my grandmother's homebirth

[Barry MacGregor]

Dear All, Just thought that I would share with you my grandmother's view of homebirth.  My grandmother has no medical or midwifery training, or knows anybody in these fields.  However, she had two babies one at home (her first) and the other in a hospital, both of these babies born over 50 years ago.   Anyway, I felt the need to ask her which she thought was better.  Not surprising to most of us but she raved about the homebirth telling me that it was absolutely marvellous that she could continue her normal duties right up until the time of delivery and thoroughly enjoyed her postpartum period at home with the baby.  Midwives attended the birth, and at one stage the midwife did become concerned and went to phone the doctor, however the babies head was on view before the phone call could be made.   My grandmothers criticism of hospital birth is that mothers feel the need to restrain themselves to some degree (her words you could not scream and shout if you wanted to) and that they need to conform to the hospitals rules.     In reality not much has changed, except that the medical profession has created a marvellous scare campaign  to deter many women from the idea of homebirth so that they will not have the pleasure of knowing what it is truly like to birth in the place where they have made their nest.   Yours Sonja