Homebirth controversy

marizpan wrote: »

Seriously! Have you had one yourself in a hospital?
Woman just wish to be treated with more care and consideration and less of a production line. How is that asking too much or risking anything???
I have not had a c section but any friends I spoke with were glad to have had a section if otherwise was to endanger the life of the baby.
What terrified them was feeling like a piece of meat and control being removed totally from them to medical staff.
Or to sum it up, medical staff talking amongst themselves while looking between your legs and nobody making eye contact and or discussing procedures etc to yourself, like your not even in the room!

Yes I've had two!

And I didn't feel like you're describing.

I was informed, monitored, advised, cared for, treated with great dignity and respect, was not on anybody else's schedule, was greatly cared for.

I had an emergency and an elective, I went semi private and private and attended a different hospital each time so I actually do know what I'm talking about.

My experience has been that c sections are very much a second option after vaginal birth, if there's no medical reason for a c section. Even though I've had a c section, I'm being encouraged to try vaginal delivery this time around.

I had a great experience with my section. Everything was calm and explained in full to myself and my husband who was with me the entire time. I had no interest in seeing what was going on behind the drapes, all I wanted was to see and hear the baby. Before and after my section, which was planned and scheduled, every procedure was explained and I was always asked for consent. I know that might not be possible in an emergency when decisions have to be made quickly and sometimes politeness has to go out the window.

I felt far more uncomfortable having a colposcopy months after my section. The doctor was rude, never explained this and didn't give me any indication he saw me as anything other than a case who had to be dealt with.

Akrasia wrote: »

Your lucky I didn't post up any pictures

My wife makes me watch 'one born every minute', it's a good form of contraception as it completely puts you off sex for the night

Put your foot down and tell her you are watching <insert some sport or motoring program here>.

And for good measure demand she goes back into the kitchen and do a bit of ironing or some other housework.

Then you won't have to worry about conception, contraception or the like that night or probably for a good few nights afterwards.

Now to really stir it up has anyone who had an elective CSection been asked if they are too posh to push ?

As regards topic at hand, people should be free to be allowed do as they wish, but they shouldn't expect to be able to receive the same level of treatment as they would get in proper hospital setting.

jmayo wrote: »

Now to really stir it up has anyone who had an elective CSection been asked if they are too posh to push ?

Yes, frequently. I've had people assume I chose a section to keep everything down below the way it should be too. I went private both times and it was assumed that I chose private care in order to make sure I could have another c section this time.

LostinKildare wrote: »

I had my baby in a hospital in NYC. It was a very very difficult labour -- he was posterior (face up) -- but we got there. When I told the story to a midwife friend here in Ireland, she said that in an Irish hospital I would have been given a caesarean as a matter of course as soon as they saw the baby's position (even though the baby was not in any distress).

seamus wrote: »

The reason I quote your piece above is because the Irish health system is so heavily weighted in favour of a quick delivery of a living child. In virtually every case that a child does not present normally, caesarian section is the quickest way of delivering the child with the least risk - to the child.

Quickest, yes, but not necessarily with the least risk to the child.

Whether a vaginal birth or caesarean is the healthiest option for both mother and child when the baby is unusually positioned depends on several factors. In my case, for example, where he presented face-up, had his head been tilted back rather than chin tucked in, or had there been any signs of fetal distress, then a caesarean would have indicated. There were no such risks. Therefore, it was better for me and him too (because caesareans hold risks for babies, too) that I endure a long and exhausting labour, and that the doctor spend much more time than she would have liked helping me birth my son.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said this:

seamus wrote: »

The doctors and nurses want deliveries to take place on their terms, they're less willing to wait for things to happen naturally.

In my particular situation, a caesarean would have been an unnecessary procedure, with risks to both me and my son. Yet, apparently in Ireland that is the standard practice for my situation. This type of blanket medical policy, without attention to the specifics of each individual case, seems to be what the woman in this news story is contesting.

This, on the other hand, I don't like:

seamus wrote: »

You see, the problem here is that this is not necessarily just about the pregnant woman and what she would like. There is a baby too which needs to be delivered safely.

Most women are acutely concerned about the safety of their babies, even more so than their own safety, and certainly more than achieving some mythical, beautiful "perfect" birth. However, they probably do not want to be pressed into an unnecessary (in my case) surgery that carries risks to both their babies and themselves, just because it's quicker and handier for the medical staff.

Tasden wrote: »

Mine was 29 hours and there was not one mention of a c section, no assistance or anything, they just monitered closely.

The most recent labour I know of lasted 20 hours, this was in a large Dublin maternity hospital. No mention of intervention either, and the women did it entirely without pain relief!

clairefontaine wrote: »

I think nyc c section rates are about the same as here, 30%.

There's a difference in the c section rates for overall numbers of births, and rates for women who've had previous sections. So while the overall rate might be 30%, there's a higher rate for those with previous sections.

Ciarabear wrote: »

Your one experience is hardly indicative of the big picture. The only options that private care buys you is whether to have cornflakes or weetabix for breakfast.

Of course there are exceptions but by and large, the vast majority of women in this country give birth based on what's medically appropriate at the time and to suggest otherwise is just sensationalist nonsense

Well I can only go on my experience. That goes without saying. I didn't chose private to have a choice of breakfast cereals, which, incidentally I don't eat anyway. I went private because I wanted consultant led care with a specific consultant, which, in the end, paid dividends because despite the potential for things to go wrong, I had a very positive experience overall.

December2012 wrote: »

Terrifying .... Cattle marts...need to reconsider our approach...

Presumably reconsidering birth options has increased the rate of c sections.

We also have better screening, lower mother and infant mortality rates.

I'm not saying c sections for everybody, but what I'm saying is just because the rates are increasing does not mean that there is anything sinister or terrifying going on.

The WHO recommend that the c section rate should be no higher than 15%. A vaginal birth is the safest method of delivery for both mother and child.

The rates are increasing, not because more women need them but because more are being imposed on women who are not giving birth within the time constraints or whose babies are in awkward positions but still are perfectly able to be born normally. There is a huge variation on how long a labour takes. its ridiculous to impose an arbitrary limit on it. My labour lasted 33 hours. I highly doubt it would have been allowed to go that long in this country.

Ciarabear wrote: »

Pregnancies have the potential to go wrong within the public system to and often don't. Believe it or not, positive birthing experiences aren't exclusive to private hospitals

I wasn't in a private hospital.