The Perils of Midwifery! Reality Rounds calls a “Code Bullshit” on the Today Show.
Posted by realityrounds on September 11, 2009
Oh my, Oh my. My husband actually alerted me to a Today Show investigation (cue scary music) airing this morning while I was getting the kiddos ready for school. I was flabbergasted, but not surprised by the one-sided, scare tactics of this investigative report (cue scary music)….The Perils of Midwifery (cue scary music….are you scared yet!).
Here is the link to the video: The Perils of Midwifery (*sorry I could not post the video directly on RR).
The video profiles a family who tragically lost their newborn during a home delivery, with certified nurse midwife Cara Muhlhan (a CNM prominently profiled in the documentary: “The Business of Being Born”. ) It is sad to me that one families tragedy is used to push for an agenda against home births and against any non-physician attended delivery. The rhetoric and scare tactics used in the investigative report were laughable. Matt Lauer starts out talking about “extreme births” aka home births. Here are some other gems:
- A talking male head “expert” comparing home births to spa treatments. “Yes, I will have my full body avocado massage while I am crowning please.”
- Same talking male head talking about the “Hedonistic” style of birthing.
- Flashy pictures of celebrities who have given birth at home. Every women I know has chosen their birthing options from reading US magazine.
- ACOG says childbirth decisions should not be determined by what is flashy, trendy, or the latest cause celeb. But it is OK for childbirth decisions to be dictated by defensive medicine, personal
golfschedules, and “because I have always done it this way,” reasoning. - When the investigator speaks of midwives he uses terms like “they allege” medical births cause X,Y and Z. As if the anger over the medicalization of birth is all a big conspiracy.
- When the narrator states that studies by the CDC show home births to be safer than hospital births, they leave us with this quote: “But doctors say it is impossible to compare the safety of home births with hospital births, becasue hospitals care for so many high risk cases.” Really? It is impossible to compare similar low risk patient populations’ outcomes for delivery? It is impossible to just remove the high risk populations from the comparative study? This is called research idiots!
*Full disclosure that I am not an expert on home births, or births for that matter (NICU nurse remember?), but I can call a Code Bullshit! on a story when I see one. This one reeked of bias and a favoritism of the medical model.
For the record, the Today show has a history of profiling advanced practice nurses, like certified nurse midwives, as dangerous and under educated practitioners. The Truth About Nursing has called them out on other “investigative” reporting such as nurse practitioners working in retail clinics are sub par and dangerous. Even though research says the exact opposite. The Today show rarely even let’s the advanced practice nurses defend themselves against their investigative reporting attacks, just like in The Perils of Midwifery nonsense story. There were many quotes from ACOG, but none from The College of Midwifery or the ANA…interesting.
Maybe I need to start watching Good Morning America…..sigh.
RR
*Post Edited 9/15/09 , changed Center of Nursing Advocacy to The Truth About Nursing
Darcie said
there is a fury going on right now on the illinois midwife list serve, lots of mad e-mails headed their way…I am so disgruntled…I don’t even know what to say that already has not been said…..for all the good that I do as a midwife, all the hard work, all the sleepless shifts, all the back breaking labor support, it is so much more, (ask the Mom that I helped last week that was 10cm, unmedicated, for 9 hours before she was ready to push her “perfect apgars” baby into the world!)….its like getting kicked in the stomach, such a backlash…..urgh!
realityrounds said
Please do not take this crap media story to heart! Midwives have overwhelmingly positive outcomes and experiences from patients. Unfortunately patients with bad experiences are more vocal than those with good outcomes. The Today Show is anti-nurse, and there are numerous stories that prove this. We need to make our voices heard.
Science & Sensibility » Home Birth: The rest of the story said
[...] most readers of this blog are probably already aware, The Today Show ran an inflammatory piece about home birth this morning that parroted ACOG’s long-standing scare tactics and [...]
Debbie said
My comment to NBC:
are times so rough even for mainstream media that they are accepting money for their “stories”? After watching this clip I am curious to know how much money exchanged hands between ACOG and NBC. This is not investigative journalism, this is a thinly veiled advertisment for ACOG.
Do your viewers the curtousy of actually investigating a story.
These were all ACOG talking points in their most recent position statement. All in contradiction to actual science including the large cohort study out of Canada looking at planned homebirths with a midwife and a similar risk population of planned hospital births with a midwife and third group of planned deliveries with MD. Planned homebirth is safe for low-risk women providing more intimate care with less interventions and at least as good maternal and neonatal outcomes – often better.
