Hospital is safest


From IMDB news-

Lake Chastised By Birthing Professionals
17 June 2008 6:48 PM, PDT

Actress and TV personality Ricki Lake has been slammed by professionals at the American Medical Association (Ama) for championing home births.

Lake's recent documentary The Business of Being Born suggested hospital births could be problematic - a claim refuted by medical officials.

Doctors have warned expectant mothers not to follow the Hairspray star's example, and Ama members are now campaigning to U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation officially stating that the "safest setting" for birth is in a hospital, reports TMZ.com.

I Fully agree.

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Why do you think they are saying this? Because most hospitals are for profit. If people start having home births as opposed to going to the hospital, that will cut into their bottom line. With the birth of my last child, I went to the hospital and the first thing they did to me is give me an IV of Pitocin. I told them I didn't want it. I knew this was my last child and I wanted it to be on my terms. But even though I said no, they gave it to me anyway. That is not having choice. I think this movie was great.

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Why go to the hospital then? Stay home. Whatever you want.
All I know is that if something goes wrong and there is trouble, all of you will be dialing 911 and praying to get to a hospital in time. Just think about that. Yes, a hospital is a business and businesses want to make a profit, don't they? Big shock.
I know that I wouldn't operate on myself and I would not have a baby at home, in a pool or gosh knows where else some of you might want to give birth.
You should maybe look into some of the things that can go wrong before deciding that a hospital is an evil place.

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If we are to follow your "logic" through to conclusion, then it would seem that you do not think death occurs in the hospital setting and yet I would hazard a guess that more newborns and mothers die in hospitals than at home.

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Wow, you're really grasping at straws there!
It's Ok - that's your opinion.....you may hazard to guess all you want.

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Just as it is YOUR opinion that "hospital is safest." The evidence and statistics show quite the opposite.

*checks hands* Nope. No straws here.

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[deleted]

It's not that the hospital is evil it's just that pregnancy and labor shouldn't be treated as major surgery. It's natural for a woman's body to give birth. Women have been doing it since the beginning of time and like they said as long as you are a healthy low risk mother then why not have a home birth? I think where people are having complications, red flags, that show up during the pregnancy shouldn't be considering home birth. Obviously if you need a medical intervention then go to the hospital and have your baby. But don't automatically go to the hospital to have your baby because you're going to get those medical interventions your body or baby doesn't need.

It's a whirly bird chopper, big helicopter, it's the coolest way to fly.

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Women across history also died at much higher rates while giving birth than the modern woman who has access to a hospital. Mortality rates for both mothers and children over time have gotten lower and lower as access to modern hospital-centered care has become the norm. Are we supposed to believe that this is just a coincidence?

It's natural for a woman to give birth? It's also natural for us to get sick and to die. "Natural" means absolutely nothing. What's important is health and survival, and these things are improved through modern medical care. Forgo such things at your (and your child's) peril.

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This is true but unlikely just because of medical interventions during delivery. Health in general has improved, so if you are healthier when you get pregnant, you are also more likely to have a healthy pregnancy and baby. Also, one of the awesome benefits of modern medicine is some of the screening that can be done to detect problems earlier in pregnancy, problems which can sometimes be corrected or at least reduced. And through such screening, women who absolutely need medical intervention can be identified and women who are very unlikely to can also.

No one, including the makers of the film, ever said there should never be interventions or that modern medicine was not valuable. But you can overly medicalize things and create problems where none exist, and that is the issue. The point is also made that the US, despite having all this hospital care, has one of the highest infant mortality rates and of birth complications of developed countries, whereas countries that have all the medical advances but use more discretion in implementing them (i.e., for high risk cases and not as routine procedures) mysteriously have much lower rates of infant mortality and complications. THAT is the point - not that modern medical care is bad. Obviously modern medical care is a wonderful thing, but that does not mean that unnecessary procedures are better just because you CAN perform them.

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Do midwives charge for their services? If so, they're probably for profit as well, right? Whether or not a hospital or midwife operates for profit in no way reflects the quality of service available. On the contrary. If I were to consider the services of a midwife it would not be for her profit margin but for the personal service.

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Midwives charge a fraction of what hospitals do, if you birth in a hospital, you are paying between $10k and $15k. A midwife is maybe 1/3 of that. And no...most hospitals do not allow you to labor naturally. You are occupying a bed. They want you in and out. Why do you think our country has some if the highest rates for c-sections? It's faster and easier for drs to surgically remove the baby than to allow nature to take its course.
If you give birth in a hospital, have a detailed birth plan and take an advocate with you who will help ensure that it's followed.
I voted for Frenchie and Dia like a sex donkey on Xanax.

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This doesn't ring true to me. You DO have a choice. Hospitals cannot force patients into ANYTHING. Not taking medications, IV's, etc. It is up to you. If you had really refused, they would have stopped. Perhaps you need to work harder on making your voice heard, and not worry so much about scaring those who are planning on using common sense, and giving birth in a hospital.

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This is why I am so grateful to live in England. I can give birth in a hospital but not have interventions forced on me unless medically necessary. We start on a birthing suite so you can have as natural birth as you want. Water birth, squatting, led on your back, whatever you want. If you want no pain medication that's fine, if you want gas and air that's fine and if you want an epidural that's also fine. Decisions are made due to what is best for baby. The least amount of intervention is best, epidurals slow down labour and they leave you unable to know when to push, pitocin shouldn't be given just to speed up contractions unless medically necessary (ie inductions). It's better to give birth squatting or on hands and knees due to gravity and the hip bones but it is can also be better or make a person feel more secure to do that in a hospital so in case emergency intervention is needed it doesn't have to be waited for. This film is about choice and being practically guilt tripped into having an epidural 90%?! is not a choice.

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Come on! Never trust who you're paying when they tell you paying them is good! Insurance companies say higher premiums are necessary, IRS says the government can't function witout income taxes, gas companies say the high prices are becuase of demand, etc...

they're all lying BS artists! You don't trust the people you're paying! Of course they're going to tell you you have to pay! When will they not!?

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The movie is not about homebirth. The movie is about a woman's right to choose what type of medical intervention occurs - a choice in which most women have little say.

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[deleted]

I wonder if Gabby is anti-breastfeeding, too.

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It's amazing to me that women are tearing each other apart over this issue.
Isn't a big part of women's rights our right to choice? Individual choice.
You certainly don't have to agree with this film, but it certainly seems ridiculous to tear it down. It's also ridiculous to tear down women who would prefer to give birth in a hospital.
Is there a reason we can't respect each other's decisions, especially given the incredibly personal nature of this matter?
All women should make themselves aware of all their options. Stay informed, stay educated, and make the choice you feel is best for yourself, your own well-being, and that of your child's.
This doesn't seem to be something we need to pit ourselves against one another on.
Really, ladies, we're better than this.

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[deleted]

Amen !!! This is one of those topics along with breastfeeding where women rip each other to shreds about. Where did our choices and rights go ?

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Well said. It is a matter of personal choice. What matters to me are that the choices are available to be made, as is the information to make them. No one should be badgered or scared into things.

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