Home Birth (personal writing) - Coursework Example

While on the other hand many argue that home births are dangerous for both women and the child and they should be avoided. It is seen that the rate of home births is quite less in comparison to the hospital births but this can only be associated with the recommendations of the health professionals regarding the homebirths. I have chosen this topic as I have witnessed this situation in the case of my own mother. My mother wanted to have a home birth with all six of her pregnancies but due to varying circumstances she was unable to do so.

My mother had to undergo her delivery in UK for her third baby and she wanted to have a home birth but she could not go ahead with it because of certain problems. My mother knew so much about birth at home as she previously had undergone homebirth in our native city which is because she developed a fear for the hospitals. When I went with my mother for the first anti-natal check up at my local hospital I told the doctor that my mother would prefer to have birth at home but was told that it is my mother’s first pregnancy in UK so it would not be possible.

I asked why not? I was told that because it was my mother’s first pregnancy in UK and they have no idea how would she be able to cope with this pregnancy at home so they recommended a hospital birth to my mother. I realised for the first time that home births were not recommended in the UK. My mother had no choice but to go along with the decision because of which she was very disappointed. The choice of homebirth for my mother was best suited because she had a normal pre natal examination.

The proponents of home birth put forward that the women who do not have complications in their natal examination should not be recommended a hospital birth but should rather be recommended a home birth. They put forward evidence which clearly shows that home birth is a satisfying and safe practice for the women who experience uncomplicated births (Wiegers et al 1996; Ogden et al 1997). It is still seen that the home births in UK are only about 2% whereas if women were allowed to opt for a choice the rate would be much higher.

Homebirths are a safer practice for women who do not have complicated births and these can prove to have a strong psychological effect on the women. Research has also shown that women who undergo home births undergo less stress than the ones who undergo hospital births. This stress may also be one of the causative factors because of which the women undergoing hospital births feel more pain while the delivery. Research shows that women undergoing home births have less pain and receive a lower number of pharmacologic interventions.

These women also feel greater satisfaction while giving birth at home because they don’t undergo much stress (Davies 1997). These women are also free to do things when they undergo home birth where as in a hospital they are not allowed to do certain things after their delivery. Moreover studies have also shown that women prefer home births rather than hospital births because of the control and autonomy that they have at their home rather than the influence of the physicians in the hospitals (Viisainen 2002; Andrews 2004).

Home birth gives women a psychological advantage that their child would be normal. Many women believe that hospitals are associated with a disease while pregnancy is