Oprah.com Reports on Alternative Birth Options
I am always beyond excited to see a non-sensationalist article about natural birth appearing on any mainstream website, television program or other media outlet. Though natural birth at home has been the norm throughout history, in recent times it has become a radical, outsider and even legally-banned practice in the U.S. That’s why I’m giving Oprah.com a gold star for raising awareness about the subject and letting American families know that they have other options besides hospital birth attended by obstetricians!
A recent article appearing on Oprah.com, by Fritz Lenneman, begins “With Caesarean section surgeries occurring in nearly one in three pregnancies and traditional hospital births by obstetricians costing an average of $8,000 to $10,000, some pregnant women are exploring other options. And the future of childbirth in America might start looking more like the past.” He then describes the roles of midwives and doulas in the birth process and talks about the legal challenges faced by some home-birth midwives. “Though about half of states allow at-home birth, it remains uncommon in the United States—just 1 percent of births occur in nonhospital settings including home births and birthing centers.” He also discusses alternative methods for inducing labor such as acupuncture, acupressure, walking, eating spicy foods and sex. Yes SEX!
Miriam Perez of Radical Doula was interviewed for the article and commented, “[The article] is a pretty good overview of the standard aspects of alternative birth practices: midwives, doulas, out of hospital births, techniques like water. I seem to be the only source the author quotes… While I’m flattered to be used as a resource, I wish he had also talked to some other experts on the issue!” She goes on to mention that Lenneman, in speaking to her, noted that he was drawn to covering the subject on Oprah.com because his wife had recently given birth with a midwife in a hospital birthing center, though he doesn’t mention it in his article.
Isn’t that how so many of us, including myself, come to be interested in spreading the word about natural birth?!
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