The age-old tradition of home birthing seems to be gaining renewed attention in public medical discourse. And it is becoming hugely popular of late, especially in Malaysia. We did come across some sad stories with home birthing cases in Malaysia, but is the situation truly worrisome? Let’s find out…
Is it a new trend to birth at home?
While some have attributed this to the trendy new home-friendly birthing methods which seem to be giving more impetus by the day to reviving the natural birth approach in this elitist age. And with stories of home deliveries with happy ending going viral over the social media, the idea of fulfilling the natural order in a relaxed and familiar environment is getting ever more appealing to pregnant and expectant mothers. But just before you jump on the bandwagon, it is pertinent that you sit back to consider the pros and cons, the risks, the peculiarities and how well this birthing practice suits your case.
While statistics released by the World Health Organization and health institutions of countries around the world do not suggest birthing at home as a direct cause of maternal mortality, they do deductively insinuate that birthing at home gives room for delivery process complications to result in death. The reason for this is not far-fetched; the most common one is that many women do not engage the services of a trained midwife, and where they do, such medical personal lack the requisite training to arrest complicated birth conditions; it is a worse case scenario where such medical personnel also lack referral connections with a seasoned obstetrician or gynecologist; they can barely help but try; and right there as you are reading this article, we are sure it’s so poking and disturbing to you to imagine a medical birth attendant experimenting in a critical condition where a woman in labor and her child are between life and death. Every move taken at this tense moment can be very defining; one wrong move and both child and parent could lose their life; this is how risky birthing at home could be.
However, to be objective, home birthing does have some upsides. A few of them are highlighted below:
Home Birthing – The Pros
- Giving birth at home gives a soothing and relaxed feeling that even helps you maintain the stable cardiac condition you need to push through the delivery process.
- You will have the attention of your family members; everybody rallying around you and empathizing provides something sensationally special at the moment; it is so heart-warming compared to the hospital or birthing facility environment, where you have to obey some stringent rules even in your condition and maybe so unlucky to have a staunch, unfriendly medical team attend to your birthing session.
- It also affords you the freedom to practice your cultural, religious and moral beliefs.
- From the angle of cost, home birthing can be a lot cheaper than delivering in medical facilities.
A safe delivery is absolutely important
But then, remember that the crux of it all is your safety. Other advantages and the ones that have been identified above as the reasons why many pregnant women are looking at the home birthing option are so insignificant when put side by side with the dreadful risks involved.
What are the risks involved?
Life is priceless, not just your life but also that of your baby. You can’t afford to lose it so cheaply just to please one so-called tradition or religious oblation or just for the sake of jumping the social media bandwagon; on rational weigh scales, it doesn’t make sense to follow something that cannot preserve your life and that of your baby when it matters most. It just makes better reasoning judgment to ‘endure’ the uncomfortable environment and every grouse you have for hospital and birth centers as long as you would be put in safe hands who have the right facilities and know exactly what to do when the situation gets complicated.
The assertion by the World Health Organization that around 15% of all pregnant women develop a potentially life-threatening complication that calls for skilled care and that some will require a major obstetrical intervention to survive is ever so instructive. You never can tell if your fate would end up like that of the pregnant women that made up this 15%. The odds are that you would find a well-trained midwife who has competence, expertise, and experience outside her immediate field to handle childbirth complications with composure in the face of a threat to the life of mother and child.
While you have a right to your choice, remember you have a responsibility to keep your family happy by emerging out of the labour room, cuddling the bundle of joy in your hands. Yes, you may have examples of women who opted for home birthing and are smiling today but looking at the risks, you don’t want to fall the unlucky victim, it might not be so safe after all.
For further reading, check this.
Get yourselves the best care and make well-informed choices by consulting our esteemed panel of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists all over Malaysia. Make an appointment with them on GetDoc!
by Hridya
A biochemist by education who could never put what she studied to good use, finally found GetDoc as a medium to do what she loved - bring information to people using a forum that is dedicated to all things medical. View all articles by Hridya.
