"Afterall, women have been doing this for thousands of years. There must be SOMETHING normal about it."
I know that this statement seems to make sense to the homebirth advocates who say it, but even a moment of reflection reveals that it is utterly untrue. It reveals a lack of understanding of both childbirth and population growth. In fact, population growth, even explosive population growth is COMPATIBLE with the fact that childbirth is inherently dangerous. All you need to do is consider most third world countries; in those places the maternal and neonatal mortality rates are astronomical yet their populations are growing. Very few places have higher rates of maternal and neonatal mortality than Afghanistan or sub-Saharan Africa, yet they suffer from overpopulation.
Death of the mother or baby during childbirth is NATURAL. It is not a rare complication. It is a common complication of childbirth. As I mentioned above, the rate of miscarriage of established pregnancies is appoximately 20%. Almost every woman will have at least one miscarriage during her reproductive life. Miscarriage is a normal part of human life, and it does not prevent the population from growing. Similarly, a maternal mortality rate in nature of 1% and a neonatal mortality rate in nature of 7%, while extraordinarily high from our perspective, are completely compatible with population growth.
Homebirth advocates don't realize that EACH YEAR in the US alone, modern obstetrics saves approximately 225,000 babies and 39,000 mothers who would have died! In the absence of modern obstetrics, childbirth would kill the same number of women each year as breast cancer. How does modern obstetrics save literally hundreds of thousands of lives EACH and EVERY year? It does so through the routine application of tests, procedures and interventions. Without the routine use of tests, procedures and interventions, astronomical numbers of women and babies would simply die.
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"Afterall, women have been doing this for thousands of years. There must be SOMETHING normal about it."
I know that this statement seems to make sense to the homebirth advocates who say it, but even a moment of reflection reveals that it is utterly untrue. It reveals a lack of understanding of both childbirth and population growth. In fact, population growth, even explosive population growth is COMPATIBLE with the fact that childbirth is inherently dangerous. All you need to do is consider most third world countries; in those places the maternal and neonatal mortality rates are astronomical yet their populations are growing. Very few places have higher rates of maternal and neonatal mortality than Afghanistan or sub-Saharan Africa, yet they suffer from overpopulation.
Death of the mother or baby during childbirth is NATURAL. It is not a rare complication. It is a common complication of childbirth. As I mentioned above, the rate of miscarriage of established pregnancies is appoximately 20%. Almost every woman will have at least one miscarriage during her reproductive life. Miscarriage is a normal part of human life, and it does not prevent the population from growing. Similarly, a maternal mortality rate in nature of 1% and a neonatal mortality rate in nature of 7%, while extraordinarily high from our perspective, are completely compatible with population growth.
Homebirth advocates don't realize that EACH YEAR in the US alone, modern obstetrics saves approximately 225,000 babies and 39,000 mothers who would have died! In the absence of modern obstetrics, childbirth would kill the same number of women each year as breast cancer. How does modern obstetrics save literally hundreds of thousands of lives EACH and EVERY year? It does so through the routine application of tests, procedures and interventions. Without the routine use of tests, procedures and interventions, astronomical numbers of women and babies would simply die.
July 19, 2008 - 6:44amThis Comment
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