Birth Defects Associated With Out-Of-Hospital Births

At a point in history, Homebirths and Midwives were prevalent when delivering. However the use of the two methods plateaued as many people were concerned with the health of the kids and the mothers. The ultimate goal of safe delivery is the safety and protection of both the mother and the kid. Presently, most people think that home delivery is not giving enough to ensure that safety of the mother and the kid at birth. The focus has been shifted, and much priority is given to hospital delivery. In the hospitals, most people argue that the child and the mother faces less delivery complication that would result to the birth defect on a child. The leading factors that result in congenital disability are the birth complications as result of the emergencies. The snug is how the emergency deliveries are carried out at home, and how safe they are to minimize the chances of birth defect as result of the potential birth complications. The statistics point that at home, there are likely chances that emergency birth cannot be well managed. This lead to high rate of birth defects related to a complication during the delivery process. In this article, some of the birth defects are examined. The author will also major on statistics of the birth defect as result of complication as far as the home and hospital emergency related births are concerned. The last issues will be the reason why mothers should prefer midwives as opposed to delivering in the hospital environment. 

Birth Defects Caused by Complications during the Birthing Process

There are different birth defects which a newborn baby can suffer from a result of the injuries they sustained during the process of delivery. During emergencies condition mainly at home or outside a hospital environment, there are high chances that those who handle the delivery process may make a mistake since they are not in access to a pool of experts and equipment necessary to handle emergencies. These are instances where birth injuries are prone. During emergency birth processes, there usually is common complication which has the potential of closing injuries to the newborn (Petersen et al., 2017). Example of such injuries is brain damage as result of limited oxygen by the kid. This is generally associated with a birth defect such as the cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is not common but has been accountable for in many children. It causes the inability of muscles movements. It can range from mild to severer. “Other common birth injuries include brachial plexus injuries and Erb’s palsy. These can result from shoulder dystocia, as the baby’s nerves are stretched and damaged. The result is some degree of disability in an arm”(Jortveit et al., 2017).

Statistics of hospital delivery birth defects vs. nonhospital delivery birth defects

The public is still torn between the two that is hospital delivery and home delivery. However, the best choice should be the one that achieves the ultimate goal of the safe delivery. The best among these two should be the one that protects the mother and the kid. The statistics hold the records and can be paramount for a mother who wants to make the decision. The figures indicate that birth at home is risky when compared to birth in the hospital mostly where there are a delivery complications, and emergency services are needed. According to the Federal birth registers, out of a thousand babies born at home, 3.9 would likely to have birth defects mostly when there are delivery emergency and complications. On the other hand, the same statistics claim that for the hospital-based deliveries, only 1.8 of a thousand babies would face birth-related defects (Mathews, Curtin & through Friday, 2015). The statists also point out that there is a high risk of deficiency when the baby is born at home than when born in the hospital environment. The midwives births are also not safe. The defects as result of childbirth-related complication are high in midwives attended birth than those delivery process carried out in hospital when there is an emergency. The statistic document 7 defects per a thousand related birth complicated deliveries attended by midwives. This is high than the 3 out of a thousand complicated births attended to in hospital environment. According to the statistics done in the years 2016 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the home delivery has gained favors than hospital delivery in the recent time. This implies that as more birth emergencies as result of complications, tied to genetics, lifestyle and delivery process are registered, more children with birth defects may be witnessed.

The Use of Midwives Over Hospitals for Childbirth

Presently, most people prefer delivering at home than being in hospital according to the data recorded by the Center of Disease Control and prevention. There are reasons why people prefer midwives over the hospital births. The first reason is the high level of care that is offered by the midwives that lack in the hospital environment. They check the clients’ health regularly, give them, updates on their delivery related issues, and check the vitals and much more. Also, they usually are free to take and answer questions from the patients when compared to ever busy nurses in the hospital. The second reason why they are preferred is the birth experience and the environment where the process is carried out. The midwives conduct the birth process at the pace dictated by the patients. They have much efficient delivery tools and environment than the hospital. In an art shell, the experience and environment give the midwives an edge over that of the hospital environment. The last reason is feminism. For some ladies, choosing midwives over the conventional medical doctor seems to them a feminist act, and this is the reason why they prefer it. 

Statistics of childbirth involving an EMS and EMS protocol

There has been an increased number of defects where the EMS are involved. As documented by the CDC, out of 1000 lives births where EMS is engaged, 14 may have potential defects. This is the reason why the EMS protocol needs to be followed. The ultimate goal of the EMS protocol is to control delivery to prevent birth injury. First, Support the head of the infant (Snowden et al., 2015). Check the umbilical cord in case it surrounds the neck of the baby, and slip it over or double clamp it. The next step is to sanction the airway. In this case, a bulb or a syringe can be used. Pull down the delivery if the anterior should while grasping the head with hands over the ears. Pull up the head to allow the birth of the posterior shoulder. Then slowly will enable the delivery of the remainder of the infant. Clamp the cord, 12incehs from the abdomen, and cut between them. The next step is to record APGAR score and follow the baby for further treatment (Minkoff & Atallah, 2018).

In summary, it is evident from the discussion that defect as result of a complication during the delivery process is prone. From the statistics, the home-based delivery, as well as midwives delivery, are usually preferred by most ladies. However, the safety while using these processes is much lower than where the hospital delivery is used, mostly where there are birth complications. It would be, thus, safer for an emergency birth process to be carried out in the hospital than outside hospital to minimize the chances of defects as result of a delivery complication. 

References

Jortveit, J., Klconvasky, J., Eskedal, L., Dohlen, G., Birkeland, S., & Holmstrom, H. (2017). P4528Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in children with congenital heart defects. European Heart Journal , 38 (suppl_1).

Mathews, T. J., Curtin, S. C., & through Friday, M. (2015). When are Babies Born: Morning, Noon, Or Night?: Birth Certificate Data for 2013 (No. 2015). US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.

Minkoff, H., & Atallah, F. (2018, February). How to value patient values: Cesarean sections for the periviable fetus, and home births. In Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine (Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 13-16). Elsevier.

Petersen, A., Koehler, L. M., Schwarz, C., Vaske, B., & Gross, M. M. (2017). Outcomes of Planned Out-of-Hospital and Low-Risk Hospital Births in Lower Saxony. Zeitschrift fur Geburtshilfe und Neonatologie , 221 (4), 187-197.

Snowden, J. M., Tilden, E. L., Snyder, J., Quigley, B., Caughey, A. B., & Cheng, Y. W. (2015). Planned out-of-hospital birth and birth outcomes. New England Journal of Medicine , 373 (27), 2642-2653.