The Perfect Transport

I picked this birth story up from the Hypnobabies Facebook page, and I just loved it. Here are both parts:

The Birth of Brynn, Part I

The Birth of Brynn, Part II

I read a lot of great birth stories, but I loved this one especially - because this is what a homebirth transport should look like. Cheerful reception by hospital staff, wonderful treatment from doctor and nurses, seamless transport of care from home/birth center to hospital - it was wonderful from start to finish.

So often, homebirth transport stories are horror stories. Sullen or hostile reception at the hospital, doctors and nurses who scold, threaten, or actively punish mothers for daring to try to birth at home, midwives who are ignored or ridiculed by staff. So sad, and so unnecessary.

The midwife model of care is meant to fit seamlessly into a maternity system which has open doors of communication (and friendly working relationships) between OBs and midwives, between hospital and home. It doesn't need to be "us vs. them" - doctors and midwives working together in a collaborative model of care is so much more preferable.

So often in the birth community, we become polarized warring camps. Each side tells horror stories about the other, each side rallies the forces against the other side - it's really too bad. The end goal (and the goal which I try to promote on this blog) is friendly and professional collaboration between OBs and midwives, not a fight to the death with winner take all. That's why I sometimes have doubts about websites like "My OB said WHAT?!?!" which seem purposely to promote strife and hatred rather than working constructively toward any positive end-goal.

And so, after all of that, I loved this birth story. This is what transport can and should be, this is how doctors and midwives can and should work as a seamless team to transport mothers between birthing locations, and I would love to see more stories out there like this one.

Thoughts, anyone?