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There have been few comprehensive studies into home births

The largest study of its kind has found that for low-risk women, giving birth at home is as safe as doing so in hospital with a midwife.

Research from the Netherlands – which has a high rate of home births – found no difference in death rates of either mothers or babies in 530,000 births.

Home births have long been debated amid concerns about their safety.

UK obstetricians welcomed the study – published in the journal BJOG – but said it may not apply universally.

The number of mothers giving birth at home in the UK has been rising since it dipped to a low in 1988. Of all births in England and Wales in 2006, 2.7% took place at home, the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.

The research was carried out in the Netherlands after figures showed the country had one of the highest rates in Europe of babies dying during or just after birth.

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

It was suggested that home births could be a factor, as Dutch women are able and encouraged to choose this option. One third do so.

But a comparison of “low-risk” women who planned to give birth at home with those who planned to give birth in hospital with a midwife found no difference in death or serious illness among either baby or mother.

“We found that for low-risk mothers at the start of their labour it is just as safe to deliver at home with a midwife as it is in hospital with a midwife,” said Professor Simone Buitendijk of the TNO Institute for Applied Scientific Research.

“These results should strengthen policies that encourage low-risk women at the onset of labour to choose their own place of birth.”

Hospital transfer

Low-risk women in the study were those who had no known complications – such as a baby in breech or one with a congenital abnormality, or a previous caesarean section.

Nearly a third of women who planned and started their labours at home ended up being transferred as complications arose – including for instance an abnormal fetal heart rate, or if the mother required more effective pain relief in the form of an epidural.

The NHS is simply not set up to meet the potential demand for home births Louise Silverton Royal College of Midwives

But even when she needed to be transferred to the care of a doctor in a hospital, the risk to her or her baby was no higher than if she had started out her labour under the care of a midwife in hospital.

The researchers noted the importance of both highly-trained midwives who knew when to refer a home birth to hospital as well as rapid transportation.

While stressing the study was the most comprehensive yet into the safety of home births, they also acknowledged some caveats.

The group who chose to give birth in hospital rather than at home were more likely to be first-time mothers or of an ethnic minority background – the risk of complications is higher in both these groups.

The study did not compare the relative safety of home births against low-risk women who opted for doctor rather than midwife-led care. This is to be the subject of a future investigation.

Home option

But Professor Buitendijk said the study did have relevance for other countries like the UK with a highly developed health infrastructure and well-trained midwives.

Women need to be counselled on the unexpected emergencies which can arise during labour and can only be managed in a maternity hospital RCOG

In the UK, the government has pledged to give all women the option of a home birth by the end of this year. At present just 2.7% of births in England and Wales take place at home, but there are considerable regional variations.

Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said, the study was “a major step forward in showing that home is as safe as hospital, for low risk women giving birth when support services are in place.

“However, to begin providing more home births there has to be a seismic shift in the way maternity services are organised. The NHS is simply not set up to meet the potential demand for home births, because we are still in a culture where the vast majority of births are in hospital.

“There also has to be a major increase in the number of midwives because they are the people who will be in the homes delivering the babies.”

Mary Newburn, of the National Childbirth Trust, said: “This makes a significant contribution to the growing body of reassuring evidence that suggests offering women a choice of place of birth is entirely appropriate.”

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said it supported home births “in cases of low-risk pregnancies provided the appropriate infrastructures and resources are present to support such a system.

But it added: “Women need to be counselled on the unexpected emergencies – such as cord prolapse, fetal heart rate abnormalities, undiagnosed breech, prolonged labour and postpartum haemorrhage – which can arise during labour and can only be managed in a maternity hospital.

“Such emergencies would always require the transfer of women by ambulance to the hospital as extra medical support is only present in hospital settings and would not be available to them when they deliver at home.”

The Department of Health said that giving more mothers-to-be the opportunity to choose to give birth at home was one of its priority targets for 2009/10.

A spokesman said: “All Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) have set out plans for implementing Maternity Matters to provide high-quality, safe maternity care for women and their babies.”

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The birds are the Jamaican doctor birds, a hummingbird with a really long tail.  This baby is half-Jamaican and mama wanted to add something from that country (also the Rasta colors and blue like the Carribbean)

Jamie with her henna belly

The Red Tent

Fear Not

“Fear not, the time is coming
Fear not, your bones are strong
Fear not, help is nearby
Fear not, Gula* is nearby
Fear not, the baby is at the door
Fear not, he will live to bring you honor
Fear not, the hands of the midwife are clever
Fear not, the earth is beneath you
Fear not, we have water and salt
Fear not, little mother
Fear not, Mother of us all”

*Gula is the Babylonian goddess of healing, breath of life

My certification through CAPPAt came through yesterday and I’m so excited!  It’s nice to have the formality out of the way.  Basking in the glow…

Amy

Read the article from Medscape

Karen Robinson, a local Certified Professional Midwife, said the following about the benefits of vitamin D during pregnancy:

Vitamin D is getting a lot of scrutiny lately and is being found to be a superstar vitamin that we haven’t paid enough attention to.

Vitamin D supplementation can help increase immunity and decrease the impact and frequency of colds and common viruses.

Its role is also being looked at closely in the implantation of the placenta, how well the placenta functions, and therefore prevention of pre-eclampsia.

In our world of indoor jobs and layers of sunscreen when we do go outside, it’s easy to see how the majority of us may be deficient in Vitamin D.

