If you set out to compare a policy of intensive, precipitous intervention with a policy of sitting back and watching the patient bleed, obviously the former will be seen to be safer. This was the approach and conclusion of the Bristol Third-Stage Trial. But the trial … is completely misleading…
The first thing I noticed about homebirth was the serene joy of the parents, which in those days was something I never saw in my hospital experience. The second thing I saw was that an intense bond automatically takes place between mother and baby in the first half-hour, not in the first few weeks…
Lack of progress, or failure to progress, can be very frustrating for laboring women. In my experience with homebirths, a malpresenting head and/or a stubborn cervix constitute the main reasons for transfer to hospital in the early stages of labor.
