birth in America

Practiced widely in Europe and Japan, home birth has largely disappeared in the United States  

 

-in 1900 95 percent of births in the United States took place at home. 

-by 1938 the number had shrunk to half. 

-today the number is less than 1 percent.

-since 1996 the Cesarean section rate in the U.S. has risen 46%
-in 2005 it was one out of every 3 births

if you haven't had a chance to see the documentary, The Business of Being Born, it is definitely one i highly recommend. i am not planning on having children for a long time or even thinking about it at all right now in my life, but as a woman living in the United States, i am seriously concerned with the way the hospitals and Western doctors have taken over childbirth. i have recently been considering training as a labor doula, which is someone who assists the mother and midwife through her birth, and i have even considered midwifery at some point in my life. you would be shocked to learn how high America is on the charts for percentage of deaths or risky cases in a developing country. birth is something so amazing and life-changing, i think it is worth women making themselves more knowledgeable about their choices. i understand that there are high-risk mothers or babies, and that is an obvious reason to use an OBGYN in a hospital, but i personally believe women need to take back the birthing process. don't you want choices and someone to understand and guide your birth rather than being treated as machines to get your child out as quickly and efficiently as possible?

i am curious what does everyone else think?