In this series we’re going to explore natural childbirth (home birth) as an alternative to industrialized childbirth. Industrialized childbirth could also be called “disturbed birth”, which Australian family physician Sarah J. Buckley, MD defines as follows:
Anything that disturbs a laboring woman’s sense of safety and privacy will disrupt the birth process. This definition covers most of modern obstetrics, which has created an entire industry around the observation and monitoring of pregnant and birthing women. Some of the techniques used are painful or uncomfortable, most involve some some transgression of bodily or social boundaries, and almost all techniques are performed by people who are essentially strangers to the woman herself. All of these factors are as disruptive to pregnant and birthing women as they would be to any other laboring mammal – with whom we share the majority of our hormonal orchestration in labor and birth.1
Buckley embraces an evolutionary perspective on pregnancy and childbirth. Such a perspective affirms the natural process of gestation and birth and recognizes a woman’s genetically inherited capacity to give birth without medical intervention.
In the same way that we evolved to eat a species-appropriate diet (i.e. paleo), we evolved to give birth in an undisturbed environment.
This innate system of birth has been refined over 100,000 generations. It involves a complex, finely tuned orchestration of hormones that prepare both the mother and baby for a successful birth and catalyze profound neurological changes that promote the bond between a mother and her new baby.
And just as we experience health problems when we stray from the evolutionary dietary template, women are more likely to experience complications and difficulty in labor when they stray from the evolutionary template of “undisturbed birth”.
Natural childbirth is in our genes
Even now, babies are still born at home in most places around the world. And although the move from birth at home to the hospital began in the 18th century, home birth was the norm even in westernized countries until the 1950s.
Think of it this way: humans have been giving birth at home for 999,998 generations, and it’s only in the last 2 generations that hospital birth has become common.
This means that women have given birth at home for 99.998% of human history.
Yet in the U.S. today, fewer than 1 percent of births happen in the home. This abrupt and almost complete transition from natural childbirth toward industrialized childbirth has had profound repercussions on mothers, babies and the culture at large.
My wife Elanne and I have chosen to have a home birth with our first child (who is, as of this writing, due in about 2 weeks!) It has been fascinating to watch people’s reactions – outside of our close friends, who have almost all had home births – when we tell them this.
Some come right out and say “that’s brave!” Others are more suspect, using words like “interesting” or maybe even wondering out loud if it wouldn’t be a better idea to use a hospital midwife. Still others are more direct in their opposition to our choice.
Doctors and the medial have also managed to convince most people that hospital birth is safer than home birth. But is that really true?
Another myth bites the dust: hospital birth is not safer than home birth
In the Netherlands, where 1/3 of babies born at home under care of midwife, outcomes for first babies are equivalent to those of babies born to low-risk women in the hospital, and outcomes of second or subsequent babies are even better.
A UK analysis found that birth at home or in small family practice units is safer than birth in an obstetric hospital for mothers and babies in all categories of risk.
Other studies have shown that modern obstetric interventions have made birth more dangerous, not safer.
A landmark study by Johnson and Daviss in 2005 examined over 5,000 U.S. and Canadian women intending to deliver at home under midwife. They found equivalent perinatal mortality to hospital birth, but with rates of intervention that were up to ten times lower, compared with low-risk women birthing in a hospital. The rates of induction, IV drip, episiotomy, and forceps were each less than 10% at home, and only 3.7% of women required a cesarean (c-section).
Other studies have shown that women who plan home birth have around a 70-80% chance of giving birth without intervention. And because of low use of drugs, home-born babies are more alert and in better condition than those born in the hospital.
Contrast this with the 2002 and 2006 Listening to Mothers surveys which examined 3,000 births in conventional settings. They found “virtually no natural childbirth” in either survey.
In the 2006 survey, around 50% of women were artificially induced; almost 75% had an epidural; and 33% gave birth by c-section.
Finally, in a review of the safety of home birth by the esteemed Cochrane collaboration, the study author states:
There is no strong evidence to favour either home or hospital birth for selected low-risk pregnant women. In countries where it is possible to establish a home birth service backed up by a modern hospital system, all low-risk women should be offered the possibility of considering a planned home birth…
I agree with the author’s conclusion that hospital birth is no safer than home birth. But if you consider the statistics above which suggest that having a natural, undisturbed birth in a hospital setting is exceedingly difficult, I would argue that there is strong evidence to favor a home birth.
