Essay 3

Kevyn L. McDonald Ms. Hope HubbardEnglish 101-11 15 April 2019Home Birth versus Hospital BirthThere have been many arguments regarding the convenience of home and hospital births. This is attached to the pregnancy experience that each woman wants to have. Every woman should be granted the opportunity to choose the kind of delivery they prefer. However, considerations should be made on those that face a high risk of complications of pregnancies and the health of herself and the unborn baby by thinking about the additional care services that can be advanced to her. As such, a home or hospital birth is a choice that pregnant women make depending on their own needs of comfort, medical intervention, and finances. The choice between home or hospital birth can be made based on safety concerns. The safety of home births varies among individuals. Those who can afford a planned home birth might be lucky to get a doctor to check on the progress of the mother. However, on a general perspective, home births are considered risky especially to the mother’s and the unborn baby’s health. At times, they come at a time of unpreparedness without a nurse or a caretaker in the immediate neighborhood. The mother might have little knowledge around the issue leading to infections, virginal lacerations, retained placentas, and even hemorrhages when no one is around. On the other hand, hospital births are safer since the mother is always under the watchful eyes of the nurses who monitor her progress (Boucher et al. 124). In case of any complications during birth, all the resources and facilities are available to facilitate safe delivery of the baby. The mother’s comfort is another issue that will be at the core of the decision-making process. Home births are considered to be comfortable when compared to hospital births. For those that have enrolled to planned home birth, risks associated with pregnancies are very minimal. This is because there are minimal interventions from the doctors and nurses who regularly opt for the use of medicine that at times can be harmful to the pregnancy (Chervenak et al. 33). The mother also experiences some privacy from the hospital setting where she won’t always be in the vicinity of a doctor and other patients. She is thus in peaceful conditions that are worth her comfort.On the other hand, hospital births are not that much comfortable due to regular monitoring of the mother by the nurses and doctors. The set up can also be noise which might irritate the mother because of her condition. Secondly, because of the medical attention that was being advanced to her while at the hospital, the behavior or rather the craving might persist even after delivery (Chervenak et al. 36). This will not only prove uncomfortable to the mother but also the closest concerned personnel as they will always be required around for some period. The medical intervention that one seeks to get will also affect their decision on whether to select home or hospital birth. Home births are associated with the use of natural birth choice measures which include the type of medicines and care. However, this varies across cultures where each culture has its way of taking care of natural births. In most cases, traditional measures are the ones applied in ensuring safe delivery and care of the mother and the infant in the earlier stages (Boucher et al. 120). The traditional ways ensure that there are decreased chances of contracting hospital infections which are associated with lots of drugs that are used. On the other hand, hospital births are convenient especially on the care that is advanced to the mother in the period of labor and delivery. The nurses can give all the medical attention with all expertise to ensure safe delivery. Secondly, in case of any complications during the delivery period involving either the mother or the baby, the hospital is a guaranteed place to get the best emergency services as compared to when the birth was delivered at home. The two options came with different implications regarding financial responsibility. Most of the home births occur because of financial factors affecting individuals in different ways. It has been established that home births happen because people lack the money to facilitate the activity in the hospital. As such they opt for carrying out the process at home because the cost is low as compared to hospital births. Most of the victims do not also have the insurance covers that can cater for part of their costs in hospital (Sandall et al. 257). Those that have the covers are few, and they might be inactive. On the other hand, hospital costs do require significant funding especially in the developed countries where it is assumed that the hospital offers the best delivery services than home births together with a reduction of pregnancy risks. Secondly, hospital births are associated with insurance covers in the sense that most of those with the decision to deliver in hospitals already have the insurance covers to cater for all costs involved for both the mother and the child (Sandall et al. 260). This eases them of the financial stress that they would have faced when at home since the whole cost would have been borne by them. In conclusion, all the essential factors affecting the family must be considered in terms of the financial conditions, the value of the mother and the kid, and the current prevalence of diseases and infections associated with delivery processes before deciding on the hospital or home birth. I would encourage families to adapt to hospital births since they are the safest place for the delivery process bearing in mind any complications that can arise during the delivery period. The midwives also give the mother the necessary medical attention unlike in home births. Factors such as financial difficulties can be avoided by taking insurance covers that are even cheaper than the home births to cater to the delivery process.Works CitedBoucher, Debora, Catherine Bennett, Barbara McFarlin & Rixa Freeze. “Staying Home to Give Birth: Why Women in The United States Choose Home Birth.” Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health 54.2 (2009): 119-126.Chervenak, Frank A., Laurence B. McCullough, Robert L. Brent, Malcolm I. Levene, & Birgit Arabin. “Planned Home Birth: The Professional Responsibility Response.” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 208.1 (2013): 31-38.Sandall, Jane, Declan Devane, Hora Soltani, Marie Hatem, & Simon Gates. “Improving Quality and Safety in Maternity Care: The Contribution of Midwife‐Led Care.” The Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health 55.3 (2010): 255-261.