From Hospital Birth to Holistic Homebirth: Your True Options
If you’re reading this, you have probably heard at least one hospital birth horror story. Maybe you have experienced a traumatic birth yourself? In the same vein, you may have heard of a tragic home birth gone south in the headlines. I’ve pondered, does the biological dance of birth still have a place in the home today? As a modern woman in the 21st century what do we make of this conundrum?
In the book, The Feminist Theory in the Study of Folklore, Robbie E. Davis-Floyd wrote,
“Why is a birthing woman like a broken-down car, and whence comes this mechanistic emphasis in obstetrics?”(1)
Floyd’s writings are brilliant, summarizing her research on the evolution of the American Obstetric System. She studied the beliefs and rituals around birth and distinguished stark differences in what she named the “Technocratic Model for Birth vs the Holistic Model.” Much like the Industrial Revolution brought assembly lines and factories, so too it morphed the obstetric system into a beast: drawing all women to the “safer, more efficient way to birth" in a hospital. The technocratic model holds tightly to the view that women's bodies are broken and that birth is dangerous. Au contraire, the holistic model was described as such,
“The alternative paradigm these women adopted is based on systems theory and offers a wholistic, integrating approach to childbirth as well as to daily life--an approach that stresses the inherent trustworthiness of the female body, communication and oneness between mother and child and within the family, and self-responsibility” (emphasis mine)
In stark contrast to the holistic way, the birth culture today functions perfectly to funnel women through the obstetric system like cows for slaughter. You might be thinking, ‘well that's quite an ugly and strong analogy’, that’s because it is! Labor and delivery units are overflowing, the cesarean section rate astronomically high, and the U.S. Maternal Death rate one of the highest of first world countries. In America, about 22 out of every 100,000 women die during or shortly after child birth. If you're a black woman in America that number doubles to almost 49 per 100,000. That is an alarming rate compared to our Canadian neighbors at 8 per 100,000 or Switzerland at 2 per 100,000 women.(3) In the past 30 years, the U.S. induction of labor rate has increased over 15% from 9.6% in 1900 to 25.7% in 2018.(5) A retrospective study done by the Michigan Maternity Care Collaborative, debunked the popular 2018 ARRIVE Trial study claiming that induction of labor for first time moms at 39 weeks decreased the c-section rate. They found that in fact the opposite was true. Their research proved that it actually increased the c-section rate by 7%!(6) Yet, in 2022 the U.S. c-section rate for first time mothers was above 25%, far above the 10-15% “ideal C-section rate” declared in 1985 by a group of World Health Organization experts.(4, 7). So do we settle for high death tolls and surgical birth rates? The data, and my personal experience as an RN in Hospital Birth Centers, are my inspiration to share about the paths set before us as families facing these harsh realities.
What if I told you the technocratic script is being flipped? Thanks to the O.G. midwives of the past, modern women are emerging from the fringe and setting ablaze a passion for ancient birthing ways. The late Midwife Jeannine Pavarti Baker coined the term Freebirth.(2) She envisioned freebirth as the mother being her own midwife, giving birth safely in her home, surrounded by wise women and community. In her beautiful expressions, “Vision of a Freebirth Community”, she reflects on the dream of a world where childbirth is sacred, celebrated, free, and powerful for mothers and babies. A far cry from what most women are experiencing today. On the wings of Jeannine’s vision, Emilee Saldaya & Yolande Norris Clark have become trailblazers bringing the idea of freebirth to the modern woman. Co-creators of the one of a kind course, “The Complete Guide to Freebirth”, these women are not only illuminating the harsh realities of modern birth practices, but are reminding women of their true autonomy and power in their birth choices.
So now that we have laid the groundwork let's get to the nitty gritty. What are the options for pregnant women today? If you choose the technocratic hospital route it may look like this: you show up, probably on a scheduled date, and get placed with whichever OB or Midwife is on call at the time you’re in labor. Very rarely would you see the same person you did prenatal care with. You would then get bombarded with what some call the “cascade of interventions”, which is the strict management of your labor process. It’s highly likely that you will end up where we began, with the all too common hospital birth horror story. The one where your baby almost dies, you have a C-section, and you almost bleed out. I don't write this lightly. I truly believe women and our society as a whole are soul-crushingly affected by these outcomes.
But wait, did you say I could have a Midwife in the hospital? Aren’t they supposed to be more “holistic”? Midwifery today comes in all colors of the rainbow. Licensure or certification is the gold standard. Many Midwives today practice in hospitals, or stand alone birth centers, and some still attend home births. While recognition and licensure by the medical establishment was fought for at one time, today licensure has caused midwifery to intertwine with the modern obstetric model. This has gutted the integrity of the profession by nature of strict regulation and philosophical hijack. Hiring a Licenced Midwife (LM) or Certified Practice Midwife (CPM) to attend your homebirth is a viable option that has potential to even be covered by your insurance. Consider: are you bringing the technocratic model into your home?
