DH and I have decided that we'd either like to have a homebirth or a birth at a freestanding birth center because well, hospitals are for sick people. DH is the one that originally mentioned the possibility of having a homebirth, which I thought was really cool. I was thinking the same thing myself, but hadn't said anything about it yet.

I know it's really early to be planning the birth. If we get pregnant in August, we won't even have the baby until May, but I'd love to be as prepared as possible. Over the last couple months I have read and researched statistics and personal experiences of homebirth vs. hospital birth, and I can't really see why anyone would choose hospital birth (unless of course, you are deemed "high-risk" and because of a known existing medical condition it is in you and your baby's best interest to birth in a medical setting). A recent study has shown that homebirths among women that are not labeled "high-risk" are just as safe as hospital births. And there's much more evidence than just that one study. It is amazing.

Here is my somewhat unfairly stereotypical portrayal of what I would fear a hospital birth to be:




Women have been giving birth for centuries without the aid of medicine. Suddenly society thinks that it is absolutely necessary to yank the baby's head out of a heavily sedated mother with a pair of sterile tongs.

Labels: controversial topics, labor/birth