Today I read an article from Australia’s Border Mail. An Australian obstetrician, Dr. Pieter Mourik, holds out the example of celebrity Dannii Minogue’s home birth transfer as a reason to abolish the practice altogether.
Among the gems Dr. Mourik offers up:
“I think it is unrealistic for any 38-year-old having her first baby to think it’s going to be a normal delivery at home.”
“Half of women in labour the first time don’t realise how bloody painful it is.”
“Ninety-five per cent of women need pain relief during childbirth.” (Perhaps 95% of women in the hospital receive pain relief, but why did they “need” it? Were they stuck lying in bed? On Pitocin? Need is situationally dependent.)
“Dr Mourik said that one in eight ‘low-risk’ births were actually potentially deadly. ’One in eight of all low-risk women will have an acute, life and death emergency,’ he said.”
I didn’t see any of these assertions backed up by any research. But I did a little Google search on Dr. Mourik, and found that he’s been arguing against home birth for years. (See here, here, and here for just a couple of selections.) It is difficult to give merit to any of his unsubstantiated “facts” given his anti-home birth stance.
When those who oppose home birth resort to scare tactics, unsubstantiated claims, and even outright lies, it makes it quite difficult to have a meaningful debate. And when it comes from someone with an M.D. after his name, it may make women begin to question the motives of all OBs. That doesn’t serve anyone well. There are many of us in the pro-home birth camp who strive for knowledge and research, for careful weighing of the facts, for balance between potential risk and safety precautions. Most of us advocating for home birth understand that it isn’t for everyone, but that the choice should exist for those who want to avail themselves of it.
Yeah, those are awfully specific stats for something generally unmeasurable (I’d love to see the study on whether or not “women know how bloody painful labor is”)
I just read an article in a OBGYN journal about the VBACs being dead because what’s the point of really giving women the choice to do them when they are so difficult. What I find interesting about both these articles is a) both the writers are MEN and b) they really seem to have no respect or really see the beauty in birth itself. When you look at a birth and say “women don’t know how bloody painful labor is” the truth is that as a man, nether do you. Nether does he know the intense about self fulfillment, joy, and empowerment a woman can get from going through that pain. Without understanding the treasure that it is to experience EVERYTHING that birth really is how can be expect to address the needs that women have during that amazing and intense moment in their lives. In the end I really wonder why these men get into obstetrics to begin with if they have no respect for a woman’s experience or for birth itself.
My homebirth was the only pain free labour I had! What a crock.
I love random, un-verified statistics. Nearly half of homebirths end up in transfers? Really? Even that (highly exaggerated) statistic is better than the 100% of hospital-planned births that require transfer.
Why is transfer for an emergency so damning of homebirth? You go to the hospital if you break your leg, why not go if you’re having a baby and something isn’t right?