The "Doctors" discussed home water births. You'd have to break my arm to get me to link to it.
I should say they had a segment for Dr. Masterson to rant about how much she hates homebirth in general. And Jillian Michael's was part of the panel? Head scratching moment there because she isn't a doctor and hasn't had a homebirth or been pregnant for that matter. Because come on, as she says being pregnant ruins your body.
'Biggest Loser' trainer Jillian Michaels told Women's Health she would rather adopt than become pregnant, saying, "I can't handle doing that to my body."
But anyway I digress. I just wanted to make a few points to Dr. Masterson:
1. Don't repeatedly cut off the guests you invited to the show. Besides being incredibly rude it makes you look immature and it defeats the purpose of a healthy debate.
2. Constantly saying babies born into pools of blood, urine, and crap (with a look of disgust on your face) was ridiculous.
- more often than not with waterbirths babies are born in to clear water. Most moms get out to urinate. (I did). When your body goes into labor ON ITS OWN the body cleans you naturally of stool in the very early stages, especially if you are not induced. There is rarely a significant amount of blood until after the baby emerges and is out of the water. The murky appearance comes with the birth of the placenta. The baby is calmly on the mother's chest before then.
3. Even though you wanted to argue profusely this point. Midwives are TRAINED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. Who by the way have much, much more experience in natural birth than most OB's. OB's are trained in hospitals that average by the nation 1 out of every 3 births is a surgical birth. And 97-99% are with epidurals. And more than 50% are inductions. If I want someone who has seen an intervention free birth I'd pick a midwife any day. And I'd pick a homebirth midwife before a hospital midwife on top of that. Hospital midwives are very similar to OB's in the types of births they see.
4. You have said in the past that c-sections don't have risks for the mother. I call the BS card on that one.
5. You said that "the studies" say waterbirth babies end up in NICU. I've looked at several studies (even though I take all studies with a grain of salt) and the most recent negative study geared against homebirth - was not specifically about waterbirth. It did get plaster all over the news about how homebirth DOUBLES the risk of neonate death. Here was the problem with that though:
It compared "all" homebirths in the group to hospital births. No big deal right till you read the fine print and see that they included precipitous births, births not planned to be at home, and women who had no prenatal care. So I'm sorry but that is an apple and an orange.
You can NOT compare my planned homebirth with two professional midwives to a 911 episode of a woman with no prenatal care suddenly delivering at home with no supplies but bathroom towels and a scared spouse.
6. You didn't give the woman debating you a chance to answer your "But what if something happens" card. The favorite of anti-homebirthers. The vague your baby MIGHT DIE... threat.
She didn't get a chance to explain that midwives carry pitocin, oxygen and delay cutting the cord so neonates are still getting blood and oxygen until the placenta is delivered.
What also needs to be changed is the relationship between hospital OB's and midwives - something you seem dead set against helping. Midwives need steady supportive backup OB's for emergency situations.
7. The aquarium of sewage like water with the baby doll floating in it that you dramatically revealed to show how disgusting waterbirth is.. was so stupid. I've watched a HECK of a LOT of waterbirth videos and I've never seen water like that.
And we don't deliver in aquariums. My birth pool held 100 gallons of clean water. Even if I did happen to pee, crap and bleed in the water before my baby's birth (which I didn't) it would NEVER have looked like that.
- and just in case we're forgetting, Amniotic fluid is the BABY'S urine, created from the nutrients sent in by mom. Mom and baby are not foreign creatures meeting in a cesspool of yuck in a waterbirth.
- Waterbirth babies come out cleaner that dry land babies. If you pee during crowing in the typical lithomy positions hospitals insist on - guess what? that urine will cascade right over your baby.
8. You are a surgeon. You go to a surgeon to birth and you are going to be with someone who at the slightest provocation will opt for surgery. And will ride in to post-partum singing the praises of how you HAD To have that c-section and if it wasn't for them you'd be cradling a dead baby.
Everyday babies are cut out of their mothers because of dipping heart-rates yet they pull out a hearty pink baby and you wonder -
how much distress were they really in?
9. I think the Head of waterbirth international who you debated held herself really well and didn't lose her temper, I might have been inclined to punch you right in between the eyes when you unveiled the baby doll in sewage water. But I do wish you guys had been gutsy to invite some bigger names in the battle for safe homebirths for women. Ina May Gaskin, Ricki Lake, Rixa Freeze. These women would have had you for lunch if you had been able to stop interrupting.
10. The biggest issue I think is important here is NO MATTER WHERE birth is supposedly "safer" Women deserve choices in their birth environment and providers. Demonizing homebirth isn't going to make women stop birthing at home, it will just drive the choices down. Less OB's willing to back up - Less continuing education where homebirth midwives are welcome. Your version of debate which is really fear mongering lies - Isn't helping anyone.
