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Resolution Against Home Birth Met with Hostility
July 16, 2008 02:41 PM
by
Josh Katz
The American Medical Association has declared its support for legislation to potentially ban home births, igniting debate over safety and women’s rights.
30-Second Summary
The American Medical Association (AMA) said it would back legislation proposed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG). Resolution 205, as it is called, stresses the dangers associated with at-home births, which account for about 1 percent of U.S. births.
“Choosing to deliver a baby at home … is to place the process of giving birth over the goal of having a healthy baby,” the ACOG says.
Many now worry that the resolution could result in legislation making home births illegal, and they call it an affront to the autonomy of women. The American College of Nurse-Midwives also released a statement defending home births and citing a British Medical Journal study indicating that hospital and home births are equally as safe.
Hospitals have had safety problems of their own of late. For example, findingDulcinea reported on how the influx of inexperienced interns each summer makes July a particularly dangerous month for patients, and earlier this month, a survey indicated that many hospital workers’ lax hygiene has contributed to the spread of “superbugs” like MRSA.
Additionally, some worry how the AMA’s statement will affect insurance companies: Dr. Stuart Fischbein of California says it “will cause insurance carriers to refuse to support doctors who oversee midwives.”
Julie Deardorff of the “Julie’s Health Club” Chicago Tribune blog, fears that legislation could be detrimental to women’s rights. She also criticizes a hospital culture where so many women are receiving Cesarean sections and use labor-inducing drugs.
“Choosing to deliver a baby at home … is to place the process of giving birth over the goal of having a healthy baby,” the ACOG says.
Many now worry that the resolution could result in legislation making home births illegal, and they call it an affront to the autonomy of women. The American College of Nurse-Midwives also released a statement defending home births and citing a British Medical Journal study indicating that hospital and home births are equally as safe.
Hospitals have had safety problems of their own of late. For example, findingDulcinea reported on how the influx of inexperienced interns each summer makes July a particularly dangerous month for patients, and earlier this month, a survey indicated that many hospital workers’ lax hygiene has contributed to the spread of “superbugs” like MRSA.
Additionally, some worry how the AMA’s statement will affect insurance companies: Dr. Stuart Fischbein of California says it “will cause insurance carriers to refuse to support doctors who oversee midwives.”
Julie Deardorff of the “Julie’s Health Club” Chicago Tribune blog, fears that legislation could be detrimental to women’s rights. She also criticizes a hospital culture where so many women are receiving Cesarean sections and use labor-inducing drugs.
Headline Link: ‘Are Home Births Dangerous?’
The American Medical Association (AMA) will support “Resolution 205,” echoing the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) belief that home births are dangerous. But, “The American College of Nurse-Midwives has issued an unequivocal statement in support of planned home births, citing a study in the British Medical Journal that showed home births to be no riskier than hospital births.”
Source: ABC News
Background: ‘The Business of Being Born’
The inspiration for the ACOG resolution was reportedly “The Business of Being Born,” a documentary that follows the birth of former talk-show host Ricki Lake’s second child, with the help of a midwife in her home. The film, according to its Web site, “interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system.”
Source: The Business of Being Born
Opinion & Analysis: Home versus hospital births
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) stated its position on home births in a Feb. 6 statement: “Unless a woman is in a hospital, an accredited freestanding birthing center, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, with physicians ready to intervene quickly if necessary, she puts herself and her baby’s health and life at unnecessary risk.”
Source: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
On June 19, 2008, Julie Deardorff of the “Julie’s Health Club” Chicago Tribune blog wrote, “U.S. hospitals often treat childbirth like an illness. More than half the American women who give birth are given drugs to induce or speed up labor; for nearly a third of mothers, childbirth is major surgery—the Cesarean section.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
Jennifer Block, the author of “Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care,” compares the childbirth system in the U.S. with that of Britain, where home birth with midwives are common. In regard to the AMA’s resolution, she writes, “The group says this is about safety, but with no credible research to back up its claim, this argument falls flat. Women are simply caught in a turf war over the maternity market, and it would appear that the physicians’ groups are perfectly willing to trample the modern medical ethic of patient autonomy.”
Source: Los Angels Times (free registration may be required)
Related Topics: More C-sections worldwide; hospital dangers
The rate of Caesarian sections is increasing, particularly in developing countries because of advancing medical technology. “But with WHO recommending that Caesarean sections are necessary in 15 percent of live births, at most, why are so many procedures being performed?” findingDulcinea writes.
Source: findingDulcinea
A recent Harvard study “found July to be the most dangerous month to visit a hospital, citing the arrival of inexperienced interns. Other recent hospital problems may worsen this annual phenomenon.”
Source: findingDulcinea
On July 1, findingDulcinea reported on a survey revealing that “many hospital workers aren’t washing their hands properly, helping to spread the ‘superbugs’ MRSA and C. difficile.”
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Home birth
The American Pregnancy Association explains that more women began to have their children in hospitals in the 20th century. But now, women are once again looking to home birth with midwives. The APA provides facts and suggestions on home birth in order to make the best decision.
Source: American Pregnancy Association
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
