Baby's Day Out

Denver Westward ^ | May 10th, 2007 | Jared Jacang Maher

[Jenny Hatch]

"For those women who were not very educated with their first births, they kind of got railroaded into surgery with their first, and with their next baby, they are hitting this wall of opposition," she explains. "Unless you're highly educated and willing to take on the risk of an unassisted birth, you have no choice."

After fighting with doctors and nurses to allow her third child to be born vaginally, Jenny vowed that she would never deliver in the hospital again. Her husband, Paul, wasn't against the idea of a home birth, but his wife's insistence that they do it without even a doula or a midwife made him very uncomfortable.

"And that debate almost killed my marriage," Jenny says. "The birth issue has really taken us to the depths of our relationship. What Paul eventually came to was that it was my body and I was the one who had to give birth, and he supports my rights of self-determination to give birth how, where and when I feel comfortable."

So in 1996, they chose the upstairs bedroom of their townhome in Louisville as the site for the birth of their fourth child. The three-hour labor was so quick, and the eleven-pound boy arrived with such force, that the umbilical cord snapped and the baby wasn't breathing. Jenny was also hemorrhaging deep in her uterus. Emergency personnel were called, and baby and mother were taken away in separate ambulances. Both survived, but the family was shaken.

Still, that experience didn't stop the stay-at-home mom from continuing her freebirth activism. In 2001, she organized the second International Husband/Wife Homebirth Conference, with Shanley as the keynote speaker.

[Calpernia]

And those skills should never be lost.

Look at the wheat scare now. I immediately found home grown grain sources and have been making as much from scratch as I can.

I have been buying extra canning equipment from eBay and am planting extra tomatoes, peppers et al this season.

Little Space? Grow Vegetables inside

[SoothingDave]

So in 1996, they chose the upstairs bedroom of their townhome in Louisville as the site for the birth of their fourth child. The three-hour labor was so quick, and the eleven-pound boy arrived with such force, that the umbilical cord snapped and the baby wasn't breathing. Jenny was also hemorrhaging deep in her uterus. Emergency personnel were called, and baby and mother were taken away in separate ambulances. Both survived, but the family was shaken.

Still, that experience didn't stop the stay-at-home mom from continuing her freebirth activism.

Loonies.

And why is this "news"?

[golfisnr1]

I respect a womans choice on this issue but if it were me I would take all the drugs I could get. I’m a real chicken and respect the trial of childbirth that a woman goes through.

[Jewels1091]

My first was c-section but the next two were natural, my doctor had NO problem going natural after a surgery. He had the surgery room on stand by, but I didn’t even get a pain keller with the two natural. So I don’t understand why there is insistance on always surgery.

There are reasons to have a c-section and shouldn’t be rejected out of hand.

[Calpernia]

Drugs are a mistake. If the birth pains are numb, you can’t feel what you are suppose to be doing. Paying attention to the contractions and cramping actually tells you what you are suppose to do and when.

[svcw]

Very kool. I am looking forward to looking into the links.
I understand really, my husband and I just bought a property on two acres with amply water and lots of sunshine. We if we wanted could go off the grid, but are not there yet...for me its a little extreme at this point. Anyway, look forward to the links.

[Calpernia]

I am jealous! You are where I want to be. But I’m still stuck in the cement circus!

>>>We if we wanted could go off the grid, but are not there yet...for me its a little extreme at this point. Anyway, look forward to the links.

I have PDFs I will give you the links to on how to do that yourself. (cheap).

[elc]

There are many doctors that just won’t do them. Can’t afford the malpractice insurance on it. Now hospitals are banning them as well, even if a doctor will do them.

It’s a sorry state of affairs.

[Calpernia]

Link is in your freepmail

[svcw]

Sorry I did not recognize your flag on the personal page. Where do you live?
We bought this property in the Anza/Borrego Valley area of California. Last year after living in the city for decades my husband came home and threw his brief case down and announced he was done.
My mission was to find a non cookie cutter house on at least two acres with ample water and sunshine under 350K. In California thats cheep. So here we are one year later debt free and living on this property...way kool. Yes, it is going to be very interesting, first time since we first got married that we have to be cautious about money and experiences.
Anyway as we keep saying the adventure has begun....I wish you well on your journey....some times you just have to do it.
Oh yes in case you are wondering we bought a geodesic dome home...it is way kool and very easy to heat and cool....and soooo not cookie cutter.