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Birth complications are more likely to occur in a hospital environment
A common defense of hospital birth by medical professionals and laypeople is the assertion that it’s necessary to be in a hospital during birth in case something goes wrong.
In other words, the distortion of the process of birth – what Buckley calls “disturbed birth” – has come to be what women expect when they have a baby and in a way has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As Buckley states:
Under this model women are almost certain to need the interventions that the medical model provides, and to come away grateful to be saved no matter how difficult or traumatic their experience.2
TV shows almost always depict birth as some kind of medical emergency, with the woman being rushed down the hallway on a gurney or connected to machines and wires in the delivery room surrounded by medical personnel. Since most people have never witnessed a home birth (or any other birth) before having a child themselves, their impression of what labor is like comes almost entirely from television.
It’s easy, then, to understand why people are afraid of birth and feel the need to be in a hospital setting in case something goes wrong. But that doesn’t mean giving birth in a hospital is safer. The studies I’ve presented in this article demonstrate that it’s not.
I want to be clear: no matter where birth takes place, complications may arise that require medical intervention and I am 100% in support of it in these cases.
When the mother or baby’s life is at risk, we are fortunate to have access to surgical techniques that can save lives or prevent serious complications.
The point I am making in this article, and will make in more detail in the articles to follow, is that the scale of medical intervention in birth today is not only far beyond what is necessary, but is contributing to the very of the problems it attempts to solve.
If you’re interested in learning more about natural childbirth, I highly recommend Buckley’s book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering. I’d also suggest checking out her free eBook called Ecstatic Birth and her eBook/audio package Giving Birth At Home.
Note: this series will very likely be interrupted by the home birth of my own child. Elanne is due on the 17th of July, so the baby could be coming anytime. When that happens, I’ll be taking some time off to spend time with my new family. I’ll pick this up again when I return from paternity leave.
Articles in this series:
- Natural childbirth I: is homebirth more dangerous than hospital birth?
- Natural childbirth IIa: is ultrasound necessary and effective during pregnancy?
- Natural childbirth IIb: ultrasound not as safe as commonly thought
- Natural childbirth III: why undisturbed birth?
- Natural childbirth IV: the hormones of birth
- Natural childbirth V: epidural side effects and risks
- Natural childbirth VI: Pitocin side effects and risks
- Natural childbirth VII: Cesarean risks and complications
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- Buckley, Sarah J. Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor’s Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices. Celestial Arts, 2009. pp. 96 ↩
- Buckley, Sarah J. Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor’s Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices. Celestial Arts, 2009. pp. 96 ↩
None of the studies cited in your blog supports your subsequent conclusion that “complications are more likely to occur in the hospital environment”. I question the impartiality of your blog, on the basis that you fail to state the underlying difficulty with the studies cited in your blog, viz.: once cannot compare mortality rates for “hospital births” to those of “home births. The “Hospital group” contains women of all risk levels, with all possible pregnancy complications, and all pre-existing medical conditions, whereas the women who are generally allowed to have home births in the USA and Europe are low risk, falling in the top 5% of birthing mothers when it comes to age, weight, fitness levels and history of complications. It is simply misleading to compare apples with pears in order to support your conclusion that “natural” births are safer, and therefore, preferable, to hospital births. Your conclusion s simply not supported by the evidence…
That’s ’cause just few to no people question WHY some of the c-sections happen…
In general all the mothers think (or made to believe) it was necessary and it saved their and their babys live.
Sometime c-secions happen ’cause the doctor interfered and made a mistake or the doctor just want to get home (belive me I SAW something like that happen!!)…but it always ends up that they say: Thank God you were in a hospital and the c-secion saved you..
What about those examples? They are NOT included in whatever studies there are…no doctor would admit they made a mistake or they are just lasy…
I don’t say anything against c-secions IF they are necessary, but I’ve seen situations in hospital that just make me cry inside!
The whole life is filled with “danger”…runover by a car, fall down the stairs,…but you wouldn’t stay home your whole life and don’t go outside…there are risks with everything, but if you have a good and caring Midwife she KNOWS what is ok or if it is saver for you to be in hospital ’cause there are some difficulties in your pregnancy!
