Caroline Lovell, Australian Advocate of Home Birth, Dies Giving Birth at Home

I personally am against home births unless medical help is immediatel avaiable. And by that, I mean physician or nurse trained as a midwife. Not a lay midwife.

I have had one hospital birth an one attempted home birth. Unfortunately, my 2nd baby was a surprise breech, even with the regular care of 2 midwives and 1 physician, including an ultrasound at 17 weeks. The outcome would have been the same if we had attempted delivery at the hospital–an emergency c-section–only we had to transport to the hospital in an ambulance. Before even considering homebirth, I did a lot of research, and it showed that a woman with a low-risk pregnancy is just as likely to deliver a healthy baby at home, as long as she has well-trained, experienced midwives with her with the proper medical equipment. Unfortunately, we were of the 10% or so of homebirths that had to transport. There are risks in birthing whether you are at home or at the hospital, while at home you are more likely to have a completely natural birth–better for you and for baby. After having my baby, I do not regret trying for a homebirth. My son was born healthy and beautiful, I just wish he came out head first! And if I have another baby, I will definitely try for a VBAC at a reputable birthing center. C-sections are awful!

I personally have seen many woman and babys saved by physicians in the birth process, Its unfortunate for this family, I know of babys that had brain injurys from home delivery complications, I do not advocate home births without trained proffesionals, and nessessary equipment at hand.

This is very sad and unfortunate, but the irony is unbelievable.

How very sad and unfortunate for this family. My 'personal' opinion… the dangers and risk you are taking by choosing a home birth does not outweigh the professional staff available at a hospital or birthing center.

I feel like it is a womens choice of where and how she wants to give birth to her baby. It's no ones right to judge someone for their choices. Personally for myself I know that when ever I get pregnant, I will be giving birth at a Midwives birthing center and not a hospital. That's my choice and if people out there want to judge me then fine but I'm ok with my choice.

I had 5 childern a set of twins in there.I c section 3 natural.The things that can happen are why I think babies should be born in hospitals.Almost died with the 1st baby.
2nd baby was almost to big for me to have.3rd baby twins last baby in labor 3 and 1/2 days.Thank God all are grown up now.

As a nurse of many years, and the mother of four children, I can't imagine why anyone would risk a home delivery away from emergency help if it would be needed! The problem being, you can't predict the future. Anyone who has observed a post-partum hemorrhage, placenta abruptio (premature separation of placenta from uterine wall), or infants in distress immediately before and after being born, would not opt for this! Often complications develop in a matter of seconds and professional help is too far away if in the home setting. Most obstetrical units today are geared to the homey atmosphere and offer lovely rooms. Families are welcomed during both labor and delivery, according to the parents' wishes. With these things available with emergency help hidden in panels behind the birthing bed (oxygen, suction, code-blue button, etc.), why would mothers feel the need to risk safety in favor of a "home experience"?

This indeed tragic for all involved. Many women Yves given birth at home, both with someone in attendance or unattended. The complications can occur either way. Childbirth is a natural process, and due to the fact that the baby is alive & well, I suspect the mom had a heath event after the birth. Whether it be hemorrhage. Or throwing a blood clot. May she rest in peace.

I think everyone needs to take a step back and look at the facts before judging the safety of birthing at home. Watch "The Business of Being Born" and then form an opinion. Home births are for those of us who are low risk. Midwives are highly trained professionals. There is no documentation that says homebirths are less safe than hospital births for women who are low-risk. Indeed, postpartum complications for the home birth are fewer.

Home birth….if you want to, that's your choice. I wouldn't. The goal is to come out with a healthy baby and not end up dead in the process. Whatever it takes to make that happen is just fine by me.

