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...For very young people there are also two universes. Squatting over a tub of warm water is a much cheaper and healthier way to give birth than lying on your b

...For very young people there are also two universes. Squatting over a tub of warm water is a much cheaper and healthier way to give birth than lying on your back in a harsh hospital room where the high priest will take the infant away from the mother to teach it alienation... Arghhh. Having children is _not easy_. There's a reason we still say "Mom and baby are healthy and happy." For a long time we lost one or both pretty regularly. I don't agree with all aspects of western society, but clean hospitals and infant intensive care units are most of the reason infant mortality has dropped.

zackattack 17y ago
That's actually not true. Better doctor hygiene practices is most of the reason infant mortality has dropped.
- ianferrel 17y ago
  I'm pretty sure that's what he meant by "clean hospitals".
  - burnsobright1 17y ago
    but can be achieved in the home with a hygenic midwife and surroundings
cpr 17y ago
Childbirth is not _easy_, but it's certainly a normal part of life, and treating it like a sickness, requiring hospitalization, is perverse. We had the last 4 of our 8 at home, with, yes, one close call, but with a competent midwife, that's par for the course.
- philwelch 17y ago
  Childbirth isn't done in hospitals because it's a sickness, it's done in hospitals in case an emergency happens. I couldn't have been born at home--my mother would have to have been whisked away to a hospital for a c-section anyway. The fact that she was already in the hospital and attended to by an obstetrician made that process considerably safer and more reliable.
joss82 17y ago
I can't agree more with you on that point ! Just reading it made me cringe for the author. Infant mortality is inversely correlated with usage of scientific medicine and hygiene. Look at history. Even now, we can inversely correlate any country infant mortality with its level of medical equipment.

zackattack 17y ago

That's actually not true. Better doctor hygiene practices is most of the reason infant mortality has dropped.

ianferrel 17y ago
I'm pretty sure that's what he meant by "clean hospitals".
- burnsobright1 17y ago
  but can be achieved in the home with a hygenic midwife and surroundings

cpr 17y ago

Childbirth is not _easy_, but it's certainly a normal part of life, and treating it like a sickness, requiring hospitalization, is perverse. We had the last 4 of our 8 at home, with, yes, one close call, but with a competent midwife, that's par for the course.

philwelch 17y ago
Childbirth isn't done in hospitals because it's a sickness, it's done in hospitals in case an emergency happens. I couldn't have been born at home--my mother would have to have been whisked away to a hospital for a c-section anyway. The fact that she was already in the hospital and attended to by an obstetrician made that process considerably safer and more reliable.

joss82 17y ago

I can't agree more with you on that point ! Just reading it made me cringe for the author. Infant mortality is inversely correlated with usage of scientific medicine and hygiene. Look at history. Even now, we can inversely correlate any country infant mortality with its level of medical equipment.