Protecting Our Birthing Choices

At Blooma, we support moms & families in whatever birth choices they make, and that speaks to one of our most-cherished beliefs: Women have the power, the privilege, and the responsibility of choice during pregnancy and birth. So this petition at Mothering magazine caught our attention, and we feel it deserves all of our support. Whether or not you personally would choose a homebirth, we hope you'll support the rights of women to choose how to bring their precious babes into the world. Here's the call to action from Mothering:

"Now is the time to support homebirths and professional midwives. Sign this petition to tell your representatives that you want to be in control of how and where you give birth ..."

The petition:
Whereas, women maintain the basic human rights of privacy, bodily integrity, and the rights to choose their care provider and place of birth;

Whereas, the practice of giving birth in hospitals attended by doctors has coincided with rapidly rising rates of cesarean section, induction, epidural, and surgically assisted vaginal birth;

Whereas, many of the physicians attending births in the hospital setting have contributed to the rise of the use of the aforementioned interventions, and have been unable or unwilling to change their training and practices to reverse these trends;

Whereas, the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' positions against home birth are not based on scientific evidence, but on the financial and professional concerns of the physicians that participate in their organizations;

Whereas, for the past century certain physicians have carried out campaigns to eradicate the practice of home birth to support their own professional gain;

Whereas, home birth with either a Certified Nurse Midwife or a Certified Professional Midwife in attendance is scientifically proven to have outcomes equal to or better than hospital birth with fewer interventions and higher levels of satisfaction;

Resolved, that the undersigned concerned citizens object to any legislation, either at the state or national level, which restricts a woman's right to choose her place to give birth, including her right to choose to birth at home.