Reply to Evelyn Muhlhan - another homebirth midwife bites the dust?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So, what's a "term" baby? 37 weeks? Under your logic, babies could be allowed to be born at home at 36 weeks and 6 days then? That would make sense? Or would they have the "right" to hospital care at earlier points of gestation? If so, how early are you suggesting we give fetuses these "rights"? Where do you draw the line? Conception? Potential for conception? Oral contraceptives should therefore be illegal because babies have the "right" to potentially be born, but only in hospitals, huh?

Again, this is about women's rights. Stripping them of options and making certain things "illegal" because of the opinions (read: pocketbooks) of obstetricians is insane. The woman should be the only decider when it comes to decisions about her reproductive health, whether she wants to give birth with an OB or if she wants her mom to catch the baby in the comfort of her own bedroom. If you start giving "term babies" the "right" to a hospital birth, you're going down a slippery slope.[/quote]

CNM here again and I fundamentally disagree.  As a CNM attending a birth I have TWO patients:  the mother and the child.   I believe I have a moral responsibility to that child to be born in a safe manner that gives it the best shot at a meaningful and productive life.   What could be more selfish than to saddle a child with a lifetime of disability [b]because of the mother's reckless decisions at the time of delivery?[/b]  It's almost easier for me to agree that a woman's right to birth as she chooses should trump the right of her fetus to live.  It's much harder for me say that her right to birth trumps the right of another human being (her child) to not have a lifetime of disability.

Thankfully, much of even the natural birth community agrees with me.  And even the fringe that would value the "birth experience" over all other things IN THEORY sings a different tune when they are the client and they are bleeding or their child's heart beat is failing.[/quote]

But my question is, who gets to determine what is reckless?  The obstetric community has one set of OPINIONS (backed by research and experience) about what is safe and what isn't, yet despite their careful protocols, they cannot guarantee a perfect outcome.  Lay midwives have a very different set of OPINIONS (backed by research and experience) about what is safe and what isn't, and their outcomes are very similar to the obstetricians -- usually everyone turns out fine but they can't guarantee perfection either.  So considering all this, who do you suppose should be the arbiter of what is considered reckless?  If midwives and doctors can disagree, why would it be okay for the government to choose one side and legislate that?

And honestly, I think it's a little insulting that you are equating "reckless midwives" or poorly informed/selfish mothers with a "lifetime of disability".  The reality is that the history of obstetrics in this country is absolutely riddled with unnecessary procedures that have caused horrible damage to both babies and their unsuspecting mothers.  Thankfully, today we have lay midwives, CNMs, and obstetrics alike producing pretty good outcomes, but to pretend that one or the other holds all the right answers is disrespectful to both professions.  Which, brings us back full circle:  the only one who can be the final judge of what is in her and her baby's best interest is the mother herself, hopefully in consultation with the care provider of her choice.  This isn't said in disrespect to the rights of the baby; but instead it is the only logical answer.

I also don't know how many homebirth women you've ever worked with (any?) but having worked with so many, I could not even name one of them (or their midwife!) who somehow values her birth experience more than the life of her baby.  Truly, this is a fictional scenario created to try to dismiss the very legitimate, difficult, and individual decisions that some women make.

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