Midwife student from Germany
Louise, in the studies, they actually do compared apples to apples – low-risk pregnancies in both hospitals and home births. So, the “Hospital Birth” group only contained women who fit the same criteria as those in the “Home Birth” group.
Stats from Melbourne, Australia:
http://midwivesvictoria.blogspot.com/2009/10/more-irrefutable-evidence-of-safety-in.html
I haven’t read through all of the comments, so forgive any repetition. I started my pregnancy in British Columbia, where home birth is covered by the national health plan for precisely the reason the author states–that for healthy women with low-risk pregnancies, home birth is as safe if not safer than hospital births. I had my choice of many well educated midwives who had hospital privileges should a transfer be necessary. This is not a few hippies advocating for home birth–this is an entire nation (and not the only one) looking at very clear scientific evidence and actually paying for women to birth at home.
Mid-pregnancy, I moved back to the US, where the thinking about natural health and natural birth are so polarized that you see debates like this one, where people are often incapable of even listening to each other. One camp says home birth is almost criminal, that you are risking your child’s life. The other camp says the same for hospital births. It is all such nonsense. In the States, I managed to find amazing midwives to work with, but it wasn’t easy since home birth is almost like and underground subculture (comparatively speaking). I also had to shell out between $4,000 and $5,000 even though I have medical insurance. In addition, I had to set up a separate relationship with medical doctors should I need to birth in a hospital. (Interestingly, the Kaiser doctors and nurses I dealt with were familiar with the home birth safety rates and had no problem with serving as “back up”. It was mostly uninformed lay people who gave me flack for my decision.)
Birth is always potentially dangerous, and any midwife worth her weight will acknowledge this. In order for home birth to be a safe and healthy option you must be low risk and you must be comfortable with the idea of being outside a medical setting, as fear and stress can inhibit labor and cause complications. Most midwives will screen you carefully to make sure that you meet these criteria. Midwives are also well equipped to deal with most birth emergencies, such as hemorrhage, and will be quick to transfer you to a hospital should they even so much as suspect a dangerous complication. Very well trained and experienced midwives can handle breach births and other complications.
I would encourage all pregnant women to seek the care of a midwife, whether they plan to birth at home or not. Midwives provide prenatal care that is FAR above and beyond what you get with allopathic medicine. You will be seen every month in the beginning, then every week. You will be given intensive nutritional and lifestyle guidance and will be tested for common complications, like blood sugar problems, far more often. Problems are noticed very early, when they can be reversed with lifestyle changes or natural interventions like homeopathy. The mind-body connection, so important for healthy birth, is also given far more attention. This preventative approach is so incredibly valuable.
The same goes for post-natal care.
@ Emily: Well spoken!!!
Emily, birth may be potentially dangerous but, as 7 billion people on the planet can attest, it is usually quite safe and successful. A midwife worth her weight will, of course, screen women and look for problems but these days we are seeing more and more women who want a home birth who are “refugees” from a poor hospital experience, who might have had an unnecessary C/S, or who simply don’t accept that hospital is any place for their child to be born. We are now being told (in Australia) that we are not to attend VBACs at home…what should we do? There are women are badly hurt, and frightened of having a similar experience again, but it is their (human) right to have good birth care wherever they choose. As it happens, I have no problem with attending a VBAC at home because the risk is very little more than for a primip, but my professional organisation and the insurance companies say no. We midwives are being hunted down and penalised, and women are going it alone – which can and has led to tragedies.
for a skeptical view of home births, i really think the informed opinion of an OB would be the best place to go. Chris, please do take a look at this blog- there’s a lot of food for thought here, and i do think its worth revisiting the idea of home births being safer than hospital births. http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/
Not at all. I’ve already seen her site, and she left some comments here which I disputed. I’ve researched this thoroughly and I know where I stand.
She doesn’t “proof” that giving birth in hospital is more save! She just talks about deaths during/after Homebirth…
If u would SEE the births in hospital that I have seen you would think different!
By some of the stuff I had to watch I thought this is physical abuse!
And those comments: “The mothers who want homebirths are careless and selfish” -> no they just don’t want to get stuffed with medicin and fear! That’s what hospitals do – they make pregnancy to a DESEASE doctors have to supervise!
There are MORE complications in hospitals – more interferences!
Midwife student from Germany
I wish I would have given birth at home. I was induced and the whole experience was rushed, impersonal and downright horrible.
