AMA Resolution to ban homebirth
Wed, 2008-06-18 12:15
#1
AMA Resolution to ban homebirth
Wed, 2008-06-18 12:15
#2
[url=http://feministing.com/archives/009419.html]From Feministing[/url]
Once again birthing options provide women with too much control and present a threat to those who need to constantly medicalize our bodies and our reproduction.
The resolution can be read [url=http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:n4T0KbfQwhkJ:www.ama-assn.org/ama1/... ere[/url]
I wish they would just keep their hands to themselves!
Wed, 2008-06-18 12:28
#3
Le T
I would love to see the data that supports their claim. I have seen lots that indicates that home births are much healthier for the mother and child than hospital births. The risk of infection is very high in a hospital - because it's full of sick people!
Fuck doctors. In the thousands of years that women have been giving birth they waltz into the last couple hundred and try to take over.
Wed, 2008-06-18 12:53
#4
Timebandit
I've given birth in hospital once and at home once. While I wasn't mistreated and can't describe my hospital experience as horrendous by any means (I even had my FP there to "catch"), I vastly preferred the home birth experience.
There is no sensible reason that a woman with a low-risk pregnancy and little liklihood of a complicated labour or birth shouldn't be allowed to opt for a home birth. It would cost us less, for one thing, and may even lead to better outcomes. I'd also support a greater number of birthing centres that are midwife-run for those who are not able to labour and birth in easy proximity to the hospital should the need arise.
When Ms T was born, 7 years ago, midwifery and homebirth were grey areas under our provincial health legislation -- basically unrecognized. There were only two working midwives in the province. Going in, I had no idea what a political decision I was making until I started getting reactions from people. I just wanted to have my baby in peace and quiet and in the comfort of my own home. Such a radical idea! [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
It does, in the end, come down to an issue of choice. Once we decide to carry to term, we must obviously be too stupid to decide HOW we're going to go about it. It's my body, my baby, and I should be allowed to choose.
[ 18 June 2008: Message edited by: Timebandit ]
Wed, 2008-06-18 13:22
#5
Unbelievable. It's pretty clear that the AMA is protecting turf here.
I chose a hospital delivery myself - the thought of childbirth without painkillers gives me the horrors. But it's pretty ridiculous for it to be ILLEGAL to do home births!
Sat, 2008-06-21 20:00
#6
my first baby was an awful hospital experience, when I could have easily had that child in the barn with no help at all---the ob was a paternalistic prig.
My next 2 were both home births and what a huge difference---the midwife was far more knowledgeable about "old fashioned" things like turning a breech baby a few weeks before it was born. She saved me a caesarean for sure. The event was actually fun and good for my husband.
The ob's are taught to medicalize female bodies and think of pregnancy as a health problem.
I was clear that I was responsible for making a decision that meant less intervention--for good or ill---and that I was ultimately the one to live with any consequences---again for good or ill. but that's life, there are never any guarantees.