| 1. | Homebirths have been proven to be the safest way to give birth.
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| 2. | Homebirth is a cost effective way of having private professional care.
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| 3. | There is less chance of getting an infection in the home situation than in a hospital.
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| 4. | Homebirths have a 5% ceasaerean section rate as compared to a 50% ceasaerean section rate in hospitals.
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| 5. | Woman are more likely to give birth without tears and cuts at home. Some doctors cut women routinely in hospital.
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| 6. | Breast feeding is more successful in a home environment.
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| 7. | Breast milk normally comes in on day two compared to the average day three or four in hospital.
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| 8. | There is a decreased rate of vacuum extractions and forceps deliveries at home compared with the 20% rate in hospitals.
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| 9. | Fathers are not pressurised to attend the birth. In hospital they are expected to attend, and told what to do and where to stand.
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| 10. | Fathers can be totally involved and can help deliver the baby at a homebirth.
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| 11. | A homebirth is an art and a science. A hospital birth is a science.
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| 12. | Homebirth is a private, romantic affair. In hospital it is a public occasion.
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| 13. | At home women take responsibility and make choices for themselves. In hospital women have things done to them.
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| 14. | At home the woman can choose the most comfortable position for labour and birth. In hospital women are told how to give birth 99% of the time.
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| 15. | At home things can be arranged the way you want them with music, friends in attendance, candles and a beautiful atmosphere. In hospital everyone gives birth in labour ward 1 or 2 which look scary, cold and clinical.
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| 16. | At home you look at pleasant things like flowers, pictures and objects of beauty. In hospital you see the clock, the stirrups and medical equipment.
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| 17. | Routine intervention is unheard of at home, because each woman is an individual and needs different things at different times. In hospitals, routine procedures are done by doctors with a "standing order".
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| 18. | Private hospitals are expensive.
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| 19. | In government hospitals, space is insufficient and they are often overcrowded.
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| 20. | Homebirth midwives are trained and experienced. Training hospitals are training and experiencing.
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| 21. | At home births, qualified people attend to you constantly. In hospital one midwife may supervise 2 or 3 births simultaneously.
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| 22. | At home, a woman gives birth instinctively, listening to her body. In hospital, a woman gives birth listening to her doctor.
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| 23. | At homebirths, natural remedies are used but medication is available if needed. In hospital medication is given even if not needed.
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| 24. | Born at home, a baby is treated with the utmost respect and looked upon as a human being with feelings. It is not subjected to routine injections, suctioning and painful measures on the first day. There are no bright lights and rough handling.
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| 25. | Babies tend to lose less weight when born at home.
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| 26. | There is a decreased amount of postnatal depression after a homebirth.
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| 27. | A homebirth offers personalised care throughout the pregnancy, labour, birth and aftercare with people you have chosen and trust. You will not have the shock of a doctor, locum or midwife that you have never met before.
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| 28. | A homebirth is not only a setting but also a philosophy. A hospital birth is a setting.
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| 29. | There is less intervention at a homebirth such as routine shaving or clipping of hair, enema, internals, amniotomy, epesiotomy, intravenous therapy, epidural and continuous foetal monitoring.
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| 30. | Inductions are not done at home. Instead, natural remedies are used which have no side effects.
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| 31. | At a homebirth, women are encouraged to eat and drink frequently. In hospital, food is not allowed and an intravenous drip is given to maintain fluid levels.
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| 32. | If a hospital is required, outside emergencies receive more attention than do hospital emergencies. Midwives liase continuously with doctors throughout the labour.
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| 33. | Midwives who do homebirths are experienced and equipped to deal with emergencies. In hospital, the doctor still has to be called in if the midwife is inexperienced.
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| 34. | At a homebirth, there is no exhausting travel to hospital when in labour, and there is no exhausting changing from bed to bed as in hospital.
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| 35. | A woman who gives birth at home has more confidence and an increased psychological boost.
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| 36. | Water births are easily accessible in the home birth situation.
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| 37. | A homebirth involves the spiritual, emotional, social, physical, mental, romantic, medical, religious and natural aspects. In hospital the emphasis is on the physical and medical.
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| 38. | Babies experience less foetal distress in the homebirth situation because fewer drugs are used and women eat, drink and remain active.
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| 39. | At a homebirth, a professional midwife visits for 5 days after the the birth. Women are usually discharged after 3 days from hospital, and expected to be able to manage on their own.
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| 40. | Midwives specialise in natural birth, while doctors specialise in high risks and abnormal births.
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| 41. | Women at home often choose the supported squat as it opens the pelvis by 30% more than lying on your back.
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| 42. | At a homebirth, you are free to choose who you want to be present while in hospital you can only have one person.
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| 43. | At a homebirth, your children can be with you while at a hospital birth they cannot.
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| 44. | There is no chance that your baby will be swapped or stolen with a homebirth. In a hospital there is always that risk.
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| 45. | Homebirth babies don't have to cry to prove they're alive. Hospital babies are made to cry.
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| 46. | At a homebirth, various kinds of pain relief will be used before resorting to an epidural. In a private hospital birth, epidurals are encouraged if you are making unusual birth noises.
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| 47. | At a homebirth, sunshine and frequent feeding at the breast treats jaundice babies adequately. When phototherapy is needed, it can be administered at home. Jaundice occcurs frequently in hospital because of assisted deliveries and medication. The baby will be treated immediately under the phototherapy lights which can be traumatic for baby and mother.
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| 48. | The only time a homebirth is not safe, is when there is a high risk. This is what hospitals are for.
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| 49. | At a homebirth, the use of alternative therapies such as aromatherapy, homeopathy and acupuncture is acceptable. In hosptitals, the use of alternative therapies are often regarded with suspicion or scepticism.
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| 50. | At homebirths, there is a reduced amount of bleeding after birth because the cord is cut only after it stops pulsating and the placenta is born passively. In hospital, the cord is cut straight away and the placenta is artificially extracted, increasing the risk of haemorrhage.
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| 51. | Homebirth is a continuation within the family. A hospital birth separates families for up to three days.
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| 52. | Home affords the mother ample sleep and rest after birth. There are no visiting hours, nurses performing 4 hourly observations or other crying babies to keep her awake.
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| 53. | Husbands have plenty to do at a homebirth and in no way feel superfluous. Hospitals often make husbands feel like privileged bystanders.
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| 54. | A homebirth baby is born into a natural environment, the one in which he will be living. Hospital birth necessitates transport to the home environment.
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| 55. | At home, a woman may labour and give birth in the same place. In the hospital, she must be transferred to a different room to give birth.
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