Re: Assisted home birth--Dr. Braun

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I am one of the RARE cases Dr. Braun is speaking of. In January 2001, I had an amniotic fluid embolism while in labor which caused me to have sudden cardiac collapse and put my baby and me at extreme risk for death or brain damage. The only thing that saved us is 1. my doctor was right there in the room when it occurred, had the staff had to page him and wait for him to arrive, it would have been too late, 2. he recognized immediately what was happening and had my baby out via emergency c/s in 12 minutes. To do this he had to yank my bed out of the labor room himself and go flying up the hall to an OR, not even stopping to scrub correctly, just pouring Betadine on everything, and 3. I had massive hemmoraging from DIC following delivery, and had fast access to 33 units of blood and/or blood parts.

This only happens in 1 in 80,000 births, but I was astounded to be that 1. I had nothing but the most NORMAL of pregnancies and was completely healthy. I argued with my husband over a home birth, and really felt like having my baby at home would be the most normal, natural thing to do. Had I done that, my husband would have either lost his entire family that night or he'd be a single father of a 8.5 month old with potential brain damage.

I realize that home birth advocates may feel that my situation is an extremely rare situation and that I'm trying to use scare tactics. But there's just no way to predict when you might be that one rare case yourself. If I ever have another child, I'll take my chances in the hospital, my life and my baby's life are too precious to risk like that.

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Best wishes,
Amy

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