| Reply To Message: |
| Posted By |
n/a on 7/26/2008 7:45:05 PM |
| Subject: |
"A Home Birth Would Have Killed Me/My Baby" |
| Message: |
I know that women who make this comment often have a poor understanding of the training and qualifications of Certified Professional Midwives and Certified Nurse Midwives, (those who attend home births, at least), including the ability to recognize high-risk situations and refer out when necessary. They are also unfamiliar with the research that confirms well-attended home birth a safe option for low-risk pregnancies.
It doesn't help that their fear-mongering OB's are confirming these misconceptions. The ACOG's anti-home birth statement wags its finger at women with a reminder that "complications can arise with little or no warning even among women with low-risk pregnancies."
In line with this statement, these women usually mention events that "came on suddenly." I know that CPMs carry appropriate equipment and are trained in neonatal resuscitation. I also know that with the liberal use of pitocin in hospitals, fetal distress is all too often iatrogenic. But I'm curious about other complications.
I most often hear about pre-eclampsia and placental complications (e.g. placenta accreta). How are Certified Professional Midwives trained to detect and respond to these complications? And are there any similarly risky complications that I'm not considering?
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