I'd really encourage those who have no idea about what they speak of to refrain from speaking. And until an autopsy report is released, this is all speculation and hearsay. Brenda Smith, are you a OB nurse? I find it highly unlikely you've "seen many women and babies saved" by doctors. Most of the time, it's THOSE doctors who have created the problem in the first place! Where I live (BC Canada), highly trained midwives with hospital privileges attend home births. A 2009 study showed that a home birth with a registered midwife in attendance had the lowest perinatal mortality rate (0.35 per 1000), compared to 0.64 per 1000 in hospital with a physician. Adverse maternal outcomes were significantly reduced in the home birth group (including third and fourth degree tears and postpartum hemorrhage), even when compared to midwife attended birth in hospital. Newborns at home needed less oxygen therapy and fewer resuscitations that than the midwife/hospital or physician/hospital groups, and were less likely to need admission to the hospital for any reason compared to infants born in hospital. Do NOT paint home birth world wide with the same brush. People words and comments have an impact others, and I beg you all educate yourselves before spreading lies and propaganda. http://www.cmaj.ca/content/181/6-7/377.full

The idea of giving birth at home is insane! And paid for her ideals with her life, leaving a motherless child -way to go!

Thank you Cassandra for trying to educate people about home birth…many people do not understand these facts. But thanks for sharing!

I had a placenta abruption due to pitocen. I had stressed to the doctors that my body did not respond well to artificial drugs, and anesthesia. Despite the fact that my pregnancies were without complications, my doctor wanted to induce me. Everything went down hill as soon as my water broke, and the pitocen was administered (emergency c sections). Happened twice, and I was told that it was due to failure to progress because something was wrong with my cervix… I wasn't even in labor! My 3rd pregnancy came as a surprise 5 yrs later. Spoke with my doctors abour a vbac, because I knew that I had to endure labor without meds to avoid a rupture… I ended up finding some guardian angels (midwives) who took me after accessing my medical history. After bradley hicks classes, and long prenatal visits the time came. Research showed that my chances of rupturing after 2 c-sections was.01% which was confirmed by a surgeon whose sister also had a homebirth after 2 sections. She was trying to convince her that she was taking a huge risk, but came back that the facts showed she was actually safer is she took the necessary precautions. We had a back up plan with doctors in place in case of an emergency. They were not needed because my little girl came out swimming into the world.I went from 4 cms to fully crowned in under 1 hr requiring no stitches because I did not tear. One of my midwives was a RN at a large hospital, and gave me a shot of pitocen to reduce hemorrhaging. Well what do you know… My placenta ripped in half… comes to show you that one size does not fit all, and that complications can occur at hospitals just the same. I learned that there are many different types of labor. I learned that a woman might be 2 cms on the outside but that does not mean she is not thinning out on the inside, as one doctor, acknowledged after 1 of the c sections by saying, omg, she was 90% effaced! PS.. One of my old doctors lost his medical license because they found he was performing way too many c-sections, and many of his patients needed hysterectomies, and some ended up with holes on their bladders. http://www.rememberthemothers.net/

Should have had it at the Hospital.

I'm not convinced it matters whether or not someone personally thinks a hospital birth or home birth is preferable. Go ahead and have your baby where you want, if someone else makes a different choice than you it doesn't mean you were wrong. Isn't this a matter of human rights? If a woman WANTS to birth her baby at a hospital, that's great. If she WANTS to birth at home, that's great too. No matter how suppressed midwifery of any form becomes, there will still be women who just don't want to birth as a hospital and so midwifery will still happen. Let's acknowledge a person's freedom to take care of herself as she sees fit… Please don't get silly saying "Look! someone died after homebirth! let's outlaw it! If death after birthing was grounds for legal action then hospitals would have a heck of a lot to answer for.

AAAAAh Cassandra, I'm sure most of the time it goes well, but this is a perfect example of what happens when it all goes to hell. However I'm sure you know best.

actually, we carry oxygen and ALL of the emergency meds to fix a PPH. Also, all of the equipment to resuscitate baby, including intubation supplies.

midwives are trained professionals. AND we have necessary equipment at hand. Everything to resuscitate a baby, oxygen, PPH drugs, everything a hospital has aside from C section capabilities. You need to educate yourself on midwifery before forming an opinion. Homebirth has been proven to be as safe as hospital birth in low risk healthy pregnancies.

Babies have brain injuries from hospital complications as well. But I do agree that home births should only be performed with trained professionals who carry the right equipment. My wife and I had a home birth and we chose a midwife with 30 years experience and an amazing track record. I do agree that in high risk pregnancies however that a hospital is a must.

