Hawk at home, hours after Natural Childbirth (via birthing center).

Yesterday, I read that according to a study done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, home births increased 20 percent from 2004 to 2008, accounting for 28,357 of 4.2 million U.S. births.released in May. In 1900, 95 percent of U.S. births were home births!  Can you imagine that being the norm?  That would be awesome! By 1938 less than 48% of babies were born at home, and that number fell to less than 1 percent by 1955.  It’s a FANTASTIC day to see the home birth percentage back on the rise!

Seeing this study by the CDC is exciting because it is not only bringing awareness to home birth, but it’s also beginning to shed light on the many, many interventions of hospital births.

Did you know that many (probably most) emergency C-sections are a direct result of interventions beginning from the time you walk into the door of a hospital?

If you walk into the hospital not educated about interventions in childbirth OR without a solid birth plan, you could be on the fast track to a c-section when you would otherwise have a normal vaginal delivery.

Think about this (of course this is a “could happen” situation, that happens very often):

  • Nurses are the first ones to offer you an epidural.  It’s pretty standard, and it’s the NORM for them.  Nurses generally (if you’re a nurse and you’re not like this, kudos!) go with what the norm is for typical births.
  • The nurse offers you an eipdural, and you’re in pain, so you take it.
  • The epidural more than likely leads to pitocin because it causes your labor to slow.
  • Pitocin causes hard and fast contractions which causes the baby’s heart rate to drop due to lack of oxygen during the contractions.
  • Dropping heart causes fetal distress.
  • Fetal distress ends up in forceps, vacuum, episiotimy or c-section birth.

~REWIND~

Take away the epidural, pitocin, drop in heart rate, fetal distress, and what do you have?   More often than not, an uncomplicated vaginal childbirth!

Hospitals are required to publish their c-section rates.  If you check out the hospitals that are 40% or more, you’ll find that many of these sections were brought on due to interventions that are “routine”.  Another big part of that number will more than likely be the result of elective or planned surgery.

Check out how a Phoenix area Hospital System has banned elective c-sections and inductions!  I would be willing to bet that along with this, they’ve also looking into their practices of interventions as well!  The section rate at this hospital system is going to drop drastically!  I can’t wait to see their numbers in a year!


If you’re planning a hospital birth, walk into L&D with the education and knowledge of interventions and where they can lead!  Have a birth plan!  Sure, the nurses may laugh at you, but you’ll have that paper with you to remind you and to help you keep on track with what YOU want!  Hire a labor doula!  She will help remind you and help you through a natural childbirth.  Educate your spouse or significant other and all family and friends who will be attending your birth.

Take control of your own birth!  Just remember, one thing always leads to another, the least amount of hospital interventions during childbirth, the better the birth experience!