Women still die in childbirth - even in the US, even in 2014

[Ilsa]

46. The fact that it's a second one will improve her odds.

Don't be too quick to condemn mothers who homebirth. I live in an area where C sections were once the second highest in the country, over 40% of births at one time years ago, with no explanation for why they were that high, except for the doctor's convenience. I even witnessed it as a student nurse on L&D rotation. Women who wanted more natural and safer births traveled 100 miles or used midwives to avoid the local mega-practices with those high rates.

Midwives screen the mothers for risk, and they get the same lab work done. Referrals are made when necessary if it looks like medical complications are arising. Midwives also practice a number of procedures that have been used for hundreds of years that favor the health and comfort of the mother and baby over the convenience of the doctor and staff and hospital billables.

The medical model with interventions for monitoring and reacting to every blip has its disadvantages as well, creating the need for more interventions with more potential for adverse side effects.

I've known several midwives and they are very professional women, take loads of continuing education and certifications, with experience working under other midwives before they are licensed. I have several friends who won't use an OB again unless it's an emergency or high risk pregnancy.

Midwives have incredible safety records and the midwife model is used successfully in many other industrialized countries. I think the US' s over-reliance on the medical model is one reason among many that our L&D statistics are statistics are so poor compared to other industrialized countries.