Home Births

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America’s relatively recent medical advancements have been astounding. The twentieth century marked a tremendous boom in medical technological innovations and discoveries. Doctors today are able to do what people could only dream of doing merely a century ago in order to preserve and improve upon one’s quality of life. Some would argue that as a result of this boom, however, Americans have become overly dependent upon doctors and hospitals with respect to their bodies and their health. Advocates of traditional birthing methods, for example, argue that the recent medicalization of American pregnancies is unnecessary and merely feeds the monster that is the business of healthcare in America. However, there is evidence to suggest that this trend in American pregnancies merely reflects the twenty first century woman. As recently as the 1950s, most American women gave birth in their homes. Later in the twentieth century, however, this number dramatically declined. Today, a miniscule minority of American births occur in the home, while in many countries between 70 and 80 percent...

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