Death in childbirth is also a natural process. Before the first third of the 20th century, women routinely got their affairs in order each time they fell pregnant.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for this family.

Thank you, Captain Obvious, but it's possible she could have had the same outcome there.

The fellow who used to work for me had a daughter whose first child was born in the hospital. The mother died. Childbirth is risky. Why do people forget that?

Women die in childbirth daily in Third World countries. It happens in 'developed' countries every day, too. Every pregnancy is a life-threatening risk a woman takes to have a baby. To believe otherwise is to live in denial.

Personal experience: I nearly died with my first and only child. I was in hospital for 10 days and my baby was in hospital 14 days. We both had massive infections that were antibiotic-resistant. No, the infection wasn't contracted from the hospital.

We are in a modern age where medical help is available all we have to do is be admitted to a hospital where there are trained professionals and the life saving equipment is at hand for any unexpected emergency that requires such. It is unacceptable gross negligence on the part of the mother for the unborn child and herself to give birth at home without a hospital medical setting.

Jenna Craig wow. how many babies have you intubated? (out of curiousity, how many were because of meconium? how many were to assist respirations?) what kind of training/certification do you have for that?

I agree that the autopsy will determine what happened. The article is vague, we don't know if it was hemorrhage or untreated pre-ecclampsia that progressed to poorly treated ecclampsia. Although, my understanding is that she must have been a healthy candidate to be able to qualify for a home birth, which would exclude conditions such as pre-ecclampsia, cardiomyopathy, etc. Perhaps her uterus ruptured, or maybe her placenta was retained, and she hemorrhaged. Although extremely rare, I honestly wonder if it was an Amniotic Fluid Embolism (of which, the treatment for this obstetrical emergency would be a cesarean section followed by rapid treatment for anaphylaxis & supportive medical care). But, like you said, we can't make that known until the autopsy is out. Nonetheless, it is an absolutely heartbreaking case & my condolences go out to her family.

Jenna Craig wow. how many babies have you intubated? (out of curiousity, meconium vs respiratory support)? what kind of training/certification do you have for that?

if you had a great birthing experience in your hospital, I´m happy for you, but where I come from, women give birth in large hospital wards where up to 12 women give birth at the same time and everyone is on display. I´d expect some privacy giving birth to my child and that´s just one of the things I could experience at home and definitely not in the hospital. Not everyone is okay with doctors seeing birth as some kind of an illness that needs to be treated. I actually got better pre natal care from my private midwife than from my gynaecologist, midwives are professionals with lots of experience.

If your "research" to decide whether or not to have a home birth starts and stops with "The Business of Being Born," then that is just sad. If one more woman tells me that home birth is totally safe and quotes this movie… This is a one-side "documentary." I had two great hospital birth experiences. There isn't one positive hospital birth story in that movie. (And, no, I am not saying hospital births are perfect.) The filmmakers obviously went out of their way to find women who had nothing but hospital horror stories. I don't know about anyone else, but I am not going to take advice from a Hollywood star with NO experience other than her own two births. Just like everyone followed Jenny McCarthy and decided not to vaccinate their children, now everyone is going to follow Ricki Lake and have home births? It is a sad society, in my opinion, when we have to look to Hollywood to tell us how to live our lives.

chadandnola I am a midwife. We are fully trained in intubation, and all NRP. We are certified to do it as well. Have you any idea what our scope of practice includes?

This has got to be the most biased, unresearched article out there! I've read many, many articles on this tragedy and the one thing everyone needs to know is: There hasn't been any known cause of death! Yes, she had her baby at home, and yes she was rushed to the hospital. This does NOT speak of the validity or safety of homebirth UNTIL a full investigation has been conducted.
Furthermore, why don't we write an article on the 20 hospital deaths in the past year due to birth in Australia? You don't hear any raise for concerns on that one do you?

Ramona Jackson – Agree, childbirth is risky. A coworker of mine died after childbirth a few months ago… at a hospital. She was only 24 and went into cardiac arrest. Having a hospital birth doesn't guarantee your safety. I read stories semi regularly of women dying following unnecessary medical interventions, that's what scares me most.

