Mothering scrubs evidence of 13 homebirth deaths
There is an article in today's New York Times about homebirth and an accompanying comment section in Well, the Times health blog. I posted comment #7 of the 276 and counting comments:The biggest problem with homebirth is that it has an increased risk of neonatal death. All the existing scientific research to date shows that homebirth has a neonatal death rate approximately TRIPLE that of low risk hospital birth.Over on MotheringdotCommune, a member posted this excerpt:
Even the studies that claim to show that homebirth is safe (such as the widely quoted Johnson and Daviss, BMJ 2005) study, actually show that homebirth increases the risk of neonatal death. Johnson and Daviss found a rate of homebirth death in 2000 of 2.6/1000. The rate for low risk women in the hospital that year was 0.9/1000. Johnson and Daviss simply left that information out of their paper. Johnson is the former Director of Research for the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA, the trade union for homebirth midwives) and Daviss, his wife, is a homebirth midwife. Johnson and Daviss deceptively compared homebirth in 2000 with hospital birth in a bunch of out of date papers extending back to 1969.
Since 2003, the US government has been collecting statistics on homebirth. In 2003-2004, the hospital neonatal death rate for low risk women was 0.37/1000 and the homebirth death rate was 1.15/1000. In fact, the single MOST dangerous form of planned birth in the US is homebirth with a homebirth midwife.
Mothering Magazine maintains a message board that promotes homebirth. In the year to date, 13 women have reported preventable deaths of their babies at homebirth, among less than 300 women. That is an appallingly high rate of death.
American homebirth midwives are currently hiding their safety statistics from the public. The Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) the trade union for direct entry midwives has been collecting extensive statistics on the safety of homebirth since 2001. Those statistics have been publicly offered to anyone who can prove they will use them for the "advancement of midwifery". Even then you must sign a legal non-disclosure agreement preventing you from revealing any data to anyone else. It does not take a rocket scientist to suspect that MANA is suppressing its OWN data because it shows that homebirth with a direct entry midwife increases the risk of neonatal death, and possibly the risk of brain damage as well.
Homebirth advocates are not honest about the fact that homebirth increases the risk that the baby will die. A woman has the right to choose where to give birth, but unless she understand that homebirth increases the risk of neonatal death by a factor of 3 or more, she is not making an informed decision.
Mothering Magazine maintains a message board that promotes homebirth. In the year to date, 13 women have reported preventable deaths of their babies at homebirth, among less than 300 women. That is an appallingly high rate of death.The member asked if this were true, and suggested that members keep track of the MDC homebirth statistics in order to determine if homebirth is indeed dangerous.
Mothering responded as they typical do, with censorship. Rather than addressing the issue of the 13 preventable neonatal deaths (perhaps more) thus far this year, or denying the claim, they removed the comment and the entire thread for good measure.
MotheringdotCommune is probably the single best place to do "research" about the safety of homebirth. Babies of MDC mothers routinely die preventable deaths at homebirth, and the moderators routinely remove any discussions about safety in connection with these deaths. Visit MDC now and you will find that there have been not one, not two, but three preventable homebirth deaths in the past month.
There were at least 10 preventable neonatal deaths at homebirth on MDC in 2007 as well as 2 cases of profound anoxic brain damage:
Preventable homebirth deaths on MDC 2007
breech, nuchal arms (arms trapped behind head), brain dead, ventilator disconnected
shoulder dystocia, profound brain damage
unanticipated anoxic brain damage sustained during labor
normal labor, baby dead at birth
decelerations during attempted home VBAC, transfer to hospital, uterine rupture, baby dead, massive hemorrhage, hysterectomy
postdates, severe meconium aspiration
normal labor, baby dead at birth
post dates, baby dead at birth
unanticipated severe birth asphyxia
prolonged ruptured membranes, overwhelming infection
Preventable homebirth deaths on MDC so far in 2008 including:
normal labor, baby dead at birth
normal labor, baby dead at birth
normal labor, baby dead at birth
attempted VBA2C, baby dead at birth
unanticipated severe birth asphyxia
mother rejected medical care, stillbirth
shoulder dystocia
transferred for pain relief, severe birth asphyxia
cord prolapse
normal labor, baby dead at birth
abnormal cord vessels, baby hemorrhaged
In my entire career, during which I attended the births of over 1000 babies, there was a total of one unanticipated neonatal death in a term baby. MDC has had more than 20 in the past 2 years alone.
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