Home Birth Among Catholic Women?

[TeresaMarie24]

I’m a revert to the faith. While I was away, I was married (since divorced and annulled) and had a child during the marriage. I had a home birth; it was wonderful! It even compelled me to be a childbirth educator for time. While I think every woman should give birth where she is most comfortable, for me that place was home, and things went very well.

My child’s godmother had a birth center birth with one of her four children, but the others were born in a hospital. Giving birth at home was something that was somewhat common among the people I knew at that time, but none of us were even non-denominational Christians, let alone Catholics. I’m just curious… Do many Catholic women have home births?

 

[Havard]

Jim Gaffigan, the comedian’s wife did. He jokes about it in his routine.

“People are like, ‘you didn’t want to go to that germ-infested building where sick people congregate? Didn’t your wife want to give birth in a gown someone died in yesterday?’ Well, it’s the truth…

There was also a midwife there, because we believe in witchcraft.”



(They’re Catholic.)

 

[thebookofesther]

Jim Gaffigan, the comedian’s wife did. He jokes about it in his routine.

“People are like, ‘you didn’t want to go to that germ-infested building where sick people congregate? Didn’t your wife want to give birth in a gown someone died in yesterday?’ Well, it’s the truth…

There was also a midwife there, because we believe in witchcraft.”



(They’re Catholic.)

oh he’s anti-sick people.

 

[ShanaA1984]

I would love to have a home birth. I myself was born at home as were my 2 younger brothers. I was unable to have one with my first and had a horrible experience but if I am ever lucky enough to have more children I want them to be homebirths or birthing center births if nothing else.

 

[babochka]

I’m a revert to the faith. While I was away, I was married (since divorced and annulled) and had a child during the marriage. I had a home birth; it was wonderful! It even compelled me to be a childbirth educator for time. While I think every woman should give birth where she is most comfortable, for me that place was home, and things went very well.

My child’s godmother had a birth center birth with one of her four children, but the others were born in a hospital. Giving birth at home was something that was somewhat common among the people I knew at that time, but none of us were even non-denominational Christians, let alone Catholics. I’m just curious… Do many Catholic women have home births?

I tried for my 3rd baby, determined to avoid a 2nd c-section. After 18 hours of labor at home, I transferred to the hospital for a c-section, my 2nd of 4. Things don’t always work out as we plan them.

I do know many Catholic women who have had homebirths.

 

[Lasting_faith]

OK, I hope I will not offend anyone here. Home Birth comes with a risk. If something goes wrong it is better to be in a hospital, and I can think about many different things that can go wrong. So I am against it. Home Birth is older then giving birth in a hospital. But thank’s to modern medicin we have also been able to decrease the cases of death that was very usual not so long ago. So, if anyone would ask me if it is safe to give birth at home, I would have to say no. It is not safe.

 

[anruari]

There are 2 sides to this argument

Home birth is a great option for women who have not expected complications, and are comfortable with the idea. For my wife it is a pipe-dream. Our previous 2 babies were born by C-Section, and an attempt at a home birth would most likely end in a double funeral.

However for the vast majority of women, a home birth; properly planned and assessed (minimal risk cases), with midwife support, and a back-up plan, may be a risk the family are willing to consider to be preferable to a hospital birth.

As others have mentioned, the “Birth Center” birth is a middle ground option. for low risk pregnancies.

 

[Linybaby]

Where I am the norm is to deliver at a hospital. I had 2 scheduled c-sections so I could not even consider it. I personally think that pregnancies and delivers are very unpredictable and things can go wrong in the matter of minutes. For me I would think a home birth is risky. I would think a birthing center with a midwife present is safer because they can get you to the hospital quicker because they are typically not far from it.IMO

 

[MJJean]

I wasn’t any religion when I was having my babies, who are now 19, 14, and 12.

