Nov 4, 2009 11:45 pm US/Eastern
Celeb-Inspired Trend: Home Birth Parties
Following The Lead Of Hollywood Types, More Women Are Inviting Their Friends Over For Ultimate Birthday Party
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
It's the latest trend. Many celebrities have opted for it and now more and more regular moms are saying "there is no place like home" when it comes to having a baby.
Just who is opting for home birth and how safe is it? CBS 2 HD decided to explore this growing movement.
The pictures tell the story -- a birthday celebration.
"We had 13 people," Erica Cleary said.
But if you take a closer look at the home video and you'll see it's anything but a typical "birthday" party.
"We were calling it the 'birthing party,'" Cleary said.
The birthday girl literally made her debut into the world as guests looked on.
Giving birth at home is a growing movement, popularized by celebrity moms like Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson and Demi Moore. Now, more and more women are choosing their living rooms over hospital rooms.
"A home birth is delivering the way God intended you to deliver without a lot of intervention," midwife Lonnie Morris said.
The baby is delivered by a midwife, and even though there are no doctors present the closest hospital is on standby just in case.
Morris has been a mi wife for 34 years. She takes part in home births and hospital births. She says home births are less restrictive to the mother.
"Sometimes they're sitting, sometimes they're reclining. Sometimes they're in bathtubs," Morris said.
And for some, like Cleary, with family and friends at their side. Cleary's own mother, a certified midwife, assisted with her granddaughter's birth.
"We had towels and things in tin foil that we warmed up in the oven," Carole Shipman said.
Cleary's mom says it's similar to the way midwives handled births hundreds of years ago, but with one major difference -- the mothers.
"They are educated women who do a lot of research, that are making this choice because of what they believe is a better choice for them," Schipman said.
But just how safe is giving birth at home?
"You come equipped to a home birth and you have oxygen, and you have suction and you have IVs, but you don't necessarily use them," Morris said.
Morris says not every woman is a candidate, especially those with diabetes or high blood pressure. But with low-risk pregnancies, she says, mothers should be able to choose their birth environment.
But not everyone in the medical community agrees with this choice.
"The reason that home births are a concern is the distance from a medical setting," said Dr. Iffath Hoskins of Lutheran Medical Center.
Hoskins, with the American College for Obstetricians and Gynecologists, says the organization disagrees with the practice because of potential complications that may not be addressed as quickly in the home as in the hospital.
"Approximately 3 to 5 percent of all laboring women may develop a problem during their laboring process and a small subset of that number will have very serious life threatening problems," Dr. Hoskins said.
But for women like Mia Cinque, who already had one baby in the hospital, her mind is made up. She will deliver her second baby at home.
"I want to be in the driver's seat, not a passenger, not strapped to a hospital bed," Cinque said. "At home I'm going to get into my shower or my bath, I'm going to lay down in my bed and walk around."
According to one major study, approximately 40 percent of first-time moms attempting home birth are transferred to the hospital for delivery. Make sure to research your options carefully so your birth experience is both pleasant and safe.
To find out more about home birth as well as other birthing options, please click
here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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