Photo: Shea Long, Coastal Lifestyles Photography.
Just whisper the words ?home birth? and you?ll get opinions that range from the absurd to the alarming. Hospitals are still the far more popular choice. (Less than two percent of births in Canada happen outside the hospital.) But despite what your father-in-law?s neighbour?s sister has to say, as long as you?re having a healthy pregnancy, where you deliver your baby is 100 percent your call. Knowing the facts (and common myths) may help you decide whether delivering your baby at home is right for you.
Myth 1: ?Home birth isn?t safe.?
Actually, a planned home birth with a certified, licensed midwife is just as safe for your baby as a planned hospital birth. Studies from Ontario and BC have shown that the same number of babies are born healthy, no matter where their parents planned to have the birth. Midwives are regulated medical professionals who carry everything they need to deliver your baby, as well as to manage a medical emergency: oxygen, neonatal resuscitation equipment, and antibiotics and other medications. ?We are coming to people?s homes with a fully stocked small hospital in our car,? says Hava Glick, a midwife with Kensington Midwives in Toronto. A little less than half of women delivering their first baby who planned to give birth at home end up moving to a hospital?but it?s usually for pain relief or because labour is lasting too long. The number drops to 15 percent for those who?ve given birth before. And only...