Debbie, CNM – homebirthing mama and midwife
Jill--Unnecesarean said
Here’s another extra-stoopid thing about the investimagatory story… just because Cara declined an interview doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have given fifteen seconds to another HB midwife in town. There are loads to choose from.
Nice Code Bullshit.
Kathy said
There is something people might have missed about this story. It was mentioned that this woman was in labor for 4 days !!!!! Hello this in itself is not normal– anyone who has labor longer than 24 hours should seek medical treatment or even sooner. Something could be wrong, the mother may not be getting enough oxygen or too tired to push and as we saw the cord strangled the baby. When this happens during contractions the babys Heart rate drops so where is the basic abdominal moniter during labor at home or hospital? When in doubt seek medical treatment at a accredited facility.
I am a medical person but have never worked in labor and delivery. This is just my common sense quoting. Do some people really lack common sense despite what we are told?
pinky said
I have done L&D for 10 years. The questions Kathy poses are the same I was thinking of. 4 days is a long time to be in labor.
This poor couple lost their baby. I think that needs to be investigated. If an intrapartum death occured in the hospital, there would be a huge investigation. What is not clear to me is, was the baby dead for a while before birth or did the baby fail to respond to resuscitation. Could it have been poor resus skills that were the ultimate problem? I also wonder how much fhr listening went on during the 2nd stage. And how long did she push for?
realityrounds said
“If an intrapartum death occured in the hospital, there would be a huge investigation.”
Maybe, but Matt Lauer would not be covering it on the Today show. Also, we obviously do not know all the facts. Was she really “in labor” for four days? I also found it unfair to profile a midwife with 18 years experience and good outcomes, and blast her for this.
Darcie said
intrapartum deaths do happen, yes, even babies die in the hospital, sometimes it could have been prevented and some times not. I have seen both. If the Today Show covered EVERY baby that died in a hospital they could have a story a day. and RR I agree, “four day” labor, the definition of labor is from the start of “strong regular contraction”, not 3 days of prodromal irregular contractions that happens ALL the time for various reasons. but “4 day labor” sounds scary and implies the poor woman was left to suffer, when I am sure that was not the case.
Momma of 6 said
Well I was in labour for 2 weeks with my 5th….. and went on to have a healthy homebirthed 9lb baby boy… Not enough information was given about the woman who was in labour for 4 days to assume anything. An experienced midwife takes more things into account than doctors. I have had 4 midwife attended homebirths and think that this report is definately bullshit….
Steph said
Four days is actually not that unreasonable of a labor length, especially if we’re talking about “early” labor, where there may be anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours between contractions. Arbitrary time-limits are one of the big differences between home births and hospital births. Midwives practicing out-of-hospital generally support clients laboring as long as necessary, provided mom and baby are safe. Being in the hospital means that time limits will be imposed, and if a labor falls outside their accepted parameters they begin enhancing it. It is quite often those very interventions that lead to Cesarean sections. Women who choose out-of-hospital birth do so so they can labor however their body decides to, whether that’s 4 days or 42 weeks gestation or whatever the body naturally does. Length of pushing is also not associated with increased complications, unless it is the kind of coached “pushpushpush” pushing done in the hospital. That kind of pushing does lead to decreased oxygen, and then: Cesareans. Time limits are not evidenced-based. They are based more on convenience and costs.
Midwives monitor babies using fetal heart rate monitors. During labor, usually every 20-30 minutes. During pushing, as often as every five minutes or every other push. Listening to the baby continually is also not evidence-based. Research has shown that it does not lead to decreased fatalities, but does lead to increased Cesareans.
Midwives are trained in neonatal resuscitation. I highly doubt that a midwife of 18 years had “poor resus skills”. Even the best resuscitation skills-even by trained nicu staff-doesn’t mean that babies won’t die.
Also, as even the program said: babies do die in the hospital- at a rate that is higher than at home. There is an internal peer-review at the hospital to discuss it, though I wouldn’t classify that as a “huge investigation”. Midwives do that same peer review process when a loss occurs.
Importantly: babies don’t strangle from their umbilical cords being wrapped around the neck. That would imply that a baby in utero needs its neck-or lungs- to get oxygen, which is not the case. Babies get oxygen from their umbilical cords, which can get pinched on the way out and lead to problems– nothing to do with the neck or strangulation.
