Birthing nightmare: Woman says hospital staff made labor so 'unpleasant' she vowed never to have another child

Saturday, July 23, 2016 by: Isabelle Z.
Tags: hospital births, incompetent doctors, home birth

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(NaturalNews) It's supposed to be one of the most memorable days of a woman's life, but for New Jersey writer Liza Larregui, the day her son was born sticks out in her mind for all the wrong reasons.

In fact, Larregui said that her birth experience at a New Jersey hospital was so horrible, that she decided right then and there that she would never have another child, and her traumatized husband agreed.

She says she knew that labor and giving birth would have their share of hard moments, but she wasn't expecting to get poor treatment from her doctors and nurses.

Although she was two days past her due date, she says that doctors initially attempted to delay labor using drugs, before eventually – and begrudgingly – giving her a bed. She suspects part of their reluctance could be due to the fact that it was Memorial Day weekend, and they were unhappy about having to work.

After receiving an epidural, she said she could still feel pain but staff insisted that she was wrong. She also alleges that they told her to stop crying and stop moaning, telling her, "You're just wasting time," and repeatedly called her Lisa instead of her actual name, Liza.

Mother forced to vomit on herself

She said that she was forced to lay down even when she was vomiting, which resulted in her throwing up in her own hair and on her gown.

Making matters worse, she was not allowed to see her son for the first 24 hours after his birth, because he had to be placed in the NICU after he swallowed meconium.

She said that she wanted to breastfeed her son, but the hospital did not offer her any support. While she does not regret having her son, she wishes her experience had been more pleasant, because then she might have been more interested in having another child.

Her experience illustrates why more and more women are opting for a home birth these days.

Home births a popular choice in the Netherlands

One place where this is an extremely popular option is the Netherlands, where a third of all babies are born at home with a midwife. This gives the country the honor of having the Western world's highest percentage of home births. The 60 percent of women who do have babies in hospitals typically do so for medical reasons, while a further 10 percent deliver their babies in outpatient birthing clinics.

Generally speaking, the Dutch attitude toward giving birth is different from that in our country. Anesthesia is not an option in home births, and even those who do have babies in hospitals generally do not request it. The country's health ministry says they believe that births that can be kept out of the hospital should be, and their system is not geared toward medicalizing birth.

Many observational studies show that a planned home birth can be every bit as safe as a planned hospital birth, with fewer complications as well as less intervention overall.

Birth can be a stressful process, and it depletes the body of energy. In hospitals, women have very limited access to water, and are often denied food during labor to prevent aspiration in case a C-section is ultimately needed, but at home, women are free to drink as much water and eat as much food as they see fit, giving themselves the energy and hydration needed to get through the birthing process.

In addition, home births have much more comfortable surroundings than those that take place in sterile hospital environments, with women able to play music they find relaxing, and even go outside while laboring.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Expatica.com

Science.NaturalNews.com