I didn’t know home birth was legal or an option when I had my first. Once I found out it was legal and that there were nurse-midwives available I wanted a home birth with my 2nd child. Unfortunately, there were complications discovered by the 7th month and I became high risk so my care was transferred from the midwife to a specialist. Hospital delivery, both myself and the baby came through just fine. I thought about it again with my 3rd child, but he decided to switch from head down a week before delivery to transverse the day I went into labor and was delivered by c-section.

No, home births aren’t possible for everyone that would like to do it. That said, I think it’s a wonderful option for healthy women experiencing a healthy pregnancy.

 

[Kelfa28]

I’ve never met anyone who did a home birth.

However, I’ve always wanted one.

Unfortunately, I very highly doubt I will have one. My husband is extremely weirded out by them and wants nothing to do with them.

Believe me, I’ve tried. He understands why I want a natural birth but can’t understand why I would want to give birth at home.

I think it’s because both his sister and mother had difficult births. His sister almost died from her second pregnancy and was airlifted to a more advanced hospital.

I don’t press the issue. I have midwife and my pregnancies have always been healthy and fairly easy (so far). It’s kind of a compromise. My husband is fine with the midwife and fine with having a natural birth…but no home birth.

 

[babochka]

OK, I hope I will not offend anyone here. Home Birth comes with a risk. If something goes wrong it is better to be in a hospital, and I can think about many different things that can go wrong. So I am against it. Home Birth is older then giving birth in a hospital. But thank’s to modern medicin we have also been able to decrease the cases of death that was very usual not so long ago. So, if anyone would ask me if it is safe to give birth at home, I would have to say no. It is not safe.

Hospital birth also comes with risk. The statistics are surprising: planned homebirths, midwife attended with properly screened mothers have better outcomes than hospital births. The c-section rate is astoundingly lower, the infection rate is lower, rates of post-partum depression are lower, maternal and infant death are lower. Certainly, there are some births that need to take place in a hospital, but the hospital is not necessarily the safest place.

 

[Allegra]

In my opinion…absolutely no flippin way!!! (That’s ten exclaimation points!)

This probably has to do with the fact that I was delivered by an emergency c-section after a placental abruption. The umbilical cord was completely torn away! If my mother had tried that anywhere but at the hospital, I’d be dead. She’d have probably bled to death.

Furthermore, I don’t want a bunch of people prancing through my house when I can’t get out of bed.

Lastly, I’ve been to that hospital plenty of times and it’s very nice. It’s practically a hotel, especially the maternity rooms which have little fold out couches for daddies and siblings to spend the night on. Everyone I know who has had a baby there, or even who stayed there overnight for any reason, was very well cared for and never caught infections.

 

[ShanaA1984]

The hospital I had my daughter in was not so nice. In fact they almost gave me an unwarranted C-section. I was sitting in my room when I nurse walks in with consent papers demanding I sign them. When I asked what they were for and was told for a C-section I protested and the nurse got on MY case. I told her that a C-section was never even discussed with me and that I would not sign anything. Well it turns out that the nurse had the wrong room to begin with. Then after my daughter was born and I was forced to stay at the hospital the nurses took it upon themselves to give my daughter formula even though I was breastfeeding exclusively. So if I ever give birth again it will either be at home or in a birthing center but never again will I go to hospital unless I have too.

 

[sdeco]

In my opinion…absolutely no flippin way!!! (That’s ten exclaimation points!)

Me, too!! The idea of giving birth at home is absolutely terrifying to me. I have to have c-sections so it wouldn’t be an option anyway, but even if it was there is NO WAY I would want to give birth anywhere but a hospital.

 

[Rico_S]

Hospital birth also comes with risk. The statistics are surprising: planned homebirths, midwife attended with properly screened mothers have better outcomes than hospital births. The c-section rate is astoundingly lower, the infection rate is lower, rates of post-partum depression are lower, maternal and infant death are lower.

