Natural Child Birth - Weighing The Alternatives Between Giving Birth In The House Or In A Hospital

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Natural Child Birth - Weighing The Alternatives Between Giving Birth In The House Or In A Hospital

It's surprising when you realize that society often thinks we are strange if we consider having a newborn anywhere but in a healthcare facility because natural childbirth used to be the sole way of child birth. A home birth was anything but exclusive. Then, things altered. Ironically, this didn't imply much for women or their babies, who often fared better in the house compared to in some of the first hospitals. Earlier hospitals usually had higher infant fatality rates and much more moms who died in child delivery, even 100 years ago, in much larger numbers than mothers attended to at home by midwives.

Evidently, medical practice has altered much ever since the first days of labor and delivery in some of those first hospital wards, however, many things truly haven't. When you line up all the statistics on home birth versus hospital births, natural childbirth is still less dangerous for the most of mothers and newborns.

Indeed, in some cases, it probably is best to have mom give birth in a medical facility. This can be because the birth is risky or because mom is expecting multiples. High risk pregnancy can include a mom with preeclampsia or diabetic issues, or a child who is preterm. A home birth may also not be the best choice if mother has high blood pressure levels. For the majority of moms, however, a home birth is a good option.

Natural childbirth provides alternatives which not all hostipal wards may provide. Generally, mothers have more liberty regarding things like moving around and taking their time, whereas, at a hospital, mother may be confined to a bed, often even buckled in. Being confined in such a manner often itself causes a delay in labor. Based on what time a year mother goes into labor, the hospital may not permit a number of visitors to the labor room. For example in some spring months, when the risk of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is higher, visitors are often restricted to adults only. RSV brings up another serious problem of hospital stays and that is infection. Infection is probably the leading causes of complications and even death in America's hospitals.

The point is that hospital stays, although at times necessary, expose both mom and baby to a lot of unnecessary risks and may often limit mother's options for her own labor and delivery.

There are, of course, other factors which make natural births a better choice as well. A study in the British Medical Journal found that a "planned home births for low risk women in the USA are associated with similar safety and less medical intervention as low risk hospital births".

Overall, a natural childbirth is generally a safer option than a hospital birth and provide mom choices which she may, in fact, not even get in the hospital, not the least of which is a safe delivery, surrounded by the folks she loves.