Jo Stephens of Cornwall had planned a home birth, but when her labor pains started, no midwife could come. And the ambulance wasn't going to make it in time, either. Luckily, her husband Marc had been watching YouTube videos just hours before on how to deliver a baby.
The Stephens delivered a 5 pound, 5 ounce boy they named Gabriel. Both mother and child were later taken to a hospital where they were pronounced healthy. Link -via Gizmodo
A few hours earlier, Mr Stephens has been reading up on home births and how to cope with anything unexpected.
"The videos gave me peace of mind. I think I would have coped, but watching videos made things much easier."
The Stephens delivered a 5 pound, 5 ounce boy they named Gabriel. Both mother and child were later taken to a hospital where they were pronounced healthy. Link -via Gizmodo
(Wheter it's how to make a bomb or how to deliver a baby, the Interwebs are there for you!)
Brilliant!
It's worth noting that in England, where this story took place, midwives actually work for the hospitals, and do homebirths as hospital employees, unlike here in the states. If you want a homebirth here, you have to navigate all the different state laws about midwifery, licensing, insurance, etc. It makes continuity of care so much easier for the family if there is a teamwork between hospitals and homebirth midwives, should anything (such as this) arise.
So bloody ridiculous to see a big deal made of this. It shows the indoctrination society has gone through that birth is a medical process. "Man learns how to poo by watching YouTube video" would be of equal astonishment for what this guy did.
The big deal here is not, I don't think, about how craaaazy it is that a husband could effectively assist his wife in a delivery, but that he followed a youtube HowTo for it. It's funny and kind of great that he made it work.
And while helping to birth your children without any outside assistance may have worked for you, it's not the right thing for everybody, and people can certainly be forgiven for desiring guidance in any form they see fit.
Good for you...that is great!
Woogie makes a good point, but birth can be a dangerous thing if just one thing goes wrong. And comparing it to man pooing - really.
Pooing can be dangerous too, especially if you're constipated. What he's saying is, our bodies are made to to do it.
people usually take 6 weeks off to be with their new addition to the family. you would think that when someone has a child they want to spend time with it. plus, someone should take care of the kid if both parents work, so sometimes its even longer than that.
(or they put the kid in daycare...but its probably better if some family member is watching the kid.) my mom didnt work when i was born, and when my parents wanted to go out my grandparents watched me. probably if i had a kid, i'd have family or friends watch it when i worked.
I have my son 31 years ago at home in a country that used lots of midwifes. I was scared to go to the hospital, because many woman were dying there having the babies. so, I hire a midwife, and she was a great woman, she has received all the babies in town. she knew exactly when and how I was going to give birth. the funny part, When I was giving birth I was so exhausted trying to expelled the baby that I did not have anymore strenght, the midwife immediately brought me an 8 ounces of tequila with two eggs in (do not ask why?) gave me the drink. I swallowed it and got so drunk that I don't remember when my baby was born. Great epidural! I had.
But congrats to the couple, because i wouldve freaked out
My maternal grandmother died in home childbirth in the 1920's, as did the baby she was delivering. My mother, who was 6 at the time, was crushed.
Home birth isn't for everyone and sometimes the worst outcomes do indeed happen.
To have top level medical care on hand may not always be required, but it's certainly prudent.
you appear to be uninformed and just plain stupid. Maybe YOUR body was made for having babies, but not all women have that opportunity
I say congrads to this new father and thank God he was calm and knew what to do. My husband would have fainted!
As far as women and babies routinely dying prior to the advent of the modern day hospital, this is a myth. Yes, sometimes they died but this was nearly always due to poverty - lack of food, dirty water and inadequate housing. Unsafe tribal practices such as rubbing dung into the umbilical cord also caused numerous problems. As Judith Goldsmith states in her book Childbirth Wisdom from the World's Oldest Societies, throughout history healthy tribal women have successfully given birth with little or no assistance.
Regarding the "need" for c-sections today, most of this is due to the continual interventions routinely performed in hospitals. Each stage of birth is monitored, timed and controlled, and if a woman doesn't give birth within a certain time frame, numerous unsafe interventions are performed. A baby is stillborn in an American hospital every 15 to 20 minutes, which is double what it was ten years ago. Much of this is due to induction of labor, c-sections and other interventions.
The bottom line is this: women have been told their bodies are inadequate and they need doctors, drugs and machinery in order to give birth. Unfortunately, most women believe this and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. For more information I encourage those who are interested to explore the many web sites devoted to unassisted childbirth.