quotingI've been diving down the rabbit hole of Home births vs "traditional" hospital births and I can't believe the majority of women in the US are giving birth in a hospital🫠
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C-sections soared from 5% in the 1900s to 32% currently
Drugs like Pitocin are a big driver, which is a synthetic version of oxytocin, the hormone your body makes to kickstart contractions.
Docs use it to speed labor or induce. About 20% of US births get it🌡️
Problem is, it’s not gentle. Studies peg a 10% risk of postpartum hemorrhage. Your uterus overworks, bleeds out after delivery, needing transfusions in severe cases.
Then there’s tachysystol, 15% of Pitocin users hit this, meaning over five contractions in 10 minutes, squeezing too hard, too fast.
That stresses the baby. 20% show distress, like heart rate dips, pushing docs to cut fast 🩺. It’s not “help”, it’s a gamble.
Epidurals pile on. They numb pain.
60% of hospital births use ‘em but 15% of moms see blood pressure tank, risking oxygen flow to the kid.
Labor slows in 20%, per ACOG data, contractions weaken, progress stalls.
Fevers hit 10%, upping infection odds, docs panic, grab the scalpel.
Why?
Time’s money, hospitals want beds free, not mom’s birthing slow. Plus, the Doctors need to make it home for dinner
Back in the 1900s, labor took days, no rush.
Now? 32% end in surgery for “slow” labor,
often just normal pace rushed by Pitocin 🌩️
Then there’s the flat-back flop.
Hospitals strap you supine, against gravity, pelvis tightens.
Studies show 30% more pain because your body fights itself.
Labor’s 25% slower, dilation drags, exhaustion sets in.
Midwives at home let you squat, stand, 25% faster births, 30% less tearing.
Hospitals are a business. It’s a profit trap, 32% cesareans prove it flops hard 💸.
Now let's talk home births with midwives
Cesarean rates plummet to 6%.
National Birth Center Study II’s 15,574 births prove it. 93% go vaginal, only 0.9% need emergency transfers 🌿
That’s 14,500 moms delivering naturally, 89% stay home.
Fetal mortality? 0.47 per 1,000.
Hospital low-risk hits 0.6 per 1,000. MANA’s 17,000 home births clock 2.06 per 1,000 neonatal deaths. 87% of vaginal births after cesarean succeed, crushing hospital’s 13.5%.
No Pitocin’s 3x rupture risk in scarred moms, no epidural’s 10% infection spike. Midwives let you squat, pelvis opens 10%, labor’s 25% faster (2-3 hours off), tearing drops 30% 🏡
Netherlands’ 20% home births? 1.8 per 1,000 mortality, US’s 1%? 3.9 per 1,000.
Don't forget mother-baby connection:
Hospital lights and noise spike cortisol more than 25%. Stress blocks oxytocin, slowing everything.
Home’s quiet keeps it low, oxytocin flows, mom and baby bond deep, skin-to-skin from the jump, breastfeeding kicks in 50% faster than hospital’s 2-hour delay 💪
Midwives are far better than being in a hospital, 12% transfers, mostly chill, safer stats, natural flow. Hospitals see you as income.
The best option in my opinion is a free birth. Hire a Doula if you’re nervous but talk about true sovereignty
You seeing this Western Woman?
Dr. Fernando Morales on Nostr: I've yet to go down this rabbit hole, but I've been thinking of talking to my wife ...
I've yet to go down this rabbit hole, but I've been thinking of talking to my wife about this for our next child. Thanks!