Homebirth advocacy has become so extreme that it is occasionally difficult to tell the difference between a real story and a hoax. This story posted on Mothering.com sounds so extreme as to be a hoax, but readers can decide for themselves.
On 7/20, klamp posted on Mothering.com:
… I had mentioned no prenatal care/self prenatal care and the intention of a UC. Due to this post everyone is flaming my thread, saying that I am neglectful, ignorant, uneducated; there are even posts saying “screw you”… Why should I be bound to diabetes testing, blood testing, urine testing, pressuring, poking and prodding if I do not want to be? Better yet why is society so reliant on medical professionals and to the extent that it is viewed as required? I feel like I am missing what the big deal is.
Here’s the birth story, posted on 8/21. It starts of promisingly:
For all of you out there considering or determined to have a UC, congratulations. It is empowering, exhilarating and I am a firm believer of having healthier babies and easier births due to UC.
I was one who didn’t receive any prenatal care or use a midwife; I found it pretty useless as I could weight myself, check my blood pressure I felt sense able enough to know if something felt wrong. I tracked his positioning and even knew that he was a boy!
I went into labor at 1 a.m. on July 18th of this year and had Tyson at 9:08 a.m. My partner was there and was supportive …
So everything turned out great, right? Not exactly.
Rubbing the outside of my vagina, I felt a large bulb and told my partner that the head was coming out, he was just about here! There was a loud bang and my amniotic sac literally exploded and the water covered the bathroom. His foot immediately came after wards. We were shocked, sure he was head first. I didn’t panic right away, I knew that breech, vaginal births were totally possible.
But they handled it successfully, right? Not exactly.
The next foot came seconds later and he came out up to an inch above his belly button. This is where I panicked he wasn’t coming any further and was stuck, I had my partner call the ambulance. Throughout the course of the call I was told to try different positions with my boyfriend pulling, pushing, prying and the baby had turned a deep shade of purple and was no longer moving when I tickled his foot. We were certain that he was dead by the time the ambulance had gotten there.
What ensued was a virtual horror show. The EMTs were unable to deliver the baby and elected to transport the mother to the hospital.
… They carried me down the stairs sin my comforter, while I held my baby up, still stuck. The man in the ambulance was trying to get his arms down, which was keeping him from coming him out, Tyson had his arms raised up so his shoulders were in the way. They had my push but I was exhausted and … I had given up, I didn’t see the use in it because I knew in my heart he was dead anyways. I give a huge push and feel terrible finally the EMT in the ambulance got his arms down and there was a huge release of pressure and I could feel Tyson Sliding out… [I]t was nice feeling his skin against mine but I could see he was still a very dark purple.
The baby was not dead. The EMTs and hospital personnel manage to resuscitate him and keep him alive.
klamp reports:
There is no feeling like the feeling of having a baby dangle halfway out of your vagina while you are certain that it is dead. There is no way to explain the guilt, terror, depression, anger and other emotions that we have gone through. Tyson might have brain damage but after being stuck for over 10 minutes and all the progress he has made as well as the brain’s ability to regenerate and reroute it looks promising that he will lead a healthy and normal life.
klamp suggests that maybe getting prenatal care isn’t such a bad idea after all:
… Don’t just guess or go on instinct, make sure, this has been so painful and I don’t want it to happen to others. I would still have a home birth it was an amazing experience up until the foot came out and I encourage others not to be afraid but to be safe and protect themselves and their babies. Good luck!
