Hrm, very good thing Ani DeFranco doesn't live in Israel, then. I wouldn't want to be named "Opening" and have anyone know it.

Not to be difficult, but isn't giving birth, period, a badass act? And I doubt Ani was home alone; she probably had a midwife to catch little Petah.

"Good for her" was certainly not meant to imply that giving birth in the hospital is bad (if I can't do cramps without ibuprofen I doubt I could do childbirth without heavy help). I'm impressed with anyone who can take that on home, but I am also impressed with anyone who gives birth in general.

Also, if anyone was going to have a homebirth and name her kid after her vagina, it's gonna be Ani DiFranco.

By "by myself" I meant "without serious and heavy pharmacueticals" but that wasn't clear, I guess.

Heeee. This is the truth.

I think that for some people, there's the argument that a home birth is in familiar surroundings with familiar faces, which can help a mother relax during the birthing process (or rather, relax as much as you're able to while in labor). While it's nice, I think that they're also rare because of the potential complicatations that can occur during childbirth. I'm also not sure of this, but I think some insurance carriers won't allow you to do that.

Personally, I think that as long as you have a healthy, happy, (relatively) well-adjusted kid, who cares?

Wow. Who knew that a 10-year-old edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves would be so helpful?

Sorry if my tone came off a little harsh-I had just woken up, no coffee, blah blah blah, excusescakes. I apologize if I sounded like a smartass.

A homebirth, huh? Ouch. I think that sounds very cool, but I've never been cool and have the lowest pain tolerance imaginable so I'd never be able to pull off such a feat.

cutebutpsycho, are there really some unsurance carriers that prohibit homebirths? I can see why they'd do it, but it seems kinda strange, like it should be outta their realm of authority or whatever you wanna call it.

While I have no actual knowledge, I wouldn't be surprised if some insurance companies didn't cover non hospital births. If there was some complication, it's much easier to take care of if you're already in a hospital. Actually, the potential for complications is exactly why I don't think I would have a home birth. Not so much the lack of drugs, because a needle that big freaks me out more than the actual pain of childbirth.

So, the point of all that, is it's not prohibition outright, just a "If you want to do it, we're not paying". I'm guessing.

What Queen Esther said. In my area, home births are advocated for (there's several informational brochures for midwives and birthing centers). But the midwives are all accredited and connected to doctors and hospitals.

While the filthy patchouli wearin' hippie in me wouldn't mind a home birth because I'd be in familiar surroundings, when I have a kid, safety outweighs comfort. Not to mention, some of the birthing rooms really look nice and comfy. But that's another topic. Right now I'm enjoying this for picking some horrendous baby names to scare the husband.

Personally, I wouldn't want to befoul my bedroom (or wherever) with a homebirth (birth is a messy, messy affair, and my clean-loving self would be out back burning the sheets right after they cut the cord. I can understand why other people would want one, though.

Totally OT: My dad's been a paramedic for 16 years now, and his fondest wish is to deliver a baby before he retires, because in his department (I'm not sure if this is everywhere), you get a pin shaped like a stork to wear when you do.

Petah just reminds me of the way Peter Griffin's name is pronounced on Family Guy. Not a great mental image.

That is so cute!

I won't get on my soapbox about birth choices - I'll just say that when/if you and your partner are pregnant, *learn* about the childbirth choices available to you. Most people think that the choices are really straightforward (or think that there are very limited choices) and don't realize that those choices might lead to things that they don't actually want.

You can have the kid in a birth center, too, which is a nice compromise. Some insurers will cover a birth center when they won't take a home birth.

(For what it's worth, Unlucky Bear, the midwives at my practice and their assistants completely clean the house after births; the parents don't have to do that. I'm sure that's standard practice.)

I'm glad that Ani had her baby...gosh, that seemed to go by quickly. Always does when it's someone else!

Unlucky Bear, if your dad only lived in my neck of the woods, he'd have a pretty good shot once HT shows up. My mom has four kids, and I think she was in labor a combined total of two hours... most of that being me, since I was her first and she insisted on being doped to the gills. My brother Jacob was very nearly born in the hospital parking lot and just barely managed to wait until they made it into the building.

Considering I'm basically my mom's clone, hopefully my chance of sharing her luck is pretty good.

Patrick Dempsey and his missus have brand-new twin boys: Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen (Galen is Patrick's middle name). Not very good, but I didn't expect much, since their daughter is named Talula Fyfe. I am thankful that they didn't put Galen in the middle spot-- calling your son anything that starts with "gay" is, unfortunately, a recipe for torture on the playground. But poor Darby doesn't even have a good middle name to fall back on!