where should you birth?

Over the holidays, I have been reading "Birthing From Within" by Pam England and Rob Horrowitz.  Its a little hippie-ish, but it has some really great suggestions and helpful thought-provoking questions.  I will now suggest to every client to read this book.  There are lots of things I want to post about, but here was one helpful little list:

"Home Birth is for Women Who Are:

• Healthy
• Eating a sound prenatal diet
• Non-smokers
• Able to envision taking an active role in giving birth, with minimal intervention
• Willing to cope with the pain and hard work of labor (without drugs)
• Living where midwives are available
• Laboring within thirty minutes of a hospital
• Able to cover additional expenses (if their insurance coverage is limited to hospital births)

Hospital Birth is for Women Who Have:

• Chronic medical problems (e.g., diabetes, high blood pressure)
• A prenatal problem (e.g., gestational diabetes, preterm labor, preeclampsia, breech, or at least two weeks overdue)
• A desire to birth in a hospital and/or have access to drugs
• Strong fear and/or mistrust of birth as a natural process
• Planned a home birth, but whose labor did not prgress normally"