Why choose home birth?
 Sometimes
women/couples who choose home as a place of birth for their children
are criticised by health professionals or relations and friends,
who accuse them of endangering their baby's life for the so called
"selfish" desire for a happy and satisfying birth experience.
In a recent television programme,
a matron from a well-known Dublin maternity hospital said, "The
very first thing is the safe delivery of the mother and a healthy
baby ... everything else is the icing on the cake" ie. personal
fulfillment in childbirth, could at best be selfish, and at worst,
endanger her own life and that of her baby by insisting on it.
It is not selfish to want satisfaction
and a sense of achievement in childbirth. Having a happy birth
experience should not be regarded as an exceptional event, a matter
of luck or a luxury. In fact, the stress levels of a labouring
woman have a direct affect on her baby. Foetal distress is most
commonly the consequence of maternal distress. Therefore, the
main motivation behind wanting the so-called "icing on the cake",
by making the informed decision to give birth at home, is that
of safety, which is of course paramount for all prospective parents.
What exactly is this "icing on the
cake" and why are so many women demanding it by choosing to give
birth at home? There are many reasons which lead women to consider
the option of giving birth at home. One is that they themselves
regard pregnancy and birth as a normal physiological and family
event, rather than a potential medical disaster which is unfortunately,
quite a common attitude amongst obstetricians and hospital staff.
This view may be summed up in a statement by a master from the
same maternity hospital referred to above; "The overlying philosophy
of giving birth in hospital is that it should be as fulfilling
and rewarding as is possible within the confines of human reproduction,
which is an imperfect procedure, an imperfect process."
Some women, never having reason to
be in hospital, and not regarding themselves as patients who are
ill, see no need to go there to give birth. For other women they
have had natural trouble free births in hospital and wish to have
subsequent births at home. Others may have had previous hospital
births and felt unhappy, disappointed or even angry about their
birth experiences. Others may have relations or friends who gave
birth at home and who spoke positively about the event. This web
site lists most of the practical reasons for choosing home birth
although you will probably have your own very personal reasons
for considering home as the place to give birth to your baby.
In this web site we refer to both women and couples making
choices. At first, some fathers/husbands can be less enthusiastic
than their partners about considering home birth, for a variety
of reasons. However, they are usually reassured after meeting
a domiciliary midwife and seeing her professional attitude.
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