Introduction
Childbirth is a crucial concern that should be addressed with diligence since it determines the size and nature of the population. During childbirth, some women decide to give birth at home while others deliver in hospital. In their article, which is referred to as Outcomes of Planned Home Births with Certified Professional Midwives, Johnson & Betty (2005) argue that most women prefer giving birth at home to giving birth in hospital. When these parents are making this decision, they should evaluate the disadvantages and advantages of both conditions to make the right decision. However, most parents do not conduct this evaluation when they are deciding on whether to deliver at home or in hospital. This paper will, therefore, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of giving birth at home or in hospital according to the article that has been named above.
Giving Birth at Home
Advantages
According to Johnson & Betty (2005), giving birth at the home result in a low rate of neonatal mortality and low levels of intrapartum. They contend that low mortality is enhanced by providing high levels of safety as well as the availability of material satisfaction. During the comparative evaluation, it was noted that these findings were consistent with other studies that had been conducted in North America regarding the same topic.
Additionally, giving birth at home is less costly than delivering in a hospital since the parents do not incur admission expenses. In this light, this is much helpful especially in countries that have costly health services. In fact, Semba & Bloem (2008) suggest that most women in developing countries give birth at home due to the high cost of hospital bills. Consequently, it is indisputable that parents would choose to give birth at home in the presence of professional midwives.
Disadvantages
In some instances, giving birth at home is dangerous especially when the mother develops a complication. The article shows that several prenatal deaths occur during home delivery. Moreover, it demonstrates that these instances are experienced in the process of transferring the mother to hospital. This implies that home delivery is fairly defective since the complications, which require medical intervention, can occur in the absence of doctors.
Birth in Hospital
Advantages
In the event of prenatal complication, doctors intervene immediately to save the unborn child. The immediate response is a crucial requirement that determines the survival of the child. In fact, late transfer of mothers who develop complications at home is the main contributing factor to the death of unborn children.
Second, mothers who give birth in hospital enjoy post natal counseling which aims at helping her to fight postnatal depression. In this case, researchers argue that mothers can develop postnatal depression against family members including husbands. This implies that hospital delivery allow the mothers to separate from their intimate relatives for a considerable reasonable time.
Disadvantages
From an economic perspective, hospital bill increases the parents’ cost of living especially during delivery cases. This implies that hospital delivery may become costly especially in developing countries where the government does not cater for health services. According to Semba & Bloem (2008), parents who are financially poor prefer home delivery to hospital delivery.
In some instances, mothers do not get material satisfaction when they are in hospital as compared to their home. In this case, some mothers might have post natal depression since they only open up to their intimate family members who are not always available in hospital.
Conclusion
In modern USA, giving birth at home is not very popular among women. However, this discussion shows that it has several advantages that make it preferable as well as disadvantages which disparage it. On the others hand, hospital delivery is equally beneficial and simultaneously afflictive. The government should, therefore, improve it by providing highly qualified midwives near the local residences in order to facilitate immediate responses.
References
Johnson, K. C., & Betty, D. (2005). Outcomes Of Planned Home Births With Certified Professional Midwives: Large Prospective Study In North America. BMJ, 330(7505), 14-16.
Semba, R. D., & Bloem, M. W. (2008). Nutrition and health in developing countries (2nd ed.). Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.