What about having a natural hospital birth? I read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Hospital-Birth-Best-Worlds/dp/1558327185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321234080&sr=8-1 and its kind of the middle ground that I think this issue needs. we don’t need to pick a side, we can all come together and agree that everyone wants a safe and healthy delivery. Its possible to achieve it. The book is a great guide to having this kind of birth.
Chris, you may have answered this in one of the 142 previous comments but I only read the article and the first 10 (got overwhelmed with the negative peeps) .what are your thoughts on vaginal birth after an abdominal myomectomy. Everything i have read (mainstream medical stuff and many midwife sites) say that if the cut is high (where mine was) that VB should not be attempted. Something about that stinks of people not wanting to take a a potential liability (the risk is somewhere around 10% I think – but who knows what it could be now because they have frightened women into having C-sections). I have no desire to be cut open again and subjected to pain meds while I am trying to breast feed and care for a newborn. Everything I have read suggests that the risks of rupture are EQUAL during the entire pregnancy as they are during the birthing process. In other words, if it was that dangerous, I should not be getting pregnant in the first place . . . It makes NO SENSE to me at all. . .
Thanks for writing this very thorough article allowing us to make the choice for OURSELVES.
Put me down as another one who has seen countless Moms give birth in the hospital (as an RN) and chose to have all five of her babies outside the hospital (4 at home) (I also only had one sonogram for one baby).
No one is suggesting that women don’t get medical care. We’re just suggesting you might get better medical care at home. I can absolutely attest to that.
You’d be surprised how many “complications” were created by the Dr at the Hospital but then they made you believe that you were lucky to be in the hospital so they could “fix” the problem.
BTW, I had my first two babies at home with a Dr. (Well, he missed the second one by about 5 min, but the nurse was there.) (Homefirst in Chicago.) They were excellent but I’d still rather have a baby with a midwife.
If we do our research and really think, it’s obviously safer to give birth at home. Anyone who thinks differently has not:
a) read the relevant research
b) attended both home and hospital births
c) given birth
and/or d) seriously thought about it.
Hospital births are like hospital conceptions. Sketchy at best and definately NOT a good time. (Unless, of course, that’s your thing! And even if it is, you’re still better off having the birth at home!)
I am a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife), which means I was first a RN, then obtained my Master’s Degree and took a formal examination to become certified as a midwife. I happen to work in a hospital, offering the most natural births I can possibly offer in that setting, and also in a licensed, free standing birthing center. That is one option that I haven’t seen discussed here (although I didn’t read all of the responses). For many women who desire to avoid the unnecessary hospital interventions, but do not have access to a licensed midwife for a home birth (due to the unfortunate condition of state laws on this issue, that make it impossible for most certified midwives to perform home births), a free standing birth center can be a wonderful option. Birth centers are typically very home-like environments with no continuous fetal monitors, and none of the “typical” hospital interventions are done there. Such as inductions, forceps, vacuum extractors, etc. However, medications and equipment are available in the event of an emergency, and protocols are in place for rapid hospital transfers for situations that need a hospital. Birth centers are very safe alternatives to home or hospital birth, not to mention much more affordable. More information can be found at American Association of Birthing Centers website.
BTW, I completely agree with this article and applaud you for writing it! I hope your home birth was very blessed!
Dr. Kresser – thank you for such an incredible article. And congratulations!
“This innate system of birth has been refined over 100,000 generations”
“Think of it this way: humans have been giving birth at home for 999,998 generations, and it’s only in the last 2 generations that hospital birth has become common.
This means that women have given birth at home for 99.998% of human history.”
No, no, no, no. Any “doctor” that has to resort to lies like these really does not need to be giving anyone advice on anything. Yes, lies. These numbers are far too out of bounds of actual history to be a mistake. Modern humans have only been on the planet for like 250,000 years. So maybe a quarter of a million years and not even close to a million generations or 100,000 generations. Or if you’d like modern humans have existed for 12,500 generations.
Homo Erectus evolved 1.8 Ma, or roughly 90,000 generations ago. Do you think H. Erectus gave birth to offspring in a fundamentally different way to modern humans? For that matter, does birth in mammals in general differ in a fundamental way?
I’m not a doctor, nor have I ever claimed to be.
