Hospitals can save distressed infants

July 21, 2008

Jennifer Block's column regarding home births struck a chord with me personally ("Home birth battle," Commentary, July 13).

My daughter was extremely ill at birth. The pregnancy was by the book, and labor progressed without difficulty. However, totally unexpected, and extremely serious complications, occurred at the moment of her birth.

She was treated immediately by the hospital pediatrician, brought to the neonatal intensive care unit and cared for expertly within minutes of the delivery. Had she been born at home, she would not have survived.

Granted, such episodes do not occur every day. In fact, statistics show that the majority of children born at home survive without difficulty.

But, as I tell my patients, each case is individual, and the chances of survival for each baby are either 0 percent or 100 percent. A child survives or doesn't survive. There is no in-between.

Access to immediate medical attention is essential for the survival of babies born distressed.

I have nothing against natural childbirth, or midwives taking care of expectant mothers. In fact, as a practicing neonatologist, I encourage both practices. But they can be, and should be, accomplished within the hospital setting, where emergency resuscitation can occur should things go wrong without warning.

Dr. Michael Langbaum

Baltimore

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