Jill--Unnecesarean said
That would have been a great question to ask a local midwife in an interview. But, as usual, midwives are not called for interviews. It’s really common for any care provider to be advised not to talk about bad outcomes (even to clients, sometimes, which is heartbreaking), but The Today Show has the resources to call around and find a midwife to comment, right?
Pinky said: “If an intrapartum death occured in the hospital, there would be a huge investigation.”
Yeah, that’s the thing with news coverage of stuff like this. If it happens due to negligence in the hospital, the assumption is that everyone did everything they could have to save the baby, but it’s never an “extreme hospital stay” when patients fall through the cracks or are exposed MRSA or have an elective procedure for no medical reason (and not just maternity care).
Regardless, though, I’m so sad for this family. That sucks.
Valerie said
I haven’t read all of the post so if I repeat something some one else has already mentioned, please pardon my ignorance. I am sure that I am not as eloquent as others.
In RR response to Darcie, she states that the Today Show is anti-nurse. Hello people! every media form is anti-nurse. Suzanne Gordon in the book “Nursing Against the Odds” chronicles example-after-after-example of instances of media de-valuing nursing. The media can’t get it right because nursing is so complex; as complex as those we care for so how can they acurately portray nurses. And sometimes we just don’t help ourselves much. First of all where are our talking heads? We need to network the presidents of our professional organizations to the media. Matt should be talking to the president of the ANA or the president of the Nurse Midwife association. And our professional organizations need to respond to these attacks on nurses and nursing. And . . . where is the evidence of the positive outcomes? We need to scientifically study these outcomes and document them over and over and over again in the literature. Finally, fostering positive relationships with physicians. This is truly difficult as the perception is that nurse midwives care for pregnant women and when problems arise, the OB has to mop up; laying his license on the line.
I don’t work in the OB arena and have left the active practice of medicine, but I work at a nursing school and the tension between medicine and nursing is especially strong in OB because of the very personal nature of the topic. That has not changed in the 25 years since I went to school. Well I have said enough IMHO
Valerie said
Sorry for the rant, went back and read the posts and almost every thing I said had already been covered. PS: I am nurse not a doctor so I no longer practice actively as a nurse. I hope that everyone with all the facts blasts the TODAY show and makes them pay!
Lucy Chapin said
Valerie, you ask an important question: “where is the evidence of positive outcomes?”
The American Association of Birth Centers is currently completing a statistical study on normal births: This will be a groundbreaking, nation-wide study on optimal birth. Visit http://www.birthcenters.org for more information. I am a midwife-in training and entered data for this study as an intern for the Froniter Nursing Service in Kentucky. As far as I know, there is not a recent, comprehensive statistical study on normal birth/homebirth with which to reference when refuting some of these top-down arguments. Hopefully, this study will help!
Lucy
Lucy Chapin said
sorry, meant to say “bottom-up” theory , not top-down.
Kathryn said
I watched this piece yesterday, while holding my week-old homebirthed nephew in my arms. There are a couple of major failures of logic within the piece.
First of all, labor for four days? What do they mean by labor, exactly? By some standards, I was in labor for a week. (I had a hospital birth, btw, with an epidural, and I loved it. I am not even remotely opposed to hospital birth.) But I was only in active labor for four hours. If this woman was truly in active baby-having labor for four days, that represents a major abrogation of the standard of care for the midwife not to have strongly suggested a transfer. I do not believe that Cara Muhlhan would have fallen so far short of the standard of care.
Second of all, another major part of the standard of care is for intermittent fetal monitoring to be performed, every half hour during labor and much, much more frequently during pushing. (My sister-in-law’s midwife checked her baby’s heart tones after every other contraction during pushing.) If this baby was truly born *with no heartbeat*, then that means that she suffered a catastrophic and acute event in the five or ten minutes between that final monitoring and her birth. Why? because if she’d been notably in trouble before that, they wouldn’t have handed her to her parents before beginning resuscitation. I don’t think a hospital setting would have changed that.
If she was simply born not breathing and resuscitation efforts failed, that is tragic. (The whole story is tragic, no matter what the circumstances.) But again — babies die in hospital births, too. A hospital would have had intubation available, granted, and that might — might — have saved this little baby’s life. But the midwife will have oxygen and a lot of other resuscitation equipment; it’s not like she’s giving birth in the back of a covered wagon with no medical help.