“Humans” are Homo Sapien Sapiens. We show up only about 200,000 years ago. If you’re going to go that way why not use Homo Habilis at 2.3 million years ago? Or Homo Ergaster at 1.9 million years ago?
Your whole pitch is predicated in what had been done for 99% of the time. We don’t even really have recorded history for 98% of our existence. The how mammals give birth does not differ, but again thats not what you are talking about is it? You’re talking about an accepted practice somehow being perverted. Well one can argue that for 98% of human existence people didn’t use hospitals at all. So by your theory they shouldn’t use them now. For 99.5% of time human didn’t leave the area they were born in, so I guess we should stop traveling to other countries.
If you have actually read the rest of the article and the series, it’s disingenuous of you to suggest that my “entire argument” rests on the evolutionary history of birth. I could remove that entire section and the modern research alone would support the argument I’m making in the article, which is that home birth is no more dangerous than hospital birth for low-risk pregnancies.
Thanks for this article, things are a little different in Nz we all tend to have are own independent midwife with many choosing preivate obstetricians (not great for increased intervention) so having baby in hospital dosn;t tend to mean intervention.
With my 2nd I was only in the birthing room for 50 minutes.
What I prefare with a hospital birth is that there is someone there to check on my baby in the 1st 24 hours of their life and I get to spend 3 complete rest days in a nice private room focusing on my new born and not running around chasing a toddler.
Women do need to rest to recover from pregnancy, labour and birth and a private room at a hospital or private birth care unit can provide that.
I too follow paleo and completley believe women can and should give birth naturelly and interventions should happen in cases of emergencies only
My sister almost lost her life giving birth at a hospital. It was an unforseen problem after a normal, low-risk birth. Home birth sounds nice sometimes, but in her situation, minutes counted, and she would be dead if she had not been in a place where doctors could help her immediately. I am thankful for hospitals and doctors, even though they drive me nuts. I think if all the effort people put into publicizing how wonderful home birth is toward making changes in hospital culture and having better hospital births, we would really all be better off. I am not against home births per-se, just happy to have my sister alive.
I gave birth to four of our seven children at home. They weighed between 10.5 lbs to 11.5 lbs, the cord was around my son’s neck (no problem for my midwife), and having experienced both options, I DEFINITELY choose home birth over hospital birth. I didn’t have to listen to the doctor talking to his assistants about his last golf game – I was surrounded by family and friends and it was a positive atmosphere in which to bring new life forth.
Shelly it’s amazing to hear that the cord around your son’s neck was not a problem for your midwife.
My sister has two typical hospital births with all the oxytocin, lying on the bed, no eating for 24 hours, monitoring, various manouvers and the children had the umbilical cord around the neck. The doctor said her it’s because of her small utherine channel and what not and thought it was a huge problem so they even tied sheets to her arms and the bed to help push, by fracturing bones in her hips, performed epysiotomy on her . Anyway the pain was unbereable, the stitches so many they are to count but all they said in the hospital is “thanks god we were here to save your live, you had a bad childbirth coming”
Now I’m starting to wonder if the umbilical cord around the children neck wasn’t really a big issue but something that could be solved with less pain and procedures and I also wonder if squatting rather than lying, eating rather than fasting and ore pushing without the arm tied stuff would have prevented all that pain and blood loss.
I’ve given birth three times at a hospital in Finland. I would call the births undisturbed and natural, no drugs. It’s quite a normal Finnish hospital. It has several big rooms where the mother-to-be and father can stay together, and are interrupted almost only when needed. In each room, there’s a rocking chair and other furniture that help you select the position you want. There’s a private shower in each room, too. There’s a radio, magazines, etc, and the walls are painted in happy colors. And there are bath tubs outside the room, if one’s available you can have that too. I’ve used it all three times.
If you seem to have very many hours left, you will be guided into another kind of room before the birth room, as there’s a limited number of these. This first room has a double bed, TV, etc. Like a hotel room.
When you arrive at the hospital, you are asked what kind of birth you want, do you want an epidural, how do you want to deliver (on chair, lying down, on all four, etc.) and if you have special wishes.
I had three wonderful births, they’re the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. Even though they were hospital births.