It would be interesting to see how these stats are compiled. Are the stats comparing “properly screened” low risk mothers who chose a home birth vs "properly screened " low risk mothers who chose a hospital birth? Or are the stats on hospital deliveries unfiltered?

It would stand to reason that there would be many fewer C-sections in home births, and I would guess that this contributes significantly to the elevated rates of infection. Also, the lower rates of PPD could be completely unrelated to location of delivery, but perhaps more reflective of differences in overall personality/lifestyle/etc of someone who would be adamant about choosing a home birth vs the typical mother.

 

[Em_in_FL]

I’m just curious… Do many Catholic women have home births?

I would say they are two entirely unrelated things (being Catholic and choosing home birth)… so your answers will be all over the place and uncorrelated.

That’s not to say that some Catholic women who birthed at home made that decision through prayer… I’m positive that happens! But there is nothing in the Catholic faith, as a teaching, that would guide the entire population toward or away from that decision.

 

[EasterJoy]

OK, I hope I will not offend anyone here. Home Birth comes with a risk. If something goes wrong it is better to be in a hospital, and I can think about many different things that can go wrong. So I am against it. Home Birth is older then giving birth in a hospital. But thank’s to modern medicin we have also been able to decrease the cases of death that was very usual not so long ago. So, if anyone would ask me if it is safe to give birth at home, I would have to say no. It is not safe.

It makes a great deal of difference, too, how midwives are trained and licensed in your state, and what kind of relationship they have with the physicians. Some places have loose training, while others are strict; some have good relationships between midwives and hospitals, while in other places the two sides are practically enemies. It makes a big difference which one you have.

Hospital birth also comes with risk. The statistics are surprising: planned homebirths, midwife attended with properly screened mothers have better outcomes than hospital births. The c-section rate is astoundingly lower, the infection rate is lower, rates of post-partum depression are lower, maternal and infant death are lower. Certainly, there are some births that need to take place in a hospital, but the hospital is not necessarily the safest place.

“Better outcomes”…were those matched against hospital births with the same risk factors, or did the hospital outcomes being compared to the home birth outcomes include the births that were rejected as too dangerous for a midwife to attend?

Again, it depends a lot about what hospital and what midwife you’re talking about. Certainly I’ve never heard that Catholics are more or less likely to choose home birth than anyone else.

 

[KellyPalmer]

I am a homebirther and I know many Catholics who have homebirths! Plenty of Catholic hospital birth moms too .

The reason outcomes are better for low risk moms planning home births compared to low risk moms planning hospital births is because they use two different models of care. A recent study showed that 3/4 of obstetrical guidelines are not based on good evidence. Even something as simple as continuous electronic fetal monitoring in low risk labor. Sounds like a good thing, right? But studies show that this actually increases the risk of c-section without improving outcomes. The not improving outcomes part is what is so surprising! Once I started looking into the science, I knew homebirth was for me!

I have also had hospital births and one baby who died due to obstetrical error. One might think I chose hospital birth because of that death but actually I was already planning a homebirth with that baby. I had developed a complication that my homebirth MW diagnosed and offered to treat. But b/c it was a risk, I chose to transfer to obstetric care. I saw countless OBs and they dismissed what my MW diagnosed. I chose to trust them instead since my MW had only seen one case and my OBs proclaimed to be experts. I very much regret that choice because it cost my only daughter her life and I actually came close to dying as well. The same complication repeated in the next pregnancy and we were able to save my son’s life because my MW had been correct and this time I knew she was right. He was born safely at home and just turned 4 years old.

 

[moon1234]

Kelly’s response is VERY typical of hospital births. Doctors think they are GOD and dismiss MUCH of what a mid-wife or other non-doctor might suggest. Hospital births are not treated like BIRTHS. They are treated like a surgery or a disease.

