Browse > Home / Editorials / Cozy Hospital Birthing Leads to National Epidemic

Cozy Hospital Birthing Leads to National Epidemic

By Homebirth Mama
January 15, 2008

In this modern age of medical advances, it’s become commonplace for births to happen in the hospital. But just as the medical field is becoming more technically advanced, more women are wanting a comfortable birthing environment. This has led to many hospitals to create “birthing suites,” where there is wood furniture, a cozy hospital bed, rugs on the floor and pictures on the wall. In other words, they want to make it feel more like home, while still having access to the wonders of technology.

 

This seems like a wonderful idea, because if you’re going to birth in the hospital, it should be a comfortable atmosphere. But in an age where infection rates are skyrocketing, with MRSA popping up in some of the leading cases, it seems that more attention should be placed on keeping hospitals healthy, rather than comfortable.

Hospital Acquired Infections are thought to be the 8th leading cause of death in the US today, says the CDC:

Nosocomial bloodstream infections are a leading cause of death in the United States. If we assume a nosocomial infection rate of 5%, of which 10% are bloodstream infections, and an attributable mortality rate of 15%, bloodstream infections would represent the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. Because most risk factors for dying after bacteremia or fungemia may not be changeable, prevention efforts must focus on new infection-control technology and techniques.

 

Hospitals need to be safer in order for births to take place in them. This won’t be possible without drastic measures. Perhaps it’s time to go back to the sterile walls and floors, the times when every surface of the hospital could be hosed down between patients. Forget the paintings on the walls; those aren’t washable. They should stop putting rugs on the floor, because it’s obvious that they aren’t cleaned between every patient.

This is a problem with hospitals everywhere in this country, and strikes at everyone who ever will need to be in a hospital to treat an illness.

It is of particular interest to those pregnant, or planning a future pregnancy. Because it’s common knowledge that childbirth is a normal physiological event, and not an illness, it seems ludicrous to place this normal event in a location that facilitates the 8th leading cause of death in this nation. So maybe instead of making hospitals feel like home, it’s time to bring the birth back to the home, where it is safer.

When hospitals can show that they can safely deliver babies within its walls, and create a homey environment, then hospital births would be more satisfying to more women. But it comes as no surprise that the US is in the bottom tier of infant mortality rates in the developed world. The medical field makes homebirth inaccessible, undesired and routinely dismisses it as unsafe, while still propagating a medical establishment that is in no way safe for the majority of mothers and infants. This has led to an epidemic of cesareans, infections and infant mortality rates.1

 

  1. Your very own footnote! [↩]

Written by Homebirth Mama · Filed Under Editorials 

Comments

Got something to say?