Many moons ago I wrote on the topic of home birth in the Netherlands. It was something I had hoped I could write about from personal experience one day but it never quite happened. Three babies, three hospital births. However, as a result of writing on the topic I have learnt a few things, or eight, direct from the mouths of what we lovingly call internet trolls.
Still Popular in the Netherlands
Despite the declining number of home births in the Netherlands, they are still more popular here than in many other countries.
“The Netherlands has the highest percentage of home births in the Western world,” Sjaak Toet, the chairman of the Dutch association of midwives KNOV told AFP.
Home birth in the Netherlands: why the Dutch cherish them
And so everyone has an opinion. Usually an uninformed opinion. And more often than not it’s a male opinion.
8 Things People Said Online About Home Birth – I Kid You Not
1. Home birth is all about being able to watch your own television whilst you pop out a baby.
2. Whale music is an intricate part of a home birth.
3. Women who choose to give birth at home put their own comfort above the safety of their baby.
4. Pleasant home births are a myth – they are only in the mind of bloggers who want to make themselves sound interesting.
5. Home births should be banned.
6. Actually home births should be made illegal.
7. If you don’t plan for a hospital birth and are suddenly transferred from your home to a hospital, the staff have to find you a bed which makes you stressed.
8. Home birth is all about cost cutting.
So there you have it – the internet is indeed the fountain of all knowledge…..and beware of the trolls!
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