I want to start by saying that I respect obstetricians individually. There are many good, caring, watchful OB’s who practice as Dr. Bradley did, acting as a “life guard” at the pool, stepping in when a pregnancy or birth necessitated obstetric care. Otherwise, they care for and facilitate safe, natural births…Dr. Bradley’s stats were 94-96% vaginal birth rates in any given year.
Despite his, and other OB’s invested in the natural, hands-off approach to normal, low-risk pregnancy and birth, maternity care in the United States is not uninterrupted. Thanks to “advances” in maternal care, most births take place in the “Safety” of a hospital setting. Our cesarean rates are still at an all-time high, and despite spending the most per capita on maternity care, our maternal mortality rates are 48th in the world. 47 countries, including some third-world countries, do a better job at keeping mothers and babies alive than we do.
In the face of these facts, many women are choosing to seek different care. Certified Nurse Midwives are making gains in the hospital setting, and home birth with Certified Professional Midwives is on the rise in home settings. Guess who is freaking out?? The white-coats who have enjoyed little to no opposition since they convinced the US consumer that they were better off birthing in a hospital than they are at home.
Let’s take a look at homebirth and hospital birth numbers…check out the infographic, or find links to the reports on the first ever published home birth study in the United States HERE.
This infographic is used with permission from Growing Slower:
And now, a group in Arizona has decided to try and “back door” a bill (SB1157) that I suspect, they thought was going to go undetected. It is an attempt to reverse all the strides in evidence-based care that were made when the AZ Department of Health Services expanded the Midwifery Scope of Practice. The scope was ammended after hours of testimony, consideration and deliberation – you can see those proceedings HERE. The backers of the bill are using the same rhetoric that was used to get women into the hospital in the first place: “Unsafe” “Irresponsible” “Dangerous”
The fact of the matter is that the case can be made that hospital births in the United States are now dangerous. You have a 1 in 3 chance of receiving a cesarean, even if you walk in as a low-risk mother. Category X drugs are used off-label, when the manufacturer’s instructions specifically list the dangers of use in childbirth and warn against using them in pregnancy or labor.
Read more about that here:
- Epidural Drugs
- Induction Drugs
- Pitocin
We have the right to self-determination and access to qualified, professional care providers, even if they are not the care provider that would be chosen by the majority. If you are in Arizona, please join us at a rally to say no to Senate Bill 1157. You can read more about action steps you can take whether you can or cannot join us in person HERE, or please take moment to sign THIS change.org petition to the Chairwomen of the Health and Services Committee, who will hear the bill tomorrow.
