Musings of a Pregnant Mom: Home birth vs. Hospital birth

Today I was reading an article online about a home birth advocate who died during childbirth. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to read the comments below the article and, of course, they made me mad. So mad that even though I am not one to post comments where they can be dragged through the mud, I need to get my thoughts out there before I go insane.

First and formost, I have absolutely no problems with home births. Also, with some qualifications, I have no problems with those who chose to have their babies in the hospital. But it really gets me when people say that those who chose a home birth are uninformed and endagering their lives as well as the lives of their children. So here is my response to those people.

Yes, it is important to be informed when making a decision regarding the birth of your child. And yes, those that have tragic experiences with home birth may have been uninformed, but not in the way that you think. Those who have hospital births may be just as poorly informed as those home birth moms. When choosing where and with whom you want to have your baby, the most important thing about which you should be well informed is your health care provider. There are good doctors and not so good doctors. There are good midwives and not so good midwives. Whatever kind of birth experience you choose, you must be well informed on the person overseeing your birth.

When choosing a midwife, you need to know their record. How long have they been attending births? What is their maternal/infant mortality rate? What is their hospital transfer rate? Are they licensed? Can you get references from previous birth moms who have used their services? Is the midwife sensitive to your needs and concerns? What is your midwife's plan if something seems to be wrong? In my opinion, you need to find a midwife who meets your needs and desires as well as being careful to observe warning signs and get you the care you need before it is too late.

While those in the medical field stress how important it is to be informed when it comes to our care, how many future moms do you know that know anything about their OBs and hospitals? Just like for midwives, moms need to closely examine their OBs and the hospitals they work at. How long have they been practicing? What is their maternal/infant mortality rate? What is their cesarean rate? Are interventions like Pitocin, episiotomies, forceps, epidurals etc routine or are they only used when necessary? Do they talk to you about the risks of each procedure before they perform it? Are they sensitive to your needs and concerns? Do they involve you in the decision process or do they just tell you what is going to happen? Just because you are giving birth in a hospital does not mean that everything is going to be safe and perfect. However, by choosing a good provider, you can minimize your risks just like you would by choosing a good midwife for a home birth.

Now, what have I chosen for my next birth experience? I am going with a group of midwives that operate a birth center. My main midwife has a fabulous track record (25 years worth) and the birth center as a whole has amazing stats
(ie very low hopital transfers, very low cesarean rate and no maternal/infant mortality). I feel very comfortable with the care that I receive there and know that they will get me the help that I need if warning signs appear. I do NOT feel like I am uninformed and while I am not choosing to have a home birth (they suduced me with talks of massages and meals brought in to me which I would not get at home), these same midwives do attend home births and I would feel comfortable having them attend any future home births I might plan.

Ok, I'll step down from the soap box now. Have a great day!

Musings of a Food Crazed Weirdo: The Best Food Website

When it comes to blogs/websites/etc, if you want to me to be a follower you have got to be pretty special. If don't know you, you have got to be extra, extra special. And if you are a website dedicated to food, well, let's just say I'm picky.

Because I am so picky, I just have to share my newest favorite food website that I happened to stumble upon just a few months ago. And for something to beat Epicurious, that is saying something. I would highly recommend it, especially for recipes for those obscure veggies. We just can't get enough of this kale recipe and there are so many other recipes I can't wait to try.

But it isn't just the recipes! I love their articles. OK, sure, they are a little heavy on the local food, non-industrial food thing, but I like that. I like good honest food without fillers etc (I noticed my heaving whipping cream had added skim milk, oils, and a thickener. How is that cream?). It is amazing how much more control you have over what you eat when you start with the basics. I discovered that it is possible to make your own baking powder after my newest sister-in-law mentioned that commercial baking powder has cornstarch, to which she is allergic. I've tried it (1 part baking soda, 2 parts cream of tartar) and it works well. And I control what goes into my food.

Enough of that soapbox, I do really like Culinate. Check it out. You just might like it too.

Inspired by Spring

Yesterday I got to wondering why I try to make resolutions to change around New Years. Sure, the beginning of the year is a great time to rethink our life and try to make changes, but you can get all excited to exercise and then look out at the cold, grey sky and continue on with your life unchanged. Surely there is a better time to make life changes, and what better time than Spring?

Lately, I have been getting the urge to do exactly that: change my life. I don't know how we can look at the flowers blooming, smell the fresh scent of spring rain, and feel the warm sun on our faces and not want to change, to start over fresh just like the world outside. Here are some of the things that I have been inspired to do lately:

Clean: Thanks to simple mom, I'm going to be doing Spring Cleaning for the first time in my life (I'm just following her daily tasks as outlined on her blog, not buying her e-book). I'm not particularly fond of cleaning, but I've been thinking the last few days that if I want to have the life that I want (ie large garden, fresh bread often, etc) and be organized, I need to start working on liking work now. And I do love having a clean, organized home.

Organize: I need to get rid of stuff. Just like pulling weeds to clear the ground for spring planting, I need to dump a lot of stuff that has accumulated over that last three years. I'll just have to be careful not to make Hubby cry when I tell him to get rid of his "special treasures". It has happened before.

Records: For some reason, while sitting at church yesterday, I was inspired to write more in my journal.

I'm sure there will be more things that come to mind, especially as I start planting our "garden". Oh, how I love Spring!

Musings of an Exhausted Mother: On my Way

Kids just don't get it. Honestly, what is so hard to understand about the fact that mom is a much better mother if she gets some sleep. Sleeping through the night = happiness all around. Waking up every couple of hours = unhappiness all around.

You would think that this formula for happiness would be self evident, but apparently it is not to most children under the age of three.

In any case, this is just temporary. I've made so secret of the fact that basically I'm on my way to Australia.