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Comment by spacemark | Hacker News Reader

When I was younger I thought it absolutely baffling that some of my educated, reasonable friends and relatives elected for home births, given the obvious increases in risk.

It wasn't until I realized how absolutely terrible the hospital experience is, amplified 10x with birth, rife with shocking biases and sexism, that their behavior began to make perfect sense. Horror story after horror story of human beings being treated little better than cattle. I fear for when I get older and have to deal with the medical system on a more regular basis.

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As long as there are no known issues and everyone is healthy, a home birth is probably safe. A hospital is usually safe too but definitely more expensive.

> no known issues and everyone is healthy

I know a few people that thought the same thing about their deliveries and ended up being wrong. Fortunately, everyone is ok now, but it got dicey for a few people.

This is why you have a plan. You actively check for the usual suspects and know exactly where you’re going in case of an emergency.

Babies are 2x as likely to die in a home birth as in a hospital.

It's trendy and perhaps more comfortable/convenient, but it massively amplifies the risk.

There is a compromise -- dedicated birthing centers that are operated by midwifes, where getting to the emergency room and NICU is expedited. Birth shouldn't be treated as a medical procedure, unless there is a serious complication.

We did both. One delivery at home then two at centers. We liked the extra support a center provides.

This is a case where it would be much more useful to state terms in absolute risk instead of relative risk.

A 10x increase on a .001% chance doesn't mean anything. A 1.1x increase on a 10% risk is huge.

Is this true? Even ignoring the emotional aspect of a newborn child dying, I'm not sure it is. 10x is 10x, and if you know that figure and opt for home birth, and something happens, you might always wonder if it was your desire for a "more comfortable experience" that ended up being the deciding factor.

I'd rather mitigate the risk as much as possible, regardless of how small it might be initially.

10x isn’t just 10x. Everyone knows that low numbers can be skewed wildly.

Most people don’t mitigate risk as much as possible. Even hospitals don’t don’t do this. Hospitals routinely give unnecessary c-sections, drugs, etc to save THEIR time. A home birth eliminates these.

Did you earn as much money as possible and fly to the absolute best hospital in the world? Did you or the mother strictly watch weight? Obesity is a known risk that is poorly mitigated. Is the house free of all known toxins? Did you verify this with a particle sensor? Did the mother practice how do a birth without need for drugs?

With my wife’s home birth, we did these. My wife was is tip top shape, and my environmental engineer father brought over his array of very expensive sensors that measure down to parts per quadrillion.

> Babies are 2x as likely to die in a home birth as in a hospital.

In the US? Link please.

I find this assertion highly unlikely in the US - because midwives only take the lowest risk mothers. We were redirected to our first hospital birth because our midwife discovered twins.

> > Babies are 2x as likely to die in a home birth as in a hospital.

> In the US? Link please.

https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-op...

“Women inquiring about planned home birth should be informed of its risks and benefits based on recent evidence. Specifically, they should be informed that although planned home birth is associated with fewer maternal interventions than planned hospital birth, it also is associated with a more than twofold increased risk of perinatal death (1–2 in 1,000) and a threefold increased risk of neonatal seizures or serious neurologic dysfunction (0.4–0.6 in 1,000).”

This is a meaningless statement.

What country? What time period? What state?

Hospitals all over have wildly different rates of success. The color of the mother wildly influences the outcome as well.

Some states are very strict with home births. Some are not. The laws governing home births vary far more than the laws governing hospitals.

Also, if 10 babies die in the hospital and 20 at home in the US, that’s a drop in the bucket.

This sort of fear mongering in what the medical establishment uses to push people in five digit price tag births, draining them of their resources just as their family is growing.

I have experienced both hospital and home birth. I would never do hospital again if I could avoid it.

We first did a home birth & later two center births. These were so my wife could better control her deliveries.

Our last birth was twins and our midwife directed us to a 100% female OB/GYN practice. They were beyond fantastic.

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