A wake-up call to natural-childbirth extremists

http://theweek.com/article/index/270680/these-two-studies-should-be-a-wake-up-call-to-natural-childbirth-extremists

I think the members of this fertility cult should just wear a t-shirt with a huge sheela-na-gig on it.

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There is a lot of guilt surrounding childbirth these days.

Many women, including actress Kate Winslet, are ashamed about having a C-section. Women who have opted for pain medication have reported feeling guilty about it. Medicalized births can even be a source of PTSD.

At the center of this guilt is a belief that doctors and hospitals can't be trusted. By doing what medical experts recommend, many think, a woman has somehow failed herself and her child. Indeed, alternative-birth advocates have long cited the high rate of infant mortality and C-sections as reasons to steer clear of a typical, medicated hospital birth at all cost. But as two new papers show, that just doesn't align with the data.

First off, the infant mortality rate in the U.S. isn't nearly as high as we think. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks us at an embarrassing 56th in the world, with 6.1 deaths per 1,000 births. According to a draft paper from health economists at the University of Chicago, USC, and MIT, comparing the U.S.'s rate with that of Finland and Austria, this isn't entirely true.

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Even more interesting is the fact that neonatal deaths are actually less frequent in the U.S. than they are in Austria and Finland, once the researchers accounted for the babies who die months after they leave the hospital and go home. So for a good many children who don't make it to their first birthdays, doctors and hospitals aren't the problem; what happens after the babies leave is.

The number one killer of babies - parents.

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“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

And contrary to what home birth fanatics will tell you, the risk of the loaf perishing is much higher with home births. For the people who push this agenda, it's not about keeping Moo and Baybee safe.

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According to the CDC Wonder database, the neonatal death rate for low risk white women at term from the years 2004-2009 is 0.38/1000. As Judith Rooks, CNM MPH noted in her review of Oregon homebirths, intrapartum death among low risk babies is essentially non-existent in the hospital, so the neonatal + intrapartum death rate for the hospital is still 0.38

As the chart above demonstrates, the MANA (Midwives' Alliance of North America) death rate for the same years was 5.5X HIGHER. In other words, the MANA death rate was 450% higher than the hospital death rate.

More here: http://www.skepticalob.com/2014/01/homebirth-midwives-reveal-death-rate-450-higher-than-hospital-birth-announce-that-it-shows-homebirth-is-safe.html

I'm reminded of this.

Jeezus-Kee-rist! Even my breeder brain ex had a C-Section when her doctor told her she could die or the loaf could die if she tried to birth it the natural way. What the hell is wrong with these "nature freaks" as I call them? I don't like kids, but hey, if you're gonna have them, then use the method of birth that is safest and is available if it is needed! I wonder if the increase in tardism doesn't have a lot to do with this vaginal birth under all circumstances shit.

Some women can't give birth vaginally and that is all there is to it. And many women SHOULDN'T give birth at home. I know I would NEVER risk the life of a child I supposedly loved that way. The nature freaks need to get over it.