The American Academy of Pediatrics put out a new policy statement called “Planned Home Birth” this week. The Policy Document summarizes the standards of care for newborn infants born at home. It’s designed to help pediatricians provide supportive, informed advice to women considering home birth.
The AAP Report says they agree with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that hospitals and birthing centers are the safest settings for birth- but they thought it was important to put out guidance out of respect for the right of women to make a medically informed decision about their delivery. The report says that… “the goal of providing high-quality care to all newborn infants can best be achieved through continuing efforts by all participating health care providers and institutions to develop and sustain communications and understanding on the basis of professional interaction and mutual respect throughout the health care system.”
That’s also what we’re trying to accomplish as we finish our licensing standards for Certified Professional Midwives in Arizona. Our next Midwifery Scope of Practice Advisory Committee Meeting will be from 4 to 6 pm on Wednesday, May 15 in our Laboratory conference room at 250 N 17th Avenue, Phoenix. The meeting will again be broadcast live on Livestream.
Home birth is indeed dangerous, not just to the newborn child but also to the mother. AAP should reach out to the mothers who continue to believe in this tradition and provide all the assistance possible, the Home Birth Guidelines is one great step towards it.
While I will respect your opinion, opinions are not needed in these comments. Facts and data are what is needed. The most natural part of the human species, actually the most natural part of any species is our ability to reproduce and evolve our species. Now you are telling us that that can only be done in a hospital as the human race has been around and thriving longer than a money hungry business called the hospital. Now if you have facts and research that states a homebirth is more dangerous than a hospital birth than I would suggest you provide us with that information before rambling on about something that you are not educated on to push an agenda that you are behind. Now with that being said helping mothers make an informed decision with the proper facts should be priority number one. Biased opinions play no role in these issues so please think about what you are going to say and how you are going to react and your ability to prove statements that you have made. Thank you.