Sometimes babies die during birth. It’s horrific, but it happens, regardless of the birth setting. I firmly believe that in most cases, a birth will present clear signs that the situation requires more intervention and specialized skill than a midwife at home can give, and that the exceptions are so rare that you’re likely in more danger driving to the hospital unnecessarily than you are laboring at home.
(And don’t get me started on the rhetorical BS used in this piece. “As few interventions as possible?” No, as few interventions as NECESSARY. And the creepy music-box music is just offensively manipulative.)
Akiko said
“Sometimes babies die during birth. It’s horrific, but it happens, regardless of the birth setting”
And mine would have been one of them had it not been for the quick thinking of my OB. An emergency C-section saved her life and mine. Had I worried about my birth experience or my feelings neither of us would be here today. Perhaps if her labor had not been pushed to 4 days her baby might have made it. Sometimes C-sections save lives.
Kathryn said
C-sections frequently save lives. I am an enormous supporter of surgical intervention when it is warranted. Hell, one of my daughter’s best friends would not be here without every obstetrical intervention short of surgery; she was induced with Cervidil, then with pitocin, and finally (three days later) had her baby with the help of a vacuum extractor. She was hurtling headlong towards pre-eclampsia, and those interventions saved her life and her son’s both.
But she was identified as high-risk weeks before her baby was born, and the necessity for a hospital birth was made extremely plain at her 38 week appointment. I have another friend who was a homebirth conversion for low fluid and IUGR; the piece of technology that caught the problem was a freaking TAPE MEASURE. Even in my case, where I came within minutes of needing a crash section because of a non-reassuring fetal heartbeat pattern — I avoided one only because of luck, a splendidly titred epidural, and an unexpectedly good pushing ability — the problem was detected a few hours before birth, and would have been detected in a homebirth setting as well.
How often do problems in birth present themselves so suddenly and acutely that the 20 minutes it takes to transfer to the hospital is too long? In how many hospitals is the time from C-section decision to actual surgery less than twenty minutes? And how do those incidences compare to the intrapartum injuries to mother and child that result from the HALF of all C-sections performed in this country that are, statistically, unnecessary? For that matter, how do they compare to the danger borne by simply driving to the hospital when the driver is distracted by a laboring passenger?
Sarah said
I don’t have anything to add other than this makes me so angry.
susan said
our local hospital has a very poor birth out comes..they never make the front page or the national media. one 23 year old woman had a perfect pregnancy when complete she she started pushing after a while the doc tried vaccuum and forcepts and finally an emergentcy section cause the mother was hemmoraging. they had to clamp her umbilical artery to stop the bleeding. she may be alive but most likelynot able to carry a pragnancy to term. she was in and out of a coma for two weeks. her baby born with no heart beat was resuscitated. any nicu nurse will tell you how many babies are resuscitated when they shouldnt be. ( god forbid they shoudl be on their stats) the poor young woman woke up to find her baby in another hospital brain damaged. one of the nurses was so trauma tized she quit her job that day..she had to then decide whether or not to continue life support. talk about a one two punch.. two other young women lost their uterus due to doctor negligence they were both under 23 years of age. oh and i did mention this all happened with in six months at the same hospital. giving birth in a hospital or any where does not guarantee you a perfect baby. no one can do that.
Rahel said
The media sensationalism is definitely bullshit, I will agree with you fully on that! But this particular midwife is kind of a “cowboy” and has courted a reputation as such, actively. She’s not typical, IMHO. Here’s a BIG article that ran on her not that long ago:
http://nymag.com/news/features/55500/
realityrounds said
Just finished reading the article. It also seemed biased to me. What are this midwives birth outcomes? They never mentioned that. They have quotes from one resident saying she is a “cowboy” and transfers “train wrecks” to the hospital, but none from attending physicians. Why is that? It was full of anecdotal stories. Cara’s birth outcomes need to be compared to other practitioners to get a feel if she is a “cowboy” or not. Show me the evidence journalists. Trust me, we can handle the truth.
Debbie said
You really have to wonder about the care and compassion of the doctors (OK.. make that ACOG/AMA, not necessarily individual doctors) when their first question to ask a care provider is if they carry malpractice insurance. I know that really reassures me I have found a good care provider! (NOT!)
olivia said
That is a weird question since malpractice insurance protects the insured (doc or midwife) but not the patient. How would knowing my care provider is protected against a lawsuit make me feel safer?