We have 8 children now and over the last 13 years we have seen hospitals that are overly pushy on MANY un-necessary things to the point of us having to educate and dismiss doctors suggestions. Here are just a FEW things that MAY happen in a hospital that usually DON’T happen at home:

1. Your admitted to the triage area. You are in PAIN and not thinking clearly. You will consent to almost anything they tell you when you are pain. Unless your husband has been around the block a few time he will probably be petrified and defer to you.
2. This leads to you being hooked up to all kinds of sensors, BP Cuff, Fetal monitor, heart rate monitor, contraction monitor, etc.
3. Nurses will be in your room CONSTANTLY. You will get ZERO rest until baby is born.
4. Many hospitals prevent you from eating anything in case you have to have emergency surgery.
5. They will push epidurals on you to kill the pain. Many women want to kill the pain, it is terrible. What they don’t tell you is that the “epi” will also slow your contractions and possibly stop them. They will then want to give you Pitocin to make them start again. “Pit” will usually make contractions VERY intense. So much for “natural” child birth.
6. You will be laying in a bed and unable to get around with all of the monitors hooked up. My wife wanted to walk so I just removed all the monitors so she could walk. Hospital staff does NOT like this. Some hospitals are catching on and now use wireless monitors so the mother and can get around, but most hospitals do not have this technology.
7. If you are at a teaching hospital, expect to have medical students staring at you and possibly “treating” you. Remember that form you signed that gave them permission to “treat” you and you absolving them from ANY liability for a mistake?

Sorry to be so negative, but American style hospital births suck. The doctors and staff in many places are NOT there to support you in giving birth. They are there to treat your disease and that is how they present themselves.

If you do choose hospital birth have a VERY detailed plan on what you do and do not want. Make sure your HUSBAND knows as well as he will be your advocate since you will be otherwise not thinking clearly enough and will need to rely on him.

We personally decline ALL vaccines in the hospital. They now routinely give 5 vaccines almost immediately. We also skip the “eye drops” since they are to treat gonorrhea. Do you have that STD? They started doing eye drops routinely because it was easier and cheaper than to test the mother to see if she had an STD.

If your husband wants to cut the cord then you MUST speak up right away or some eager student will have it done before you know what is happening. REQUIRE that they allow time for the placenta to deliver on it’s own. I once watched as a resident thought she needed to PULL the placenta out. It caused a small uterine tear for my wife. This was UNDER a doctors supervision as well. I guess they don’t have 150-30 minutes to wait for the placenta to deliver naturally.

We also did delayed cord clamping. Many doctors clamp the umbilical cord immediately after birth. This can cause a reduction in the amount of blood that baby has in their system by almost 10%. It wait until the cord stops pulsating before clamping. We did this with the last two babies and they are MUCH more active the first few days of their life. Not the sleeping little gems that we normally see who are actually missing part of their blood supply and sleeping due to that.

Home birth SHOULD be supervised by a mid-wife. Too many things can cause life threatening issues that a mid-wife will see LONG before you or your husband will. Home birth has the very positive effect of making the mother more relaxed. She is not in a foreign place and stressed out. That alone can lessen the pain. Most people I know who have had home births have used the bathtub to deliver. Water birth. The warm water helps with the low back pain and the tub is easy to cleanup.

Just make sure that whatever option is chosen that both you AND your husband are well educated on what you want to happen, etc.

 

[Allegra]

It would be interesting to see how these stats are compiled. Are the stats comparing “properly screened” low risk mothers who chose a home birth vs "properly screened " low risk mothers who chose a hospital birth? Or are the stats on hospital deliveries unfiltered?

It would stand to reason that there would be many fewer C-sections in home births, and I would guess that this contributes significantly to the elevated rates of infection. Also, the lower rates of PPD could be completely unrelated to location of delivery, but perhaps more reflective of differences in overall personality/lifestyle/etc of someone who would be adamant about choosing a home birth vs the typical mother.

Yeah, I think it stands to reason that there are fewer c-section home births because women who know there is a strong chance they are going to need a c-section are not going to be as likely to consider a home birth in the first place!