This morning in Babble Wrap we linked to a story about the tragic deaths of four babies in the last nine months during homebirths. The article in the Telegraph painted a picture of women undergoing ‘risky’ homebirths as they are ‘refugees’ of an interventionist hospital system which does not provide continuity of care towards pregnant women.
At least one of these births, however, was unattended by a medical professional. Janet Fraser, national convener of the Joyous Birth organisation, is mourning the death of her own baby during a water birth at her Croydon Park home, attended by her partner and a female friend. She is yet to make a statement.
There is a massive difference between midwife-attended homebirths, which have been proven in other countries to have a similar level of safety to hospital births, and what is known as ‘freebirthing’, where no qualified medical attendant is present. The difference was unclear in the original report.
http://www.babble.com.au/2009/04/06/homebirthing-vs-freebirthing-there-is-a-difference/