Sara said
This is just par for the course as far as media goes. Remember several months back the piece on doula care? The “buyer beware” was used more than once and doulas were portrayed as a high cost luxury item that may only get you in trouble as they are notorious for “getting in the way” and offering unsolicited medical advice outside of their scope of practice and are banned at many hospitals!…..As a doula I was appalled and angry. As a home birther myself, I was yet again appalled and angry but certainly not shocked by the latest antics on the Today Show.
Looks like the Today Show has gone and done it again « Birthing Beautiful Ideas said
[...] Reality Rounds has an extremely witty take on the segment, illustrating one of the many ways in which humor can be one of the best forms of searing criticism. (My favorite comment of hers is in response to that ridiculous spa-treatment comparison, in which she writes, “Yes, I will have my full body avocado massage while I am crowning please.” HA!) [...]
Uli Pele said
*sigh*
I don’t watch much morning TV, and I’m glad I didn’t set an alarm for this rubbish!
I don’t agree with having a midwife debate a doc, b/c it’s too easy to marginalize her (even a CNM). How about this? Put up a public health doctor who actually is actually, oh, I don’t know, an epidemiologist against the special interest trade union lackey (aka AMA/ACOG rep). It’s just braille for those who cannot connect the dots on their own.
There are plenty of physicians who support the home birth choice with certified professional midwives.
Chelsea said
I had a hard time finding it. But it’s on hulu.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/95029/nbc-today-show-the-perils-of-midwifery
Steph said
Oh, one more thing: check out “This Lovely Life” for a wonderful memoir about what it means to use agressive resusciation techniques on babies who are already compromised.
hj said
Anyone else questioning the timing of this story? You just know the ACOG and AMA are going to try to push through anti-homebirth legislation AGAIN with the health care bill. Write your Senators and Representatives.
Also how interesting is it that the ONE question that they say to ask a prospective midwife is if they have malpractice insurance while the ACOG has been telling their members not to back up a homebirth midwife to reduce their availability to malpractice insurance and other schemes to make sure that insurance companies WON’T insure midwives regardless of their lesser exposure to suits.
hj
Momof4MN said
Good point. Of course the opposite should happen in terms of cost effectiveness and quality of care. How many millions will be saved if we get down to the WHO recommended max c-section rate of 15%?
Akiko said
That is weird. My insurance company is encouraging home births because they are cheaper than hospital births. They love to keep their expenses down. In England home births are encouraged for the same reason. If things go well then you can only have a home birth in dire cases of medical emergencies like in Yemen, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.
Momof4MN said
I guess my point is that homebirth midwifery is perilous – for the midwives. Things can and do go wrong at home or in the hospital – but midwives are vilified at every turn and their entire profession called into question when it happens on their watch.
– And being the butt of a cautionary tail is really a horrible place to be.
Sunday News Round-Up, 9/13/09 « Women’s Health News said
[...] for midwives of varying types – it was about home birth. I’ve yet to see it. I know Reality Rounds, Science and Sensibility, and Midwife Connection responses critical of the piece. Midwife [...]
Code Mec! Code Mec! « Woman to Woman Childbirth Education said
[...] Posted on September 14, 2009 by Kathy Ok, it all started with Reality Rounds posting about the “Today Show” hatchet job on home birth, including that she was calling a “Code Bull$#*t” on it. That led to [...]
Akiko said
Read this story on Cara. She is an egotisical nut. She carries no malpractice insurance and loves to brag on all of “her” high risk deliveries. Worse than an OB with a God complex.
http://nymag.com/news/features/55500/
What she puts some women through is horrific. Her ego wont let up. She was sued for the death of the newborn and settled. Turns out the baby was too big to deliver vaginally. She was also sued for causing Erbs Palsy to another baby. She has a habit of blaming the mother if the delivery does not go well. Worse than an OB right there.
Darcie said
http://acnm-midwives.blogspot.com/2009/09/non-perils-of-midwifery.html
FYI, this is a response from the ACNM blog site
Akiko said
This whole conspiracy theory attitude about hospitals pushing more c-sections is ludicrous. Insurance companies dont want more c-sections. They cost a lot more money. The discourage them, that is why they often wont pay for them. They want all of us to go home and have our babies. The doctors are terrified of being sued so they opt for a c-section a bit quicker than they would otherwise. Tort reform would take care of that and c-section rates would drop dramatically. However, you also give away your right to sue the crap out of them if they show up overtired and injure you. Insurance companies love Tort reform, it will save them a lot of money.
