I had a “medical need” for a homebirth (basically we argued that I had had such bad hospital experiences — with a fourth-degree tear and a failed epidural — that for my mental health I needed a home birth!) Luckily, the company agreed to pay, although I had to pay 25% co-insurance, rather than 20% co-insurance for an in-network provider. In the end, I wound up paying about $450 less out of pocket for a homebirth, and had a safe and satisfying birth.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3