"The Doctors" on Home Birth

On September 10th, a new show called The Doctors (on WCIU, Channel 26 here in Chicago) featured a segment about home birth. This showed stirred up a bit of controversey before it was even recorded. Dr. Phil (who apparently sponsors this new show) ran an advertisement on his show's website, asking for opinions and experiences from viewers who had a home birth or who at least felt strongly about it. Word spread quickly throughout the birthing community. Birth advocates hammered the website with stories and opinions. We worked on getting Mickey (Mongan) on the show. I asked Henci Goer to lend her research expertise (she refused), because the research says that home birth is just as safe, if not safer, than hospital birth.

And then something changed. The site began to ask for stories from people who regretted having a homebirth. It appeared that they wanted to stir up the drama and discourage home birth, just as the AMA and ACOG desperately want. I heard they turned away some great people with great things to say. Many were getting pissed off.

So, I watched the show. The doctors admitted that OB/GYNs want to ban home birth; although they said that it was "not about banning for our sake" but in the interest of safety (a common claim). Dr. Sears, a prominent pediatrician, said that he and his four siblings were born at home--to which the OB commented, "They were lucky!"

The show featured an expectant couple, 24 weeks (6 months) pregnant, who were considering a home birth. They said they wanted a natural birth and they were considering all different methods of childbirth preparation (including hypnosis). The couple were introduced to a mom who did have a homebirth, 3 weeks ago, who said it was wonderful and lasted 2 hours. The pregnant mom asked how she prepared for the birth--prenatal yoga, she said.

Of course, the show had to highlight a negative story (to give it a "balanced" view, right?). The story they chose to tell was an interesting one, in that it was far from common or having anything to do with the birth itself. This mom had a tragic birthing experience at a birth center. Her baby had an undetected, rare kidney disease that necessitated a hospital transfer.

The OB on the show was clearly VERY impatient to talk about the dangers of birth up until this point. So far, through the show, she said, "Anything goes with obstetrics!" and that "OBs are interested in your safety," as well as, "It is important to hear all the things that can happen." This OB was encouraging an environment of fear and of impending doom at any given moment. We know that complications in birth are actually worsened by such a perspective; problems do not just happen with the flip of the coin! There is always time for a well-trained provider (read: midwife) to conservatively help a woman or baby in need.

The OB, as part of her fear-mongering, showed a video of a special circumstance called shoulder dystocia, where the baby's shoulder does not have the room to move past the pubic bone. She spoke of the cutting, uterine pushing (on the woman's abdomen) and bone-breaking (of the baby's shoulder) involved in typical obstetric intervention of this circumstance. BUT...at NO TIME did she mention the change of positions that easily help resolve it; namely, the Gaskin Maneuver (i.e., hands-and-knees), that is supported by the research. It was probably not mentioned because she was never taught to do such a thing in her OB/GYN training.

The segment ended by saying that two major circumstances that often cause problems in birth are umbilical cord issues and postpartum hemorrage. Did you know that both of these issues can be resolved easily and effortlessly by trained birth attendants, including midwives?! These are not necessarily emergencies, and when they are, mere presence in the hospital is unlikely to mean the difference between life and death, folks. In fact, with a provider who is skilled in hands-on maneuvers and position changes (and noninterventive birth, so that these are possible), the baby is able to turn easily and bleeding resolves. Home birth is not at a disadvantage here.

The show also spoke highly (and at length) of the use of hypnosis during labor and childbirth! What a wonderful validation of the work HypnoBirthing is doing!

A final note: Remember that OBs are very well-trained, highly skilled surgeons, with a vested interest in hospital birth--their livelihood depends on it. They are also often slaves to their malpractice insurance. They are surrounded by fear. And they guarantee their livelihoods by intervening as much as possible. Is this the way you want your baby to be born? Is this how you wish to travel through this life passage?