I have no idea what U.S. birth hospitals look like, but if they looked like mine did there would probably be a lot less need for the home births, which I don’t object to either. Home births are very rare in Finland.
well Finland has their sh*t together! It seems women and birth are respected there, in the US women are just sexual figures and most OBs want to control birth. its easier and more profitable to do interventions and cesareans, than it is to respect a woman and her child’s birth, and let things happen and support them.
I was watching a show in Sweden about severe tearing becoming more commonplace, and they made frequent references to why we should adopt the Finnish model of obstetric care where natural birthing methods have not been embraced as much. So, I’m not sure that for a woman in Finland wanting a completely natural birth would be able to have that in a hospital.
And coming from a highly socialized country, spending tax money on hospital birth doesn’t seem right when the majority of women can safely birth at home.
Birth in the US is anything but luxurious.. if I had that kind of experience at a hospital like what you had heck yeah I would LOVE the hospital.. but I have given birth in the USA at home and in a hospital… I had complications at the hospital, non at home. I choose home. I’ve never felt so safe in my life.
There are so many types of breech births, a few can be dealt with even at home, but many do require a hospital. The author does not think that if you are high risk you should have a home birth. He does not even say if you are low risk you should. He is saying that if you are low risk you ought to know what the benefits and risks are for each kind of birth and make an informed decision.
A midwife will refer a mother to the hospital if they have a frank breech. It is part of their training. On the other hand, my friend had a c-section for a posterior baby. Maybe she would have needed the c-section anyway, but the docs didn’t even bother to see what position he was in at any point during her pregnancy and labor. In her second pregnancy, she had a hospital midwife who informed her before she was even due that she needed to turn the baby to prevent a posterior birth. They were sucessful, and my friend went on to have an unmedicated vaginal birth after c-section. Midwives have a ton to offer, whether at home or at the hospital, and know things OB’s do not! OB’s in general ought to be available for surgery, but unless they have training beyond what is required to become an OB, have no idea what to do for a natural normal birth.
I had an extremely easy labour with my first child and no complications. When i became preganant with my son there were no problems throughout my pregnancy, however during labour things went downhill quite quickly, and to put it bluntly, if we had not been in hospital we both would have died. So whilst the idea of a homebirth appealed to me, I was more than happy that I had decided to use my local hospital.
Linda: nowhere in the article do I suggest that we shouldn’t make use of the hospital when necessary. In fact, I highlighted the following sentence in bold text in the article:
The issue is not whether to use medical intervention at all, but when medical intervention should be used. Right now, it begins the moment a laboring woman steps foot in the hospital. I’m simply arguing that “undisturbed birth” should be the starting place, and medical intervention should only be employed when necessary.
My daughter was born at home 6 years ago. I loved it. It was an amazing, intimate experience between me, my daughter, her father, and our midwife, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The one and only time labor became unbearable was when I decided to lay down for a few minutes, which incidentally is the position you are in while laboring in the hospital. I get the same reaction as you when I tell people she was born at home. Outside of a few who “get it” mostly I get the “wow, you were brave! I would never…” (when I suspect what they really mean is “wow, you were careless!”). But there are so many reasons to birth at home, I can’t even begin to list them all. Another good read is Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. Best wishes to you and your wife Chris. It’ll be the coolest experience of your life. I almost wish I could do it again 😀
What’s the best position to deliver? Hospitals insist on the woman lying down with her legs spread and I have witnessed OBs tying woman to the bed with sheets in order to help her push through the pain.
Sounds like the freedom to choose the less uncomfortable position would ease the pain.
What I find weird is that of the numerous women, even very young ones, who I know gave birth lately all experienced an horrible childbirth: all had to transfuse, all had stitches, all had the child who was suffucating. The point that even their mothers started to saying “childbirth wasn’t that bad even in 1970 when I delivered” It really seems that the more medicalized childbirth gets the more painful and uncomfortable it becomes.
My daughter (who lives overseas) had her first child 3 years ago as a homebirth in my bed! There was a midwife present and a student midwife too! It was a beautiful experience for all. My granddaughter and I have a special relationship.
My daughter then had her 2nd child in her home in Israel as a homebirth with an obsetrician who only does homebirths now. I was at her house about a 1/2 hr after my grandson was born and stayed to help them out for a week or so.
My daughter and son in law fully embrace homebirth and the natural quality and ability to bond with each other and the new baby (and the older toddler too)!
I only wish I knew about these options when I was having my own children.