Is Traditional Midwifery dead? Absolutely not! Infact, Emilee Saldaya, Founder of The Free Birth Society, launched the Matribirth Directory in Fall of 2024. This is a place where you can search for and find sovereign birth workers in your area of all kinds including: traditional birth attendants, postpartum support, prenatal circles, and more. Authentic or Traditional Midwifery is making its comeback, as women rediscover what it means to serve women with integrity and in their full autonomy. Over in The Free Birth Society, Emilee calls this a Radical Birth Keeper. This role takes on that of a space holder, ancient wise woman tradition, authentic presence, and a keeper of two worlds: the spiritual and reality. Could this mystical midwife be the perfect match for your home birth team?
Lastly, and of course certainly not least on this list of options is a planned freebirth. Imagine, your husband, maybe your sister or your mom and that's it; all in full presence to witness the masterful, raw, transformation of the birth of your baby unfold. Your biological hormone matrix is undisturbed. You're fully in your body and you feel safe and primal. If you choose to birth with a sovereign birth attendant or alone, this might be labeled an “unassisted birth” because there was no medical provider present. This is also a legal option in the US. Lest we forget, we are sovereign beings.
I will leave you with the concept of risk. Is there risk in every single one of these paths? Of course. Everyday our brain filters through the thousands of risks that are presented. Whether they are labeled “high” or “minimal” risk, we ultimately act on them according to our free will. Risk is subjective. Fear mongering can invade any space if you allow it, and with a highly charged subject like birth, fear mongering there will be! But in true millennial fashion… #birthmatters. Holding space for the sacred dance that is birth is my passion. Also, as a young 30 something in her childbearing years, I have to be realistic about the realities of the birth culture surrounding me. I know where I would love to give birth one day. Where will you choose to bring your baby into this world?
In Summary: Birth Options
Hospital Birth: OB or Midwife attended
Birth Center Birth: Midwife attended
Sovereign Homebirth: Authentic/Traditional Midwife/Birth keeper present
Freebirth at home: No birth attendants present
Written by Kaitlyn Valencia, BSN, IBCLC
Member of the Stockton Holistic Chamber of Commerce
11/5/24
PHOTO CREDIT: Mountain Time Photography
Resources:
Free Birth Society “The Complete Guide to Freebirth”: Emilee Saldaya and Yolande Norris Clark, https://www.freebirthsocietycourses.com/cgtf
Free Birth Society, Matribirth Directory Access: www.matribirthdirectory.com
Questions to ask your Midwife by Sister Birth: https://static.showit.co/file/l6IEZhBVTku85JUgSeivIw/148651/questions_to_ask_midwife_1.pdf
Trust God, Trust Birth: The path to a joyful birth at home by Sister Birth: https://sisterbirth.com/trust
Podcasts:
The Freebirth Society Podcast: https://www.freebirthsociety.com/podcast
The Holy Wild Birth Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holy-wild-birth/id1632340260
References:
Davis-Floyd, R. E. (1993). The technocratic model of birth. http://www.davis-floyd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/TECHMOD.pdf
2. Pavarti Baker, J. Vision of a freebirth community. Vision of a Freebirth Community
3. Gunja, M., Gumas, E., Masitha, R., & Zephyrin, L. (2024, June 4). Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An international comparison. U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis Comparison | Commonwealth Fund. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/jun/insights-us-maternal-mortality-crisis-international-comparison#:~:text=Recent%20Maternal%20Mortality%20Trends%20In%202022%2C%20there,five%20maternal%20deaths%20per%20100%2C000%20live%20births.
4. Total Cesarean Deliveries: Delivery Method. (2024) https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?reg=99&top=8&stop=86&lev=1&slev=1&obj=9&dv=ms
5. Declercq, E., Belanoff, C. & Iverson, R. Maternal perceptions of the experience of attempted labor induction and medically elective inductions: analysis of survey results from listening to mothers in California. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 20, 458 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-03137-x
6. Mostafavi, Beata. (2032, May 4) Labor induction doesn’t always reduce cesarean birth risk or improve outcomes of term pregnancies. https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/labor-induction-doesnt-always-reduce-caesarean-birth-risk-or-improve-outcomes-term-pregnancies
7. AP Betran , MR Torloni , JJ Zhang . (2015, July 22) WHO Statement on Cesarean Rates. Gülmezogluhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5034743/#:~:text=1%20Based%20on%20the%20evidence,as%20the%20ideal%20CS%20rate.