Time magazine has a story about home birth in the US in the current edition. While seemingly praiseworthy of the move towards birth at home, I was annoyed to read this sentence:
"Old-school birthing is back in style, with well-read women forsaking obstetricians for midwives and epidurals for warm baths."
Referring to home birth as 'old-school' suggest that it's antiquated or primitive or that women are foresaking a 'modern' life. Silly women! The article devotes about one paragraph to the positive aspects of homebirth but the rest of the article basically reads like a cautionary tale to women who would 'dare' to deviate.
Source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1830388,00.html
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I think in an attempt to remain "neutral" the article left out some vital information. Like neglecting to mention that the "some studies" that showed an increase in neonatal death for homebirth babies were studies that grouped planned home births with trained attendants with unattended births, births en route to the hospital, and miscarriages. And referring to licensed midwives and CPMs as "lay" midwives makes them seem untrained or less qualified, when a CPM must usually oversee twice the number of births as a nurse-midwife to get her license. And the phrasing of getting a "license for their CRAFT"... did they have to choose a word that implies witchery? They could have said profession or practice. I have a hard time imagining them referring to a doctor "getting licensed for their craft". But perhaps they just see midwives as "old-school lay witches". They also don't tell you that child and maternal mortality rate were gradually improving in the 1900's until birth began to occur in hospitals, where maternal and infant mortality sky-rocketed and then improved again when doctors figured out that they should wash their hands.
Nothing wrong with old-school, I say. Bring it on back.
And I thought you were proud of forsaking modern medicine. You should be applauding just as much as those of us who would rather die than homebirth (and who probably would die).
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