[elc]

There are reasons to have a c-section and shouldn’t be rejected out of hand.

I never denied there weren't instances that c-sections are necessary. As you can read, I was one of those instances. That doesn't mean that I'm ready to just opt for a c-section the next time. When did you have your VBACs and in what state?

[M0sby]

“I feel that most of prenatal care is fear based cover your butt type of testing, and barring a justified c-section situation like a prolapsed cord or placental abruption, I would not go to the hospital to give birth.”

Ok Jenny,
I probably shouldn’t even respond since this story makes me so emotional. I respect your determination and your desire. To ignore the possible consequences...I am sure my brother-in-law would have been even more crushed had he also lost his wife.

Meet my niece, Samantha. She is dead from a placental abruption.:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173102/posts

Thank goodness my sister wasn’t at home. She would be dead too.

Luckily their SECOND child, Alex had EXTENSIVE testing. Even though there was no indication that what killed Samantha was likely to happen again.
He was born with 3 congenital heart defects and had open heart surgery at 2 days old.
Meet my nephew:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173102/posts?page=186#186
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1481273/posts

[Calpernia]

I’m in your ‘bookend’, NJ.

We are pretty much in the same position you were in before you moved. We are in the process of looking for our 2 acres, under 350K, non cookie cutter, etc.

We hit a speed bump from the Nor’Easter a few weeks ago and are recovering from the flood; but that just means we will have less stuff to pack when we succeed in finding the 2 acres that meet our criteria. :)

[r9etb]

"And that debate almost killed my marriage," Jenny says. "The birth issue has really taken us to the depths of our relationship. What Paul eventually came to was that it was my body and I was the one who had to give birth, and he supports my rights of self-determination to give birth how, where and when I feel comfortable."

Sorry, Jenny, but it stopped being "your body" once you had kids. They, too, depend on your physical well-being, and any decisions about "your body" must account for that fact.

I won't get into the subject of "free birth." My objection is to your rationale, as stated above.

[HungarianGypsy]

I’m a real chicken and respect the trial of childbirth that a woman goes through.

I guess everyone has different ideas of chickenism. I ended up going natural because the idea of a huge needle stuck in my back freaked me out. lol.

[pandoraou812]

I had 2 easy births which were at the hospital, hardly any labor time, quite happy with them. Then with Jon I had big problems. Cord wrapped around his neck etc. I didn’t get to see him for hours. Lela was easy as could be and I was 41 yrs old at that time and high risk. I am happy for all the mothers who give birth at home but for me, I would rather be in the hospital. My daughter had to have an emergency c-section with my grandson. I told the drs she would need one as I had been told that when she was a teenager . But her drs said she would be fine. We almost lost her & my grandson. I think its wonderful how things have changed since the births of my oldest and youngest, theres a 20 year difference. The labor rooms are nicer and my husband could come & go etc. But I still would not take any chances with a birth. I want to be where there is help for me or my baby asap.

[Scotswife]

I’m sorry.
Having given birth 7 times, I cannot identify with placing the child’s life at risk unnecessarily like this.

I have no sympathy whatsoever towards this frame of mind, and I don’t think Jesus or the so-called “end times” has anything to do with it.

[Calpernia]

I agree, it is a toss up about the hospital decision. But this is still a good thread with interesting tidbits for consideration.

Off to run errands. Back later.

[svcw]

Do not know where that is. My husband is from Mendom / Randolph area, it is so beautiful there. We looked in NJ, but I am a native southern Californian and the thought of real winter was to much.

[Jewels1091]

My c-section son (36 hours of labor) is 28, and my natural born girls are 25 and 22. We live in Nebraska, but my doctor who is still in medicine was in yankton, sd. My first girl was 8 hour labor and my last girl was 3 hours from start to finish.