Illegal To Give Birth At Home?

This past summer the American Medical Association adopted a resolution stating that the hospital is the safest place for delivery, and that the AMA intends to draft model legislation that would basically make home delivery illegal in the United States (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/18587.html, Resolution 205 on Home Deliveries). According to The Big Push for Midwives, such legislation could result in the criminalization of mothers who deliver at home (http://thebigpushformidwives.org/pdf-bin/news.061608.pdf).

After reading the resolution, it's clear that the AMA has no reliable scientific research on which to base this decision. I have to wonder why such a well-known organization would hang it's hat on such a claim, especially when documented studies speak to the contrary – home births by healthy mothers with normal pregnancies do not result in a higher mortality rate. And, according to this Argus Leader column (http://www.argusleader.com/article/20081212/VOICES09/812120320/1057/COLUMNISTS), at least one Sioux Falls hospital has a 32% caesarian delivery rate compared to the much lower 3.7% c-section rate from home births with midwife assistance.

It's no secret that maternity care is a multi-billion dollar industry. Now it's no secret that the AMA is supporting the pocketbooks of hospitals and physicians more than the organization is supporting the proliferation of accurate medical data. Such scare tactics – and worse, legislative intrusion – spits in the face of the roots of humanity. Outlaw natural birth? Should we go back in the historical volumes and label all those who had natural deliveries criminals? I doubt the founders of the United States would have agreed to preside over this nation had their mothers been condemned for not giving birth in a hospital.

Even more relevant in today's society is the thought of sending mothers to jail because they could not make it to the hospital on time. To think that we could be jailed for not seeking or for refusing medical care!

The medical industry already reaps profit from voluntary, necessary and emergency patients. Now, it's seeking to enact a law that makes pregnant women accept maternal delivery care. Who is going to pay for this? Private individuals must pay for such legally-required services as car insurance – would the same notions be applied to health insurance? It's already unaffordable for many pregnant women, and such a measure would only worsen the problem.

Imagine a scenario in which a woman delivers birth at home because she can't afford legally-required health insurance and is jailed after her baby is born for not delivering in a hospital. Perhaps the AMA should put more emphasis on reducing the cost of delivery instead of penalizing those who can't afford it; and at the same time stop playing as if they know better than Mother Nature, who has already developed a quite efficient and successful delivery system all her own – the natural bodies of mothers.

I am PRO MOM!!!
Aaron Bouren
Advocate Aaron