20/20 did a show about homebirth last week. While it wasnt completely awful it was still full of ignorance.
It lumped unassisted births (where there is no medical practitioner present, not even a midwife) and homebirths all in the same category. They are not at all the same thing. A midwife is highly trained and many of us (me included) would never have a homebirth without a midwife. I know people that have had unassisted births and that works for them. Not for me.
I like that the media is putting homebirth in the news at least… but i hate how it is portrayed.
Why dont they ever talk about how dangerous hospitals are for most pregnancies? How the US does dismally when compared to other nations regarding infant mortality?
I really wish that people were given the real low down on their birthing choices.
I watched this show also had had the *same* feelings about it. I had a great homebirth assisted by a licensed and skilled midwife and I am not someone who would choose unassisted birth either.
That is why I love The Business of Being Born so much. She had the statistics to back up what she was saying. I wish 20/20 would have highlighted homebirth *with* midwives as a separate topic.
By: Sita Romero on February 2, 2009
at 6:30 pm