WARNING: This is not a satire, but it is so horrifying you will wish that it were.
Everyone is the hero of their own story. Even women who commit manslaughter.
Of course it takes a fair amount of mental gymnastics pretend that you are hero when a baby (or two, or three, or more) dies a preventable death at your hands, but homebirth midwives are equal to the task. How else can you explain the existence of a website that so perfectly allies the outsize self-absorption of homebirth midwives with the utter contempt they have for babies who die?
I’m talking about the Facebook page Sisters in Chains.
You must visit this website. Nothing I can write about it can fully convey the horror of it. It is being maintained by Katie McCall, one of the “sisters”:
I keep getting asked for a list of persecuted out of hospital birth attendants and homebirthing mothers. So, here it is. Please let me know if you have anything to contribute as I realize my research may be faulty, incomplete or inaccurate. Bolded names are those still going through prosecution or persecution.
The Facebook page documents the “persecution” of NINETY (90!) American homebirth midwives and 1 doctor for no better reason than a pile of dead babies and a few injured mothers.
It does not mention a single dead baby by name; in fact, in the case of many of the deaths, neither the babies, not the fact of their deaths are mentioned at all.
How dare they hold homebirth practitioners accountable over something as trivial as a dead baby, or a mother who was injured … or for anything at all??!!
Consider:
Robert Biter (ObGyn), 2012
License suspended after a medical board witch hunt that ensued in relation to his bold and outspoken support of out of hospital birth and mothers’ rights.
That would be Robert Biter, whose license was suspended in the wake of 7 separate incidents of gross malpractice PLUS the death of a baby.
Or:
Kristina Zittle, LM (midwife), 2008
Investigated on charges of malpractice – gave up her license in order to avoid having to appear before the Board of Medicine.
That would be Kristina Zittle who managed the impressive feat of presiding of two perinatal deaths less than 6 weeks apart.
And let us not forget:
Colleen Goodwin, LM, CPM (midwife) 2012
Lost her license after investigation by the medical board and later sued for malpractice. Settled at $5million dollars with the family to avoid jury trial.
Jerusha Goodwin, LM, CPM: (midwife and Colleen Goodwin’s daughter), 2012
Lost her license after investigation by the medical board and later sued for malpractice. Settled at $5million dollars with the family to avoid jury trial.
What did they do? Nothing more than preside over 3 neonatal deaths and a case of profound brain impairment.
So let’s see if I get this straight. Anyone who tries to hold homebirth providers accountable is persecuting them. But what if they are guilty of malpractice? So what, it’s still persecution. What if they plead guilty to the crime for which they were charged? So what, it’s still persecution. What if their malpractice has nothing to do with homebirth? So what, the real reason for their persecution must be their support of homebirth.
But wait! There’s more.
According to Katie McCall:
We have a strange way of looking at the world in our culture. So much blame and so little acceptance and love.
How mean of us. Confronted with the preventable death of a baby, we should be offering acceptance and love to those who are responsible for their deaths. Just like Sheila Tobey does:
I also lost a full term healthy baby due to midwifery negligence, HOWEVER, I still totally support home birth because what happened to me was rare, and for every negligent midwife/doctor there are thousands of responsible, capable ones. It’s horrible our babies are not with us, but it doesn’t help to blame the whole concept of midwifery, rather than the exact practitioner who was at fault. I’m sorry for your loss and I pray for your healing.
Um, Sheila, perhaps you didn’t notice, but this web page is devoted to lauding “the exact practitioners” who are at fault, not blaming them.
But when it comes to ugly self-absorption, nothing beats this:
I half wonder if God blames himself for a blighted harvest? Or does He blame the sun? Or the farmer? Or does He see the beauty of a unique year?
God? Now they are comparing themselves to God? What is wrong with these people.
Any woman who is contemplating homebirth must visit Sisters in Chains. Before choosing homebirth, every mother needs to understand that MANY babies die at homebirth, that if your baby dies NO ONE will hold your midwife accountable, and YOU will be vilified by the homebirth community if you seek justice for your dead child.
Thank you, Katie McCall, for a stunning illustration of the hideous reality that homebirth practitioners believe themselves to be heroes when a baby dies a preventable death at their hands, that they will resist any attempt at accountability, and that the growing pile of tiny dead bodies should simply be ignored.
You made these points better than I could make them myself.
