Home birth: A woman's right to choose?
By Mayo Clinic staffOriginal Article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/home-birth/MY00191
- With Mayo Clinic certified nurse-midwife
Mary M. Murry, R.N., C.N.M.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Mary M. Murry, R.N., C.N.M.
Mary M. Murry, R.N., C.N.M.
Mary Murry is a certified nurse-midwife in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
Murry, a Cincinnati native, has been a nurse-midwife practitioner for more than 20 years and is an instructor at the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic. She was a contributing reviewer and writer of the "Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy" book.
Her research interests include adult female survivors of sexual abuse, women's perception of pain in labor, and obesity in pregnancy.
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July 26, 2008
Home birth: A woman's right to choose?
By Mary M. Murry, R.N., C.N.M.
Hello, ladies. I am sorry to have been absent for so long. Life goes by at 100 mph sometimes.
Today I wanted to say a little something about home birth which has been in the news lately. It evidently began because of a film that Ricki Lake produced about birth that included her own home birthing experience.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists introduced a measure to the American Medical Association's annual meeting. In the original "Resolution on Home Deliveries" Lake was named. The eventual resolution removed her named. The resolution states the safest place to labor and deliver and recover is a hospital or accredited birth center.
Do I truly believe that? Not in every case. In my rather long career I have done 2 planned home births, 1 unplanned roadside birth and a couple of car births. I don't think that qualifies me as an expert. I am a woman though and I will claim to be an expert at that.
I believe that a woman should have a right to choose where she delivers her baby. I don't think any legislative body should dictate that to her. I believe it is a woman's responsibility to educate herself about birth, home, hospital or birth center.
I believe she should have a qualified person to be with her and care for her and the baby. I believe it isn't so much about the place where we have our babies, but more about the comfort, care and support we receive when we are so experiencing such a life changing event.
Please, let me know what you all are thinking about this. I look forward to some discussion.
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