Nov 5, 2009 6:55 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: At-Home Births & Birthing Parties
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The birth of a child is undeniably a perfect time for family and friends to come together, but now come expectant moms aren't even waiting for the baby to be born to start the celebration.
They're hosting "birthing parties" right at home – while it's all happening.
The pictures tell the story of a birthday celebration, but taking a closer look at the home video shows it as anything but a typical birthday party.
"We had 13 people," Erica Cleary said. "We were calling it the 'birthing party.'"
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 midwife for 34 years. She takes part in home births and hospital births, but says home births are less restrictive to the mother.
"Sometimes they're sitting, sometimes they're reclining, sometimes they're in bathtubs," Morris said.
For some, like Erica Cleary, the births occur 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," mother Carol Schipman said.
Schipman says it's similar to the way midwives handled births hundreds of years ago, but with one 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.
However, 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," Dr. Iffath Hoskins, of Lutheran Medical Center, said.
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Dr. 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 three to five 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.
"I want to be in the driver's seat, not a passenger, not strapped to a hospital bed," mom-to-be Mia Cinque said.
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.
"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," Cinque said.
All pregnant women should get prenatal care and make a birth plan. The main goal should be a healthy and safe outcome for both mother and baby.
So are there any contraindications to home birth?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has had a long-standing opposition to home births.
Home births can be especially dangers if the mother has diabetes, chronic high blood pressure, or preeclampsia – those mothers can be at-risk for preterm labor.
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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