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Home midwives report that interest in giving birth at home has increased during the corona pandemic, doubling in some places. And there is a worrying trend: women give birth without professional help.
Ulla Waldenström, a midwife and professor emeritus at the Karolinska Institutet, believes that women and children are at risk of dying if the trend continues.
– On some social media pages, women are encouraged to give birth without the help of a midwife and presented as a worse alternative than being with a support person without medical knowledge, she says.
– There is, in some groups, a lot of skepticism towards healthcare and this has been accentuated by the crisis in the crown.
“Are there movements at the international level?”
The Swedish Midwifery Association is also concerned about the trend.
– It’s very regrettable. There are some movements internationally where midwives are included in medical care that can interrupt labor. There may be examples of this, but then we will work with her and develop care with safer alternatives, says President Eva Nordlund.
You want to see home birth as a safe alternative
Research on home birth shows that it does not carry an increased risk if the woman is healthy, reborn and has had a previously normal pregnancy, according to Ulla Waldenström. For new mothers, on the other hand, there has been an increase in risk.
However, few choose to give birth at home, compared to hospitals. In Sweden, the ratio of home births is about one in every 1000 births, according to Waldenström. But since women have the right to choose to give birth at home, she believes society also has a duty to help by making home birth the safest alternative possible.
“Risks of becoming a secret business”
Since the midwife has to pay out of pocket for the home birth, it has also become a class issue, says Ulla Waldenström. For those who cannot afford it, home birth without medical knowledge will be the only option.
– When maternity care does not appear and the midwives who help at home are not viewed favorably, there is a risk that it will become a secret business. And then both women and children can suffer.
