Mothers Deserve Options

By Ricki Lake

I made my 2008 documentary The Business of Being Born to educate women about choices in childbirth, and raise questions about maternity care in the U.S. For example, why were C-section rates skyrocketing? Why were options such as birth centers and home birth disappearing? And why does a country supposedly committed to health care reform seem opposed to safe, cost-effective options that include midwifery and well-woman care?

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Home Births Under Fire

Babies born at home make up a tiny fraction of U.S. births, but their numbers are growing—and mothers are fighting back against a recent study that calls the practice three times deadlier than hospital labor.
New York mother Tamyka Booth gave birth at home with a midwife. She pushed out baby Martina in a bathtub, then Booth and husband Shane Smith of Vice magazine “crawled into bed with her to bond and nurse and have—what we all needed—a nice, long family nap,” she said.

Please read the entire article at http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-02/home-births-under-fire-amid-outcry-over-wax-paper/