Kathy said
They discourage them, that is why they often wont pay for them. They want all of us to go home and have our babies.
Insurance companies like this may exist, but from the home-birthing women I’ve talked to who have insurance, it’s not the norm. Most women have to choose between an insurance-paid hospital birth or a self-pay home birth (with perhaps reimbursement). My SIL was told by her insurance company that they would reimburse most or all of the midwife’s fee, and after the birth changed their mind. Many won’t even pretend to pay it. Others will reimburse at an out-of-network (higher) rate. Many women say, “I’d have a home birth, but my insurance won’t pay for it. If I have a hospital birth, they’ll pay almost everything; but they won’t pay for anything with a home birth.”
Not having insurance I don’t have personal experience with this, though!
Jill--Unnecesarean said
Akiko, you aren’t talking about the U.S., are you?
Sunday News Round-Up, 9/13/09 » Post » healthyjoyful said
[...] of varying sorts – it was about home birth. I’ve nonetheless to see it. you know Reality Rounds, Science as great as Sensibility, as great as Midwife Connection have responses vicious of the [...]
Jessica said
I know this is an older post but just had to comment, this kind of thing really gets my goat.
My first was born at home, almost exactly 24 hours after labor started (but about 16 hours of that was early labor with contractions 10 min apart but with clockwork timing). My midwife monitored him via doppler atleast every 15 min, and, once we got to pushing, at least every other contraction. His heartbeat was “great” throughout. Strong, sure, consistant, with healthy variables during a contraction. But in the last 5 min his heart rate dropped, it became apparent he was stuck, and they manually manipulated him out within 5 min (quite a bit less than the 20-30 min an emergency c-section would have taken, even if it could have been performed that late in the game since he was already crowning). He was born without a pulse or resperation, but they got a positive pressure oxygen mask on him as soon as he was out (literally as soon as they laid him down, they already had the O2 out) and got his heart beat back within 3 rounds of chest compressions. The paramedics were called immediately, but, when they arrived (very fast, we were very thankful how quickly they got there) they had to borrow the infant face mask from the midwife, took him off their positive pressure oxygen and started ‘bagging’ him with room air, didn’t have an infant backboard, didn’t have the correct tube to intubate him etc. Thankfully the hospital was very close (part of our requirement for a homebirth) and, between the time he showed dangerous deceleration of heart rate to being in the ER intubated was less than the standard “30 minutes from decision to insecion” that is recommended for an emergency c-section (5 min from decel to birth, 5-6 min for paramedics to arrive, 1 for them to leave, less than 5 min to the hospital, total time apx 17 minutes). Not only that but midwives have a statistically better outcome with shoulder dystocia than doctor’s do. If it took 2 midwives with years experiance and over 500 births to their record all four hands on and a change in position to get him out (they both said he was the most stuck baby they had ever had), what realistic chance would a doctor have had with me in a backlying postion with my pelvis narrowed by my legs up in sirrups and how much longer would it have taken him? The hospital is the best place to deal with complications in general (specifically if they are known before hand) but that doesn’t mean that home with a midwife can’t be as good or better than a doctor/hospital to deal with those sudden complications that can happen at the last minute, especially if there is a hospital close by. We feel very strongly that our midwives saved our baby’s life, and, had we been in a hospital, the best outcome would have been everything that happened, plus a broken shoulder. More likley, a far more seriously injured/sick baby. While the doctor’s at the NICU (ended up he wasn’t breathing because of a severe MecAsp and the heartbeat/hypoxic brain injury was most likely from cord compression when he got stuck, btw there was NO meconium present in my water, prebirth, on baby, or in afterbirth so there wasn’t a previous reason to imply we might be dealing with a MecAsp) were VERY condecending to us and had the gaul to write in our chart “despite a homebirth parents have a normal interest and concern in their child’s health”, several NICU nurses quitely assured me “thank goodness you had a midwife!” when told our story. Some babies die at/before birth, some babies suffer birthing complications, assuming (obviously after careful consideration sometimes it does) ‘place of birth’ had ANYTHING to do with it is completely disingenious and just shows that the Today show is far more interested in sensationalizing some poor family tragedy than in reporting information.