This is the first woman on this show I genuinely hate.

[apocalypsos]

So I'm watching Twins By Surprise, which is like I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, except they obviously already know they're at least having the one baby.

Anyway, I never hate these ladies. I get the ones who have a surprise pregnancy, because it's just a convergence of circumstances -- heavyset moms, irregular periods, negative pregnancy tests, almost no symptoms or weight gain -- and then all of a sudden you're giving birth on a bathroom floor. Every pregnancy isn't textbook, for crying out loud. And as for the twins, one of these stories occurred prior to sonograms and the last two have to deal with home births.

This is where I have a problem.

Not in home births, obviously. If you don't want to go to the hospital and you have a midwife on hand to help out, more power to you. The first story of a home birth is a woman who had a midwife, a doula, and regular home check-ups up until the birth. Not surprising that they wouldn't know there's a baby.

But this idiot ... oh, I hate this idiot.

The first two kids she had were delivered in hospitals. Then she decided she hated hospitals. So she had her third baby at home, by herself. I've heard no mention of any genuine medical education -- she read up on the freaking INTERNET and did all of her prenatal care BY HERSELF. Then she has her twins at home, and they both turn out breech.

Look, I'm glad your kids turned out healthy, but you're a goddamn moron.

Comments

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

This new trend is called freebirthing or DIY birth and it boggles my mind. See more here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unassisted_childbirth

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Oh, good fucking LORD. *headsmack*

And, like, it's not that I don't entirely get the home-birth thing. It's just, if you're going to do it, why the hell wouldn't you have some pre-natal care, at least so that you can make sure that when you're home all by your lonesome having your kid in a bathtub, you won't end up with two little feet sticking out of an uncomfortable place, or an anencephalic surprise, or a sick baby who dies in your arms but would have been saved if you'd given birth in a hospital? I mean, hell, there's even one notable circumstance listed in that Wiki entry.

I can't even wrap my brain around being that goddamn selfish.

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

Exactly. There are just so many ways that childbirth can go wrong, would you not want to be somewhere safe with people who can fix things if they go wrong? I mean, one of the amjor arguments for this type of thing (and homebirthing as well) is that women have been giving birth for thousands and thousands of years and so it is a natural thing. But childbrith also used to be the number one cause of death for women, so....

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

Also, I agree that it is a very selfish thing to do. The women who are proponants of this say that they are doing this for their baby and that it will help them to bond. But when you put them into such a risky situation, without real regard for their well-being, before they are even born, then you are not doing it for the baby, you are doing it for you.

GAH!

[anne-jumps.livejournal.com]

My understanding from the wank about it is that it's the extreme, ultra-edgy, super-crunchy for the crunchier-than-thou specialest moms.

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

It definitely started as that, but I've seen the topic cropping up more and more on the LJ comms and there has been more press altely about the subject. Not sure if it is just becoming more known or if the trend is gaining strenght, but for either one it still strikes me as a very, very bad idea.

[leaveoutalltherest]

Oh gods. Stupid morons like this are the reason why those who do choose homebirthing, with the midwife, doula and doctors visits, get so much shit from family, doctors and outsiders.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

For real. At least a midwife or a doula would be smart enough to call a doctor if there were complications like with this lady. She was just like, "NO TOUCHING!" to her husband (which fortunately for the kid was accurate) and delivered them both like that, but if I were those kids and I heard about it later, I'd be pissed.

[leaveoutalltherest]

...so, she solo-birthed? WTF? I mean, I can understand it if you're home alone with no vehicle and the ambulance is taking forever, but wtf?

(And to the one mentioned in the wiki, about the baby that was 4 weeks premature? If you read the article linked in the references section, apparently the coroner told her that being at the hospital wouldn't have made a difference. I smell 'Tell the whacko what she wants to hear so she'll go away'.)

[amaresu]

This just pisses me off because even with the best of prenatal care things happen. I was born with my umbilical cord wrapped around my throat. During my sister's second pregnancy her placenta detached from the wall of the uterus and they didn't find out until she went into labor. It's just irresponsible and a good way to kill your baby.

Sorry.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

I forget to mention the best part -- after giving birth to twins, both of them breech, one of them only three pounds thanks to her umbilical cord being connected to the amniotic sac rather than the placenta, you think you'd learn your lesson.

