Apparently I DO hate my kids

So there's this pretty heated debate going on this week, and I've come to the conclusion that the only reason I went for my homebirth is because I wanted to die, and take my baby with me. Why else would anyone want to stray from the warmth and safety of their local hospital? Well, there's nosocomial infection; iatrogenic problems; avoiding unnecessary and often unadvisable interventions; docs dismissing birth plans out of hand, even when the bullet point in question is valid. For instance, I requested no cord traction, recognizing the increase in uterine involution and subsequent hysterectomy, and my doc said, "Yeah, well I like to do a bit of traction." Um. I'd like for you NOT to, so let's just leave it at that. For starters.

Anyone who knows me from CM knows I wanted my homebirth and that I did a lot of research and soul searching over my decision. Anyone who knows me IRL probably isn't reading this, but they would know the same. Anyone who tries to tell me that I didn't make an informed decision is living in a dream land, as was the resident who told me that the Terbutaline they wanted to give me with Perp's pregnancy was "for slowing down contractions and relaxing the uterus." Actually, Uninformed Resident, it's an asthma medication that just so happens to have the salutory effects you listed. You did not let this little fact slip past your pursed lips, however, so my consent was less than informed, wouldn't you say? The information you did give me was related to the immediate side effects (increased heart rate, primarily). It was a breach of our doctor/patient relationship that you left by the wayside a pretty important fact: Terb isn't approved by FDA for obsetrical patients, it's used off-label and that, my friend, is information a patient needs to make informed consent.

So, off that particular soapbox and back to my primary point: women who choose homebirth are not unfamiliar with the potential problems, even disasters, that may await them at home. Nor are they unaware of the same potential problems or disasters that may await them at the hospital. So they take a calculated risk and choose to have their babies at home where, according to WHO and any number of studies (despite Dr. Amy's statistical gymnastics strongly felt opinion), they are deemed to be *less* at risk of death or injury than they are at home.

The attending at Perp's birth did at least three things that were directly contraindicated in my case. They were interventions that would see a midwife excoriated for dangerous practice, if not outright malpractce, but in hospital they were considered standard procedures.

So I chose to have my baby at home. With a qualified midwife, and just to prove I'm not entirely down on the medical profession, with parallel OB care up to 38 weeks when my OB dropped me because she didn't approve of my plan and didn't want to be liable. How that would ever be possible is hard for me to figure, but okay, now I know where we stand and I won't ever set foot in her office again. Fair dinkum.

And here I sit, 9 weeks later, my homebirthed son in my lap, and I am glad.