Prosecution of Midwife Casts Light on Home Births

Frequent deaths at childbirth are a natural thing too

I appreciate your concern, but I think plenty of those babies died in hospitals with professional care too. I really don't want to argue with you because I have seen both sides of this. I just believe in freedom and think a woman should have the choice to have her child at home.

This has nothing to do with giving birth at home. Thousands of licensed midwives legally assist in tens of thousands of home births across the country every year.

This has to do with the particular midwife in question being UNLICENSED which means she has never had to provide any proof of her training or competency to anybody anywhere.

Everybody on Free Republic could simply call themselves "midwives" and be unlicensed midwives open for business tomorrow morning.

Unlicensed individuals who have not provided any proof of training or competency to anybody anywhere are not legally allowed to hire themselves out to deliver babies for the same reason that unlicensed individuals who have not provided any proof of training or competency to anybody anywhere are not legally allowed to hire themselves out as airplane pilots or bus drivers or architects.

With some occupations such as a barber, if you don't know what you are doing and mess up, your client's hair grows back in six weeks. With other occupations such as midwives or pilot or architect, if you don't know what you are doing and mess up, you can easily kill people. That is why the state requires some proof of training before licensing certain occupations.

I think its their fault.

They are also the ones who have to live with the consequences either way. Whether something goes wrong at home or in the hospital.

I don't fault someone for wanting to have a hospital birth. (my sister-in-law is one who is better with hospital births) But, after three hospital births and two home births, I prefer the home births for myself. I have fast deliveries. I also have a lot of non-progressive labor a month in advance. I like not having to go to the hospital umpteen times with false labor. Or being hooked up to tubes all the time for a healthy birth. Not to mention it is nice to eat when I want and go where I want. I have heard so many more horror stories about hospital births. These stories were from women who still advocate hospital births too.

My last home birth I did get a little panicky, since I was impatient. This slowed the progression down. I don't know how it would have been handled in a hospital situation, but my midwife told me to go to my room and relax as much as I could. The baby was born less than half an hour later.

saw one story where the woman wanted a tape of wolves howling while she birthed outside with the family pets near her....

This really has nothing to do with the midwifery topic, but the wolf thing is funny. I once heard this wonderful wolf jazz cd. When I saw what I thought was it another time I bought it. As I played it later (it was called Wolf Sounds) my children ran to their father because they thought they heard ghosts in the house. I never played that again. So, no, I would not play that for a birth.

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