Nope. She's pregnant again, and having this one all by herself, too.

[astaria51.livejournal.com]

One reason people advocate for home birth is that lying on your back, often pressured to take an epidural, is not a natural position (or means) of birth - it impedes your natural feelings of when to push and doesn't allow for gravity to help you.

And I can see their point BUT I in no way think that gives you license to do it without someone who knows what the fuck they're doing. Classes, a doula, a midwife, a doctor that you know and trust on call -- all of the above...SOMETHING....

I definitely do NOT think that home birth is a good choice if it's just for "bonding" purposes. Jesus.

[girlwiththebook.livejournal.com]

Okay this is slightly OT because it's about a fanfic I read. The woman was pregnant and decided to have a home birth ...only the author didn't talk about if she was going to have a midwife, if she and her boyfriends (she was poly) were taking classes about it, about ANY assistance the woman was going to have during it. It was as if the character woke up one day and suddenly decided "hey I'm having twins and I don't like hospitals, let's give birth at home! Women have been doing it for hundreds of years, it'll be easy!"

Seriously, that was the rationalization given - that women have always done it before, and sure let's just ignore how often babies or mother's died in the birthing process throughout history.

I don't know if I was more bothered by the story or how all the comments were along the lines of 'silly Americans and their obsession with hospitals, this is great!' I've nothing against homebirths. I have a friend who is a midwife and as she was also a classmate of mine, did a presentation of the pros and cons of both hospital births and home births. I fully support anyone who decides to do either ... but giving birth isn't an easy step 1,2,3 process!

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that was the rationalization given - that women have always done it before, and sure let's just ignore how often babies or mother's died in the birthing process throughout history.

I see that rationalization often given and it drives me NUTS. Dying in childbirth, or deaths caused by pregnancy and childbirth, were not rare. Moreover, women usually HAD midwives or at least the assistance and company of other women!

[girlwiththebook.livejournal.com]

As someone who majored in history, with a particular emphasis on gender history during the early modern world, it BOTHERS ME SO MUCH.

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

I, too, was a history major. ;) Perhaps that's why inaccuracies like this gall us both!

[girlwiththebook.livejournal.com]

it hurts my brain so much :(

[modillian.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHA I was just talking with my mom about that today. She said she made this face O.o at the internets-learnings mother, which...

My mom had surprise!twins: my brother and me. BUT she gave birth in a hospital and the only reason she didn't know is because she didn't get a sonogram during the pregnancy (which she knew she had) because her doctors didn't insist on it back in the day. My mom was pretty much glued to the TV for those shows since they were Relevent To Her Interests.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

*snickers* My uncles were surprise twins way back in the day. My grandmother was pregnant with what they thought was baby no. 6 and my grandfather was like, "That's it! No more kids after this one!" Well, the night she went into labor and they went to the hospital, he woke up my then-14-year-old aunt when he went back home looking completely ragged and was like, "Your mother had twins. You name them. I'm DONE," and then he went to bed. :)

[trinity_clare]

My dad was actually a Surprise Twin (and he was the surprise one, since he was born second)...but it was the 1950s. Back when doctors were telling women they weren't supposed to gain too much weight, not to mention the whole drinking and smoking thing. I'm pretty sure women today have no excuse.

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

ACK.

You know, home birth with a midwife? Fine. You have somebody there who is competent and knows what to do when things go wrong.

UC? Possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Wow.

[ciara-belle.livejournal.com]

I absolutely do not get women who don't want ANY help delivering a baby. Homebirth, sure, I get that. But seriously, even women in the Middle Ages had midwives. You should have someone there with some sort of training (other than "I read some stuff on the internet").

[isabeau.livejournal.com]

But reading stuff on the internet IS training.

I mean, the internets don't lie, right? I read that on a scientific website* and so it has to be true.


(* there was a number somewhere on the page, which makes it scientific.)

[beanarie.livejournal.com]

This is right up there with Scientologist or whatever parents who don't believe in antibiotics so their kids die of strep throat and ear infections.

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

Some people have really awful experiences in hospital, so I can understand wanting to get away from that. But there's so many trained professionals who will help you outside that system!