Jenna Craig: Well, I am familiar with midwife practice laws in the US, not elsewhere. As a former high-risk labor & delivery RN, I must confess that I have never seen a midwife or an obstetrician intubate a baby. It has always been done by anesthesia or the NICU. I am also an instructor for NRP, and just because you have NRP certification does not give you authority to intubate (in the US, anyway). I am glad to hear that you say you have extra-certification for specifically for intubation. What did that entail? It is a topic of special interest to me since I am in anesthesia school now. Wasn't trying to be rude, just honestly wondering how frequently you do it. Even though the US CNM's & OB's are trained/certified to do it, I'd much rather have anesthesia or NICU intubate the babies since they practice it routinely. And since home-birth midwives state they generally have better birth outcomes, it seems that intubation wouldn't be a routine procedure (which would make me worried when you actually have to do it). I'm not saying that you have to immediately intubate, either, unless the baby is non-vigorous & has meconium staining. In other situations such as depressed respiratory/cardiac systems you could "bag-them-up" which is much more common & easy to do, or continue PPV with bag & mask until trained professionals for intubation arrive (but, that would be too late for a non-vigorous meconium stained baby). All of this without a doubt you already know. I just got nervous/curious because you say have the equipment to intubate. Sooo…how frequently do you do it?

Catherine Reeve: I am very sorry that the hospitals near you practice that way. It is very unfortunate. It is not like that in the US, your birth experience depends on the delivery provider, your medical history, your wishes, & the hospital. I have had 2 completely natural deliveries in the hospitals (no inducing, no pain meds, no epidural) & they were also very private (just me, my husband, the nurse, and the person delivering)…which is what I wanted.

chadandnola In Canada, midwives have it in their scope of practice to intubate. In canada there is no such thing as home birth and hospital birth midwives, we all do both and go through rigorous training to do so. If there is meconium in the fluid and we are in hospital, we call respiratory therapy as they do it more often. If we are at home and its early enough on, we transfer to hospital just to be safe. If it is discovered very late that there is mec, or the baby just needs intubation for other reasons, we are trained and have the supplies, AND it is in our scope of practice to be able to intubate at home. We don't do it all the time, and as I am a student, I haven't done so yet (next month I will be in a placement designed to get this experience, NRP and intubation). We know how, and are able to do it if need be. It's not as good as having someone who does it on a daily basis do it, but even in a hospital birth with an obstetrician there will be times where RT or anes. isn't there as soon as they need to be and A. you have to wait for it to be done, or B, someone with little experience in it performs the procedure. So, let me see. Same as a home birth. I do NOT speak for these "direct entry" or "lay" midwives in the United states, as we are trained as medical professionals in a recognized university degree program. Trust me when I say, I DO know what I am talking about.

Maybe we should go to a hospital every time we have to evacuate our bowels too on the off chance that something could happen. Then, if we need life saving equipment for another natural every day event, it is there for us.

Jenna Craig Congrats on your midwifery schooling. Its a wonderful accomplishment.

Yeah I see your point in regards to A & B. Although, having experienced personnel rapidly at delivery for expected neonatal OR maternal intubation was never an issue all in my years of L&D. Although, I have only practiced in hospitals that had NICU support very close to the L&D unit, and also designated OB anesthesia that stayed on the unit at all times. 24 hours a day. Respiratory staff & flight nurses trained in intubation & regularly did it elsewhere never did it for the newly borns or mothers; the NICU intensivist or anesthesia usually did. Even in hospitals that don't have NICU, they have multiple anesthesia providers as well as ER physicians & probably hospitalists. So for me, your comparison to home birth intubation vs hospital intubation is not justified.

