Birth. It’s a normal, natural part of life. So why is birth always such a hot topic? The controversy has to do with both the safety of homebirth versus hospital birth and the incredibly high cesarean section (c-section) rate in the US. It is about a woman’s right to choose to have birth the way she feels is best for her and her baby.
Two events have been come to my attention recently concerning childbirth. In 2006, a woman in New Jersey refused to consent to a c-section while she was in labor, and this began a series of events leading to the termination of her parental rights. The second occurrence was when popular blogger Heather Armstrong started a series of posts about the birth of her daughter Marlo, where at 30 weeks pregnant she started considering natural childbirth. I will explore both of these stories in future posts.
This is the first in a series of posts on the debate over birth in America. They will focus on a woman’s right choose her birth and the choices she can make. In recent times natural childbirth occurred in only a minority of births and homebirth accounted for only 1% of the births in the US. I’m hoping to shed more light on this topic because I feel it is important choice women have but may not be well educated about. If this topic is challenging for you or you do not agree with natural childbirth, I encourage you to follow along, keep an open mind, and leave constructive comments regarding your opinion. We may both learn something!
Abby, birthed at home