Thinking about homebirth?
Have you considered the potential impact on your older children and the baby of leaving them motherless? Neither did the mothers of these 22 children who experienced the ultimate catastrophe, all because their mothers wanted a specific birth experience.
Florida woman Stephanie left 6 small children motherless, including her newborn, after choosing homebirth.
Australian woman Caroline Lovell left 2 small children, including her newborn, motherless after bleeding to death in front of her clueless homebirth midwives.
This young American woman left 4 small children motherless, including newborn twins after bleeding to death at homebirth.
This 24 year old American woman left her newborn motherless after bleeding to death at homebirth.
British woman Joanne Whale left her newborn motherless after bleeding to death from a uterine eversion at homebirth. Her midwife did not know how to start an IV that might have saved her life.
British woman Claire Teague left two children motherless, including her newborn, after bleeding to death from a retained placenta at homebirth. Her midwife claimed in her defense that Claire “had a really lovely spontaneous birth at home and I hope Simon [her husband] in time will remember that.”
Now comes word that Maria Zain, a prominent Malaysian-British advocate for unassisted homebirth, has left 6 children motherless, including her newborn, after her 4th unassisted homebirth.
From the Facebook page of ICAN of Malaysia (International Cesarean Awareness Network):
One of the Malaysian ICAN leaders, Maria Zain, passed away on 28th December.
A mother of 6 children, her first two births were cesarean births.
She was and still is through her writings one of the strongest voices in childbirth advocacy in Malaysia. She was extremely passionate in lending support to all mothers especially those with past multiple cesarean history…
Originally from Malaysia, Maria Zain was a freelance writer based in Nottingham, United Kindgom …
Maria was also a certified Childbirth Educator (AMANI Birth Institute), and a home-educating Muslim mother of five children, ages 9 and under – her sixth child, a son, birthed as she returned to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, on 28 December 2014.
Maria often found herself writing about natural birth and parenting, and had a passion for homeschooling and autonomous learning. “Unfortunately, there aren’t any images of strong and powerful women bringing their babies earth side in a calm and peaceful manner, surrounded by people who love and support her unconditionally.”
According to a colleague of hers at AMANI Birth Institute, Zain died at an unassisted homebirth:
Unasisted home birth. As were her previous three. No word yet on what happened. I’d imagine a postpartum haemorrhage, but don’t know…
No medical professional (no midwife, no doctor)…I assume just her husband and kids were there. I don’t have the details but most likely no one else.
Zain was a talented woman and loving mother, but when it came to the subject of homebirth, she airily ignored the risks. It is chilling reading her perspective in Is Home Birth Safe? Know The Pros And Cons, only a little more than a year ago. The article was written in response to the experience of a new mother who bled to death at a homebirth in Malaysia:
Certified childbirth educator from AMANI Birth Maria Zain said, mothers who decide on unassisted home birth vary in reasons. Some have been exposed to positive homebirth stories while others have had poor hospital experiences…
As a childbirth educator, we usually talk about the process of natural birth and how the female form has already been designed to birth. We do not shun medical intervention, but we encourage expectant parents to fully understand the benefits and risks of each intervention and encourage them to either give informed consent refusal. It’s their right, either way…
Maria, who had home birthed three children after two prior hospital births, said home birth is not new in Malaysia and was a norm before the advent of hospital birth-normalcy.
In Maria Zain on the The Birth-Faith Irony: Who Are We Really Relying On?, Zain wrote:
While for many, medicalised births seem the way to go. Why would anyone want to avoid medical interventions, when they are supposedly there to save lives? And why on earth would anyone have their babies at home when there are machines at hospitals that can gauge progress and complications? Contrary to this popular belief, there is plenty of statistical data that proves that even the minute intervention, including monitoring, causes the birth process to become jagged and disturbed, leading to a cascade of interventions that cause potential harm to both mothers and babies…
In private practice, where the underlying motive for the birth industry is profits, medical intervention is the cultural norm, with inductions being scheduled even weeks before the infamous EDD, regardless of the health of the mother and baby. Scare tactics also run high, as do non-emergency and elective Caesarean sections (c-sections).
In a piece for Hypnobirthing Malaysia,Zain explained her response at a birth where she served as doula:
… I needed to shed tears for mothers who didn’t know that it was that simple, who felt their births were torturous, dangerous, frightening and stressful, and that they needed to be in a place with interventions and drugs. I know there are cases where doctors save lives, but when they step back and be the emotional support that they should be, most mothers would flourish too, bringing their newborns into their arms like it was the most primal act of the female design. Birth can be empowering, natural, beautiful and a spiritual journey for a mother and I wanted to cry for those were short-changed of this experience.
Zain was shedding tears for women deprived of the “birth experience” she thought was their right. Now her 6 children will shed oceans of tears over her death, which was almost certainly preventable. Who will care for her 6 children now with the love and passion she brought to her mothering? Who will homeschool them now that she is gone? To whom will they run to confide their joys and fears, triumphs and disappointments? Their lives will never be the same.
Which was ultimately more important, her birth experience or their need for their mother?
Consider what your death would do to your children the next time you are considering homebirth.