The best places to get Vitamin D include a bit of sun exposure every week (so that the body can manufacture its own Vitamin D), fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, etc), fish oil (especially cod liver oil) and beef liver.

So, one thing doulas can do for their clients is to encourage good diet (lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, clean meats and plenty of fats) and suggest they consider supplementation of Calcium/Magnesium, Folic Acid, and Vitamin D.

You know you’re a doula when

You misread “Pasta Primavera” as “pasta primapara.”

You carry more supplies and luggage to a birth than you do when you go on vacation.

You watch births on TV shows and can’t help but talk to the television the entire time. “See, you shoulda had a doula!” “Stop counting to ten with each push.  She knows how to push!” “WHY are they doing THAT??”

While watching “A Baby’s Story” with your ten year old son, he rolls his eyes and says “not another epidural!”

You watch a professional basketball game on TV, see all those shaved heads as caputs, and speculate as to their presentation at birth.

You spend hours each day on the computer, yet when someone mentions they are in an “LDR”, you first think of “Labor and Delivery Room”. Not a long distance relationship.

You rejoice at the following – swearing, vomiting, pooping on the bed, nausea, gas, belching – let’s see did I leave anything out? and think “Cool! We’re getting close!”

You can see a woman vomit, urinate, defecate, spray amniotic fluid while in labor, or have a cesarean without a second thought.

You check on your kids in the middle of the night and your three year old mumbles “Did her water break?”

My daughter pumping

When your daughter’s boyfriend knows what effacement is.

Your kids tell their friends that Mommy had another baby and was up all night.

Your children think all pregnant ladies know you.

Your children know more about birth than most women who have given birth to 3 babies.

Your seven-year-old son refuses to marry anyone who won’t birth at home.

Your son is doing a great job learning to read but cant figure out why the teacher keeps talking about contractions.

Your 16 year old takes a child development class in high school and knows more that the teacher about birth, breastfeeding and parenting.

You unconsciously think “Labor Pool” is a water-filled tub for a woman to lay in while having her baby, not a group of workers.

Your child wakes you up in the middle of the night and you mumble, “How far apart are they?”

You live for the times someone says, “A doula? What’s that?”

You and your family think it’s totally normal to discuss 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th degree episiotomies over dinner… you explain what a placenta looked like over spaghetti… heck you even discuss placental abruptions and calcifications over a roast beef.

You’ve been in bed with more women than you care to admit in mixed company.

You’ve touched more breasts than you care to admit in mixed company.

You have more pictures and videos containing naked women in your home than the porno shop downtown.

You pack and repack your birth bag 3 times, check the on off switch on your pager/cell phone 5 times and go to bed with your clothes on… on a hunch…and you get called three hours later.

Your client snaps at you and you think: “Oh good, she’s not smiling anymore!”

When your spouse knows to ask three questions: Are you in labor? If no, Is this an emergency? Would you like her to call you back later or do you want her cell phone number?

You hubby asked was it a girl or a boy and rolls over and goes back to sleep.

The guy at the photo shop passes out while developing your film.

Although you do poorly in math, you can instantly calculate how much more weight the birth ball can hold.

Your client is nearing her due date and you become fascinated by what she sees when she wipes and how soft her bowel movements are.

Your teenagers answer the phone and start by saying “how far apart are the contractions?”

You see a metal mixing bowl in a store and think “placenta”.

Or…you see a metal mixing bowl and think “vomit”.

When while everyone else in the room is yelling and counting, “hold your breath, chin down, no noise, 1, 2, 3, pushhhhhhhhh harder harder.” You are the only one in the room whispering in the moms ear “listen to your body, you are doing such a great job, look down, push your baby out, just like that, You are sooooooooo awesome!”

You’re so exhausted you could weep, you haven’t gone pee for 9 hours even though your bladder’s bursting, you’ve just wiped poo from someone’s backside, you have flecks of blood and vomit on your shoes, but there is still no place in the world you’d rather be.

You know you’re a doula when PROM doesn’t make you think of high school. (me)

You know your a doula when your 5 year old tells another child “No your baby brother isn’t growing in your mommy’s tummy. He is in her UTERUS. Mommies don’t eat the babies!” (Desirre)

You know you’re a doula when you overhear your husband explaining to another man how to watch a woman’s behavior for dilation during labor.  (Nicole Yingling)

You know you’re a Doula When, your 5 year old Son wants to be an OB cause what mommy does is so cool, but he’s convinced that Doulas have to be girls. Even though I’ve NEVER ever told him Doulas have to be girls.  (Sara)

Join New Body Balance for a screening of the film “What Babies Want” starring Noah Wyle!

Saturday, March 14
4:00pm – 6:00pm
$5 per person
REGISTER

Tickets must be purchased in advance as space is limited.  No children please but nursing babies are always welcome.

“This innovative film is about the profoundly important and sacred opportunity we have in bringing children into the world.  Surprising and sometimes shocking it challenges our beliefs about what infants are thinking and doing.  It includes ground-breaking information on early development as well as appearances by the real experts: babies and their families.”

Narrated by: Noah Wyle

Featuring interviews by:
Joseph Chilton Pearce
Sobonfu Some
David Chamberlain
Mary Jackson
Jay Gordon
Barbara Findeisen
Marti Glenn
Ray Castellino
Wendy Anne McCarty

Funds raised from this event will help build our “non-profit support group fund” and will help make future events like this possible.