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Photo courtesy of The Skeptical OB
I am all sorts of sad and angry right now. Because you see a baby died a completely senseless death and people watched it happen in real time on Facebook. I seriously don’t know on what planet it’s ever considered professional to publicly ask for medical opinions on Facebook, but it happens ALL. THE. TIME with homebirth midwives. And if a doctor ever dared to act in such an unprofessional manner by asking for a second opinion on Facebook on a case the world would be outraged. Not only because it would be a major violation of HIPAA, but also because who does that?
Last week I heard about this completely senseless death of a baby whose midwife had approached Jan Tritten, the editor of Midwifery Today, to ask what to do about this case she had where a post dates mother had 0 fluid, but she wanted to know if this was okay. This was posted in a way that made it sound like it was a case Jan was actually overseeing herself and it wasn’t long after that she updated the thread that the baby had died. It has since been deleted, but fear not there are screen shots and you can see how the whole thing played out here.
Seriously, go read that and then come back here. I’ll wait…
Back? Are you as appalled as I was at that? The internet exploded over this because as you can see there were numerous people saying it was okay and they’ve had that happen before and everything turned out just fine. No one urging her to get to the hospital ASAP. But you see it gets even worse. Later, after Jan decides to delete the thread we find out that it wasn’t her case and she was simply posting it for anonymous, and those were this other midwifes words. And as she often does this on her page when people come to her for advice that’s what she did. She was simply the messenger, so don’t kill the messenger here people.
Who’s To Blame?
But Jan is a huge part of the problem with homebirth. This whole thing portrayed exactly what’s wrong and why the lack of regulation in homebirth in the United States has got to be called into question and changes need to be made. Because you see the second Jan got this email if she were truly a professional or someone other midwives are supposed to look to for advice, then she wouldn’t have posted it on her Facebook wall to begin with. She would have told her to get that mother to a hospital ASAP no matter how she has to get that mother there because this is no longer a low risk situation which she should be overseeing and it requires more expertise than any midwife has. I mean come on, zero fluid people. I’m no medical professional, but even I know this is a get your butt to the hospital situation
Who Is The Midwife
But then one has to wonder who is this anonymous midwife who couldn’t see what kind of dire situation this mother and baby were in? Well, thanks to all sorts of pressure of people begging for the identity it seems we might have found the identity. Allegedly the midwife in question practices in Nevada and she goes by the name of Christy Collins. This is important information to know for anyone who’s looking to hire a midwife. Christy has denied being the midwife in question and it’s likely going to be easy for her bury this birth story. Midwives have been doing a pretty good job of blaming the mother and saying “she wanted time” and that she chose not to go to the hospital. But why is that? Why would any mother, if she were told your baby could be in very real danger and this is beyond my scope of expertise refuse to transfer? Well, unless of course she wasn’t told how bad of a situation it was. And of course homebirth midwives have to make their services far more appealing to women than the hospital so the community is very careful about telling women how awful hospitals are and how their unnecessary interventions will lead them to unnecessary c-sections.
Oh, I feel or OBGYN’s, I really do. Especially after seeing mine today for a routine check up. Because you see she was so great to me today and always. She doesn’t force anything on me. She spoke to me with respect and understanding and we felt old together over the fact that my oldest is in high school. She hasn’t seen me in three years (because I’m really bad about these things and generally don’t go unless I absolutely have to) and yet she remembered the troubles my son had after birth, six years ago. Doctors get a bad wrap simply because they practice in a hospital and it’s so not fair.
This Has To Stop
The midwife who is responsible here, and make no mistake about it if Christy Collins was the midwife who did in fact oversee this case, then she is responsible must be brought to justice. Nothing ever happens to midwives. And before you go saying, but babies die in hospitals and doctors make mistakes too, yes that’s right, but there are consequences. Doctors can lose their license to practice and can’t just simply up and move. There are public records about a doctors stats.
What’s interesting to note about Christy Collins is she originally was a midwife in California. She crossed state lines to be able to continue practicing because she couldn’t be bothered to get a license to practice in CA. And when she was busted for that and had to pay a fine she simply skipped town and moved shop. This happens ALL. THE. TIME. Midwives move and change their names when they are caught doing something they shouldn’t be. This has to stop!
Christy deserves punishment for her part in this tragic and senseless death. Jan Tritten deserves punishment for her part in this. Homebrth should be regulated because it’s unsafe. And if ever there was an example of how bad things are when it comes to homebirth in the United States, then this story is an example of that.
Not buried twice. No more burying babies in coffins and then again burying the story of what happened. We need to get the information out there. This has to stop. Won’t you join the Facebook page Not Buried Twice to help put a stop to this nonsense?
For the record I want everyone to know I’m not against homebirth. I even considered it with my youngest. However, I knew it wasn’t going to be safe for me or her. What I am completely against is these senseless deaths and zero accountability for them. If you don’t believe that it’s happening much more than just this one instance, then please read the Hurt By Homebirth blog.
