Did You Cry When They Dragged You Home?

Have finally got round to sitting down and blogging about an article which I read in the Times the other day:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/melanie_reid/article6101189.ece

The author seems to be suggesting that while we should all have a choice for our delivery, those of us who have home births are big fat-headed idiots, while she is practically perfect in every way...

She starts with a very lazy bit of journalism - pick a cliche and go with it.

"Disgraceful stereotyping it may be, but it is impossible to deny that home births are the preserve of homely, principled types who may then go on to breastfeed their child until it goes to secondary school..."

Why is it impossible to deny? Although I am partial to wearing flipflops for 6 months of the year I also have a pair of killer Gucci heels so high they are like wearing stilts.

"Frankly, it doesn't matter how safe home deliveries are proven to be...
...this is about quashing the entirely whimsical, perverse idea that we should turn our backs on modern medicine's starring role in safe childbirth...."

Modern medicine... hmmmmmmm. MRSA, under resourcing and understaffing are also features of the 'modern' NHS which the author choses to neglect. It also ignores the fact that there are lots of brilliant, modern, highly trained and expert midwives out there. All carry the essentials of childbirth such as recusitation equipment but some are also able to administer antibiotics during labour, Pethedin, perform neonatal checks, deliver breach and VBAC babies etc. Modern medicine can be brought in to the home and is not the preserve of the hospital and this attitude does a disservice to all the community and indepentent midwives out there working hard to give women a choice.

What I particularly don't understand is that the author admits that "researchers have revealed that women in the “low-risk” category who gave birth at home were just as safe as those who did so in hospital." and that "home delivery - if we may steal the expression back from the age of internet shopping - is as lacking in danger for the large majority as giving birth in hospital is" but yet then goes on to suggest,

...How utterly spoilt some women are, how complacent, that they think they can manage without wonderful things like blood transfusions, anaesthetic, surgery, antiseptic techniques and obstetric technology, which, in a century, a blink of an eye for womankind, reduced maternal and infant mortality almost to zero."

This seems to be entirely at odd with her earlier statement that "This is not about encouraging the unnecessary medicalisation of a perfectly natural condition". The above is EXACTLY about the unnecessary medicalisation of a perfectly natural condition! Many women, whether in hospital or at home manage perfectly well without transfusions, anaesthetic and surgery. Why is antiseptic the preserve of hospitals? My midwife washed her hands and used gloves, which come to think if it is more that some hospital staff do!

My rant must come to a premature end there I'm afraid as I currently have a toddler trying to stuff a pair of fairy wings in the DVD player...

You Can Start Over Again at Any Moment

I've finally got round to sitting down and telling you about what happened at our booking in visit a few weeks ago. A very nice midwife called Deb (funnily enough our daughter was delivered by a midwife called Deb) came round to our house to book me in for antenatal care. The day started with a bit of confusion. It was my niece's birthday that day and we were due at her party that afternoon and so wanted to get the appointment out of the way early in the day.

When it was booked we were just told a date and when I asked about clarification on time we were told to phone after 7.30am that morning and someone would tell us who was coming and when. So we duly phoned at 8am only to be told 'the midwives don't start till 9 so you will have to phone after 10'. So, waiting to phone back at 10 I took the opportunity to dash into town (just the other end of the street) to grab a card and wrapping paper for my niece's present. Of course the best laid plans... At about 9.45 I remember that my mobile is on silent and grab it out of my bag to switch it over to ring only to find a message at 9.20 from a midwife asking if she can come in 10 mins and then 4 frantic messages from F_ trying to find me. I turn up at home at 9.50 to a relieved F_. Turns out the midwife had turned up at 9.30 at the house but luckily there was a newborn baby over the road she also needed to visit to she went there and then would come back.

So at least she came back and we got started. She hadn't been sure if we were first timers so brought a mountain of leaflets for us, many of which were old hat but she did also bring something useful that either we hadn't been given or which wasn't around the first time, the Pregnancy Book. The appointment was much quicker that our appointment had been with baby O. She didn't seem at all surprised when we said we wanted a home birth, although she was a little surprised when we said our daughter had been born at home - in our new home town they are not keen on first time homebirthers.

We explained that we had a nuchal scan booked in London and that we would appreciate it if she could expedite our dating scan appointment to fall before that date and she said she would see what she could do but didn't think it would be a problem.

As I had been having short cycles of 23 days for the few months before getting pregnant my due date is likely to be a little earlier than would be calculated by the standrad wheels and charts which are based on a 28 day cycle. I was, however, a bit surprised to find that she had just noted 'Mid to Late October' on my notes as the Estimated Due Date. I guess we will find out more at the dating scan.

As the visit was taking place on Easter Saturday she didn't do any bloods as the labs weren't open to process them and instead she made me an appointment to visit the hospital instead. This is in work time and as work still don't know I am pregnant I got it as near lunchtime as possible to allow me to take an early lunch and get back without any questions asked.