Hind sight is always 20/20 I guess. I was fortunate to have healthy, uncomplicated births myself, that required pretty much no intervention at all (the hospital didn't even give me postpartum pitocin. I had an IV, but it was sealed off & I was allowed to take PO…although I didn't want to that much). Some hospitals even have large labor tubs. Sure, maybe it would have been more comfortable at home, but I had seen too much in the heat of the moment go wrong (fetal distress, ruptured uterus, nuchal cords, cord evulsions, retained placenta, maternal hemorrhage, shoulder dystocia, undiagnosed congenital defects even with great prenatal care, etc, etc). All of these things are situations that could happen in the hospital or at home in the healthy pregnant patient. I've read the CDC study that says the risk is the same for healthy patients whether in the hospital or home. But what it also implies is there is no such thing as NO risk. If that risk happens at home, the necessary equipment is just not available. I would like to see a study that compares outcomes of the things I've listed in home births vs hospital births. As much as people hate cesarean sections, emergency cesarean sections have saved many babies & mothers. Its a point that is simply not arguable, I have seen it myself countless times. We all know that babies can be tricky & change their position at any time, labor included (although rare). For example (and I swear this is true), a healthy laboring patient was determined to have a home delivery. Everyone thought she was in vertex position until it was discovered she was footling breech. At that point the husband called off the home-birth experience & rushed her to the hospital. By the time she arrived at the hospital the babies feet were out of the vagina. She got her wish, the baby was born vaginally, but came out without a pulse. Thankfully NICU immediately intubated & initiated NRP, & gave multiple rounds of Epinephrine. Baby was OK in the end, but of course we won't know the long-term complications of having hypoxia for so long. A c-section would have prevented this. And I agree that the rate for C/S is too high within the hospital, but thats not what this whole article is really about. Its a very sad situation, and we truthfully just don't know all the details.

Jenna Craig: From one student to another, congrats on going to school. It is an honorable journey & I wish you the best.

I see the points you are trying to make with A & B. It wasn't an issue for me during my years as an L&D nurse. We had NICU just around the corner, and OB anesthesia on staff at all times (24/7). Flight nurses on staff at the hospital & respiratory support trained in intubation still did not intubate on the L&D unit, it was always either the NICU intensivist or anesthesia. And whenever maternal/newborn intubation did occur, there was never any wait for a trained & experienced provider. Even in hospitals that don't have NICU's, there would be ER physicians, anesthesia, paramedics, and anesthesia that practice intubation all the time. So I don't think your comparison of home-birth vs hospital intubation is comparable.

Hind sight is always 20/20. I was very fortunate to have 2 healthy, uncomplicated, natural deliveries within the hospital (they didn't even give me post-partum pitocin. I did had an IV but it was sealed off & I was allowed to have PO…not all hospitals are the scary monsters that people make them out to be). Looking back, I could have delivered at home & maybe it would have been slightly more comfortable (although, I really liked having a nursing staff to help for the first 24 hours). But, it was something that I simply couldn't risk. I've seen too much in the heat of the moment go wrong, and there is no way that I would want to be anywhere else but in the hospital if things happened: fetal distress, maternal hemorrhage, nuchal cord, true knots, cord evulsions, retained placenta, ruptured uterus, meconium aspiration, congenital defects even with good prenatal care, etc, etc, etc. These are all things that could happen in the normal healthy pregnant patient delivering at home. And yes, I've read the CDC study that compares home births to hospital births. And you know what I get from it? While the risk may be about the same for both groups, both groups are…AT RISK. This does not mean NO risk for these things to happen. Why take the chance?? I'd like to see the study that compares outcomes of these things I've listed from home-births vs hospital births.

Like it or not, Cesarean Sections have saved many mothers & babies. This point is not arguable, and I've seen it many times myself. I will use an example of a home-birthing experience gone bad that I have personally cared for, and I swear this is true. The patient desired a home birth, was healthy, things were progressing, everyone thought the fetus was in vertex position. The fetus must have switched positions during labor (rare, I know, but it happens). When it was discovered she was footling breech, her husband called off the home-birth & rushed her to the hospital. By the time she arrived, the baby's feet were hanging out of her vagina. She got her wish, she had a vaginal delivery, but the fetus' head was entrapped within the cervix for about 1 minute too long. The baby came out without a pulse. Luckily, NICU was there waiting for delivery, and once baby was born they immediately intubated, instituted NRP, and had to give multiple rounds of Epinephrine. The baby was OK in the end (sigh of relief!) but unfortunately we won't know the long term complications of being hypoxic for such a prolonged period (who knows how long the baby had been in distress at home). Had this woman been in the hospital when the baby had changed its position, this would have been prevented by an emergency c-section. And yes, I know the rates of c-sections are alarmingly high. But really, thats not the whole point of this tragic story. The truth is, we just don't know what happened in this case. Could it have been prevented? I think so, but I don't know for sure. I just don't think maternal comfort is worth the risk of maternal & fetal safety. Because, you may say that you are prepared for obstetrical emergencies, but really you simply cannot be prepared for everything that could happen at home.

