Homebirth: More than just a choice

According to Germaine Greer (1985: 6), ‘from conception, pregnancy is regarded as an abnormal state… an illness, requiring submission to the wisdom of health professionals and constant monitoring, as if the fetus were a saboteur hidden in its mother's soma.’ She further considered that ‘hospital birth takes place among strangers and is subordinated to their routine’ (Greer, 1985: 11). Confirming this bleak analysis of the 1980s birthing zeitgeist, Davis (2013) shows that ‘in England and Wales the years between 1985 and 1988 saw the lowest ever recorded rate of home births, an average of 0.9 per cent.’

For decades, the medicalisation of childbirth has persuaded pregnant women that the best place to give birth is in hospital. Today, what was once a social event has become a medical procedure. Perhaps this helps to explain why the issue of dignity remains to be addressed effectively. Prochaska (2013: 821), referring to the first ever national Dignity Survey of more than 1100 women undertaken by Birthrights—a charity established to promote human rights in maternity care—noted: ‘Women who gave birth in hospitals experienced less choice and respectful care than those who gave birth in birth centres or at home.’