the problem is you don't know if they're incompetent until it's too late. not like there's a public grading system. I just assumed mine were competent.
also, at a hospital there are so many third, fourth, fifth, etc. opinions. If one person misses something, maybe the next few won't.
I gave birth in at St. Mike's with a high risk team. They didn't check on me the entire time I was in labour (mind you, it was only about 3.5 hours), and only came when my husband called the nurse and told her my body started pushing on its own. They were gone within 10 minutes of the birth and no one checked on us until morning.
I pressed the 'call a nurse' button the next morning when he woke up and i decided i needed help with latching him on, and no one came for 45 minutes.
in the first story, it was the hospital that did not inform the midwives of the GBS infection. and the midwife who trusted garlic cloves over the trad antibiotic procedure. i don't think it was homebirth that caused the prob.
hospitals make an incredible number of mistakes and there are a tremendous number of unneccessary medical interventions that negatively affect the quality of life but do not cause death.
in canada all our midwives are required to be a "Certified Nurse Midwife". and in canada, it IS cheaper than hospital births. i read the numbers before. at least in ontario anyways.
in the second story it sounds like the midwife wasn't "present"....during or after. in this one i agree with the incompetance call.
in the third story i had to stop reading after seeing the pics of the little siblings. ugh. so sad.
Well, to be fair midwives do carry quite a bit of equipment with them and are highly regulated in Canada, more educated than OBs, even, but they aren't as equipped as a hospital, that is true. What would have happened with you, most likely, is they would have taken you to hospital as they did with me (though they should have taken me much sooner and they took me for the wrong reason!)
Ugh. There are incompetent people in every profession.
I'm so glad everything turned out ok for you and your daughter.
There is something wrong with me because I can't NOT read these stories and they destroy me.
I think there can be poor care in either a homebirth or hospital setting, but I did ultimately feel that homebirth came with risks I did not want to take. My first hospital experience was a bad one, and my more recent experience was very good, despite complications. I wish everyone had access to good midwifery care in a hospital, although I also respect decisions to birth at home.
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also, at a hospital there are so many third, fourth, fifth, etc. opinions. If one person misses something, maybe the next few won't.
I was a home birth advocate until recently.
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I pressed the 'call a nurse' button the next morning when he woke up and i decided i needed help with latching him on, and no one came for 45 minutes.
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what i mean to say, that had anything been wrong they probably wouldn't have noticed until the next morning anyway.
i do think though that in some cases one shouldn't have a home birth, and some of those are often downplayed or overlooked.
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hospitals make an incredible number of mistakes and there are a tremendous number of unneccessary medical interventions that negatively affect the quality of life but do not cause death.
in canada all our midwives are required to be a "Certified Nurse Midwife". and in canada, it IS cheaper than hospital births. i read the numbers before. at least in ontario anyways.
in the second story it sounds like the midwife wasn't "present"....during or after. in this one i agree with the incompetance call.
in the third story i had to stop reading after seeing the pics of the little siblings. ugh. so sad.
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Shit happens, is all I can come up with after thinking about it again and again.
This site: http://birthtraumacanada.org/ is largely written by women that had OBs and delivered in hospital. . ..
I don't know.
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Ugh. There are incompetent people in every profession.
I'm so glad everything turned out ok for you and your daughter.
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I think there can be poor care in either a homebirth or hospital setting, but I did ultimately feel that homebirth came with risks I did not want to take. My first hospital experience was a bad one, and my more recent experience was very good, despite complications. I wish everyone had access to good midwifery care in a hospital, although I also respect decisions to birth at home.
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