CHO”I”CE
I’m sorry but this statement really rubs me the wrong way. “Most women who choose homebirth are willing to do so even with the risk of death?” Of course. And the next one:
So we have two types of women, according to this author… one is an ignorant, selfish feminist willing to ignore the facts and have her way regardless of the consequences, and the other is a quivering, fearful, equally selfish child who will do ANYTHING but make a truly informed choice. The same woman is described here, with different outcomes, and I am offended that another woman would characterize essentially all women in such light. “Poor baby, we need to make everything ok for her.” she seems to say.
No we don’t. There is not “WE” in choice. There is an “I”.
C H O “I” C E.
I’m tired of hearing BOTH camps tout the best way to fix the American maternity system. Because I have yet to hear a logical solution to the problem. Some say policy change, some say insurance companies are the problem, some say the entire social/cultural strudcture of the United States impacts the birth climate negatively. Maybe they are all right. 
Maybe they’re all wrong. Point is? It doesn’t matter.
Women have 2 choices:
Either we CHOOSE to be ignorant of the facts, the science, the safety, the risks of childbirth and reproductive health, or we CHOOSE to educate OURSELVES.
This whole idea of fixing the system is a bit tiring. We need to fix WOMEN. Once we get THAT done, the system will get fixed. Guaranteed.
July 20, 2008 at 9:37 am
If we want the system to change, then we as women must affect that change, not leave it in the hands of policymakers or insurance companies who will first see to their bottom line. And I definitely agree that by changing women, the necessary systemic changes will fall into place.
But I also have to wonder, is ignorance always a choice?
Many women simply don’t understand the need to educate themselves. It’s not that they don’t care or wouldn’t care, they simply don’t know any better. They believe they should be able to trust their provider and the maternity care system implicitly. After all, they “wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t safe/best/they’re the expert, [insert any other such fallacious belief here]”
And they do have a point….they should be able to expect quality care with their best interest at heart from any care provider. Period. But, we know the sad realities of our current system and care providers.
It’s like the “once you know better, then do better” principle. But many women simply don’t know better. So, how can we expect them to educate themselves on maternity care practices or to take a more active role in their care? After all, isn’t that (what they believe) doctors are for?
And so it continues….
July 22, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I find it interesting that you seem offended by a post that I considered supportive of a woman’s choice to homebirth. I admit upon re-reading my post that perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in the statements you highlighted. Please allow me to clarify.
Fear of medical emergencies that lead to the death of mom or baby are often cited as reasons against homebirth. ACOG loves to use this fear in its push against homebirth. When I was exploring a homebirth I was bombarded with the view that my child could die and it would be my fault. My point was, that despite what risks other may perceive us as taking, we, as individuals, should have the right to weigh the risks versus the benefits and make a birth choice that we find satisfactory.
Conversely, it is not fair to assume that every woman who chooses an OB or a hospital birth is woefully misinformed and foolishly making a bad choice. If we wish to make inroads into “fixing women”, and thereby fixing the system, we cannot do so by downplaying or belittling a woman’s fears.
I don’t think I portrayed homebirthers as ignorant, uneducated, selfish, feminists. Most women I know, and that I have worked with as a labor and delivery nurse, who have chosen a natural, low-intervention birth, have done so after much study and preparation.
My blog was formed primarily as an infertility blog, and for many of us who have suffered years to become mothers, or lived through multiple losses on the way to motherhood, fear will unfortunately be a huge motivating factor in our birth choices. Not because we want it to be, or because we do not strive for it to be different, but because years living with a body that fails to function properly cannot be healed in a few months time. As you cite in an earlier post of yours, midwifery is very much about emotion and psychology. I wonder what your approach would be towards myself (and the women on my blogroll), who would come to you literally scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to faith in their body. Would you, as the local midwives did to me, take the “poor baby, get over it” approach, instead of meeting me, as an individual, as the provider I eventually chose did?
July 30, 2008 at 10:57 am
You’ve got some guts!
October 9, 2008 at 11:41 pm
after my hospital births and one midwife attended waterbirth, and two unassisted homebirths in water, i would be a lot braver (i.e. looking into the face of death and laughing) to choose a hospital – where the care is haphazard the babies are unsafe (one stolen out of my sister’s hospital room- not hers, praise God), and strangers all around. we don’t do this to animals. why do we do this to humans? and why do women put up with it? they are choosing hospital birth because they don’t know they have choices, but you could say the same of them – women who choose to birth in the hospital do it, even knowing they are far more likely to bring home a sick baby, an injured body, a bruised soul, mrsa, and c. difficile…