(no subject)

[primroseburrows]

What she said.

I'd add something, but really, she says it all.


In other news, there are five patients on my unit (we have eighteen beds). We're getting one more in the next couple of hours, and then we'll have six. *twiddles thumbs*

Comments

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

Even though I didn't get to have the birth I wanted (and never will, sadly), I remain an advocate of normal birth. I wish more women would take the time to educate themselves about birth. I know what I lost, and it really bothers me when women don't even seem interested in learning more about what should be a natural process.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if hospitals could become as safe a place for normal birth as they are for high-risk ones, and women could feel confident that they and their babies would be treated with respect, and that birth wouldn't be treated like an illness. If that happened, hospital birth might become a safe, nurturing choice.

The problem is, women have to be educated enough to know what the options are and how quickly those choices can be taken away in the hospital setting we have now. Then they might get mad enough to make some changes. The thing is, how do we do it?

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

I'll just say that for me, she's not brave, but stupid. Sorry.

Birth can be *very* dangerous. My mum delivered my sister and suddenly suffered a great blood loss that made her lose consciousness and could've killed her. I wonder what would've happened if she had decided to get the kid at home and not have doctors around her who would help by eventual complications. Thanks God she didn't think like that, or else I probably wouldn't have a mother now.

I'm not saying that hospital births are 100% safe, but to claim that home births are safer is delusional. In case of complications, it's way better to have someone who has studied medicine with the necessary instruments nearby than to calm yourself that birth is natural and not dangerous at all. I'd never go and risk my life and the life of my kid like that.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying that hospital births are 100% safe, but to claim that home births are safer is delusional.

Except that studies published in respected publications like the BMJ and organizations like the WHO don't agree. This study, also from the BMJ, says that there is no difference in outcome. In fact, the vast majority of statistics say home birth outcomes are at least as good as hospital outcomes.

Postpartum uterine hemorrhage is rare, but yes, it definitely happens. Midwives, though, don't come to births untrained or empty handed, and hemorrhage is one of the possibilities they're prepared for, both by training and equipment. And life-threatening events happen in hospitals, too, sometimes caused by the hospitals themselves.

I'm definitely not saying that every woman should give birth at home. I would love to see hospital birth as a safe, healthy option for low-risk women who don't want a home birth. Unfortunately, the doctors and hospitals have most of the power, and they want to keep it that way, so it's hard for women to know who or even what to ask when it comes to childbirth choices.

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

Hey! As a nurse who is also working nightshift tonight, NEVER EVER COMPLAIN THAT YOUR UNIT IS LIGHT!!!!!!! Are you trying to jinx yourself woman???

I suppose you toss around the 'q' word with impugnity as well :P

Me, from a unit that is housing just the right amount of patients for the staff, tyvm!

:smish:

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I NEVER USE THE Q WORD. *shudder*

We're up to 7 now. :)

[bonspiel.livejournal.com]

I read a sci-fi story sometime, although I can't remember the author, where all eating had to occur in medically supervised facilities, under watch of professionals, because people can choke and get food poisoning or go into shock or whatever, and it was illegal to eat at home. I thought it was an interesting way to illustrate what extremes we've gone to with catastrophizing (?) the birth process.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the author had a birth metaphor in mind. Sounds like maybe he/she might have.

I saw a comment to a someone's post once that basically said that we should apply the same rules to sex as we do to childbirth because people have died of heart attacks during sex, and then there's the prospect of disease, so sex should always be done under medical supervision in a clinical setting (I assume there would be an IV lock in each arm just in case, and the couple would need to be strictly NPO in case of emergency, and of course the consent forms).