Jenna Craig : what a ridiculous comparison: BM vs Baby.

Jenna Craig: From one student to another, congrats on going to school. It is an honorable journey & I wish you the best.

I see the points you are trying to make with A & B. It wasn't an issue for me during my years as an L&D nurse. We had NICU just around the corner, and OB anesthesia on staff at all times (24/7). Flight nurses on staff at the hospital & respiratory support trained in intubation still did not intubate on the L&D unit, it was always either the NICU intensivist or anesthesia. And whenever maternal/newborn intubation did occur, there was never any wait for a trained & experienced provider. Even in hospitals that don't have NICU's, there would be ER physicians, anesthesia, paramedics, and anesthesia that practice intubation all the time. So I don't think your comparison of home-birth vs hospital intubation is comparable.

Hind sight is always 20/20. I was very fortunate to have 2 healthy, uncomplicated, natural deliveries within the hospital (they didn't even give me post-partum pitocin. I did had an IV but it was sealed off & I was allowed to have PO…not all hospitals are the scary monsters that people make them out to be). Looking back, I could have delivered at home & maybe it would have been slightly more comfortable (although, I really liked having a nursing staff to help for the first 24 hours). But, it was something that I simply couldn't risk. I've seen too much in the heat of the moment go wrong, and there is no way that I would want to be anywhere else but in the hospital if things happened: fetal distress, maternal hemorrhage, nuchal cord, true knots, cord evulsions, retained placenta, ruptured uterus, meconium aspiration, congenital defects even with good prenatal care, etc, etc, etc. These are all things that could happen in the normal healthy pregnant patient delivering at home. And yes, I've read the CDC study that compares home births to hospital births. And you know what I get from it? While the risk may be about the same for both groups, both groups are…AT RISK. This does not mean NO risk for these things to happen. Why take the chance?? I'd like to see the study that compares outcomes of these things I've listed from home-births vs hospital births.

Like it or not, Cesarean Sections have saved many mothers & babies. This point is not arguable, and I've seen it many times myself. I will use an example of a home-birthing experience gone bad that I have personally cared for, and I swear this is true. The patient desired a home birth, was healthy, things were progressing, everyone thought the fetus was in vertex position. The fetus must have switched positions during labor (rare, I know, but it happens). When it was discovered she was footling breech, her husband called off the home-birth & rushed her to the hospital. By the time she arrived, the baby's feet were hanging out of her vagina. She got her wish, she had a vaginal delivery, but the fetus' head was entrapped within the cervix for about 1 minute too long. The baby came out without a pulse. Luckily, NICU was there waiting for delivery, and once baby was born they immediately intubated, instituted NRP, and had to give multiple rounds of Epinephrine. The baby was OK in the end (sigh of relief!) but unfortunately we won't know the long term complications of being hypoxic for such a prolonged period (who knows how long the baby had been in distress at home). Had this woman been in the hospital when the baby had changed its position, this would have been prevented by an emergency c-section. And yes, I know the rates of c-sections are alarmingly high. But really, thats not the whole point of this tragic story. The truth is, we just don't know what happened in this case. Could it have been prevented? I think so, but I don't know for sure. I just don't think maternal comfort is worth the risk of maternal & fetal safety. Because, you may say that you are prepared for obstetrical emergencies, but really you simply cannot be prepared for ev

chadandnola Both are natural events with a rare chance of complication. Having a midwife at home has such an extremely low chance of something going wrong that could not be handled at home that could in hospital. Mortality due to someone being at home that is. I can list on one hand the number of cases of mortality, infant or maternal that wouldn't have been if the birth had occurred in hospital. Most of which are these "lay midwives" doing crazy stupid things that nobody in their right mind would.

