Jo Stephens of Cornwall had planned a home birth, but when her labor pains started, no midwife could come. And the ambulance wasn't going to make it in time, either. Luckily, her husband Marc had been watching YouTube videos just hours before on how to deliver a baby.
The Stephens delivered a 5 pound, 5 ounce boy they named Gabriel. Both mother and child were later taken to a hospital where they were pronounced healthy. Link -via Gizmodo
A few hours earlier, Mr Stephens has been reading up on home births and how to cope with anything unexpected.
"The videos gave me peace of mind. I think I would have coped, but watching videos made things much easier."
The Stephens delivered a 5 pound, 5 ounce boy they named Gabriel. Both mother and child were later taken to a hospital where they were pronounced healthy. Link -via Gizmodo
As far as women and babies routinely dying prior to the advent of the modern day hospital, this is a myth. Yes, sometimes they died but this was nearly always due to poverty - lack of food, dirty water and inadequate housing. Unsafe tribal practices such as rubbing dung into the umbilical cord also caused numerous problems. As Judith Goldsmith states in her book Childbirth Wisdom from the World's Oldest Societies, throughout history healthy tribal women have successfully given birth with little or no assistance.
Regarding the "need" for c-sections today, most of this is due to the continual interventions routinely performed in hospitals. Each stage of birth is monitored, timed and controlled, and if a woman doesn't give birth within a certain time frame, numerous unsafe interventions are performed. A baby is stillborn in an American hospital every 15 to 20 minutes, which is double what it was ten years ago. Much of this is due to induction of labor, c-sections and other interventions.
The bottom line is this: women have been told their bodies are inadequate and they need doctors, drugs and machinery in order to give birth. Unfortunately, most women believe this and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. For more information I encourage those who are interested to explore the many web sites devoted to unassisted childbirth.
I say congrads to this new father and thank God he was calm and knew what to do. My husband would have fainted!
you appear to be uninformed and just plain stupid. Maybe YOUR body was made for having babies, but not all women have that opportunity
My maternal grandmother died in home childbirth in the 1920's, as did the baby she was delivering. My mother, who was 6 at the time, was crushed.
Home birth isn't for everyone and sometimes the worst outcomes do indeed happen.
To have top level medical care on hand may not always be required, but it's certainly prudent.