Jenna Craig: (I think I need to break this up into 2 comments)

From one student to another, congrats on going to school. It is an honorable journey & I wish you the best.

I see the points you are trying to make with A & B. It wasn't an issue for me during my years as an L&D nurse. We had NICU just around the corner, and OB anesthesia on staff at all times (24/7). Flight nurses on staff at the hospital & respiratory support trained in intubation still did not intubate on the L&D unit, it was always either the NICU intensivist or anesthesia. And whenever maternal/newborn intubation did occur, there was never any wait for a trained & experienced provider. Even in hospitals that don't have NICU's, there would be ER physicians, anesthesia, paramedics, and anesthesia that practice intubation all the time. So I don't think your comparison of home-birth vs hospital intubation is comparable.

Hind sight is always 20/20. I was very fortunate to have 2 healthy, uncomplicated, natural deliveries within the hospital (they didn't even give me post-partum pitocin. I did had an IV but it was sealed off & I was allowed to have PO…not all hospitals are the scary monsters that people make them out to be). Looking back, I could have delivered at home & maybe it would have been slightly more comfortable (although, I really liked having a nursing staff to help for the first 24 hours). But, it was something that I simply couldn't risk. I've seen too much in the heat of the moment go wrong, and there is no way that I would want to be anywhere else but in the hospital if things happened: fetal distress, maternal hemorrhage, nuchal cord, true knots, cord evulsions, retained placenta, ruptured uterus, meconium aspiration, congenital defects even with good prenatal care, etc, etc, etc. These are all things that could happen in the normal healthy pregnant patient delivering at home. And yes, I've read the CDC study that compares home births to hospital births. And you know what I get from it? While the risk may be about the same for both groups, both groups are…AT RISK. This does not mean NO risk for these things to happen. Why take the chance?? I'd like to see the study that compares outcomes of these things I've listed from home-births vs hospital births.

Like it or not, Cesarean Sections have saved many mothers & babies. This point is not arguable, and I've seen it many times myself. And yes, I know the rates of c-sections are alarmingly high. But really, thats not the whole point of this tragic story. The truth is, we just don't know what happened in this case. Could it have been prevented? I think so, but I don't know for sure. I just don't think maternal comfort is worth the risk of maternal & fetal safety. Because, you may say that you are prepared for obstetrical emergencies, but really you simply cannot be prepared for everything that could happen at home.

Jenna Craig: "low-risk" does not equal "no risk" The details of this case still aren't out, but this may just be one of your "rare complications" just my opinion. Have your natural experience but do it in the hospital. home birth is *not worth the risk*

Everyone should be able to give birth where they want to, end of story. We ALL do what we feel is right for our children, and we can't be right all the time. You can only do your best. All the self-righteous people who commented about what OTHER folks should do and how you would NEVER do this or that should just be quietly confident in their own choices and respect that other people may feel differently than they do. I am sure that Ms Lovell knew the risks and felt so strongly that she was willing to take them. Women should support other women and rejoice that there is choice for us all out there!

My sister had a PPH due to a retained placenta at her home birth and her midwives were very prepared for it. Within mere moments, literally no longer than 60 seconds after my nephew was born, pitocin was being pulled and I was on the phone with 9-1-1. She was at the hospital and getting her placenta extracted within 20 minutes, You need experienced midwives and access to a hospital and a low-risk pregnancy. It amazes me how ignorant some people can be!!

Please remove the above photo of Caroline Lovell immediately as copyright belongs to me and you are in breach.

Still… or again?

Just wrong in everyway.

Go Shansy!!

"complicating matters…". How does that complicate anything?? No idea. i shouldn't post when i'm angry but I can't help it. And how about not naming people's kids while you are at it Inquisitr? It is called journalistic ethics…

Good on you Woman ! Did it get removed ????