Home is where the infections aren't

I saw an interesting comment recently on a forum about the danger of checking your own cervical dilation. The poster said, "I wouldn't do it yourself just as a precaution for introducing infection and bacteria. Even with the cleanest of hands I would still just let the dr. do it."

When I saw that I realized that there is a misconception in there, and felt the need to enumerate.

Here's the truth: We are always safer from infections in our own home than anywhere else! In the Netherlands the majority of births take place at home attended by midwives. They have the absolute lowest infant and mother mortality rates in the world. A study was done which I can't find now, but I will post it when I do!) comparing rates of infection post-partum in hospital births vs. home births and the hospital group contracted higher rates of infection.

That might seem odd to you, because we think of hospitals as sterile environments, but the fact is that there are sick people in hospitals! And not only that, but the rising rate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is also increasing the rates of infection in hospitals. This is not to say that hospital staff don't take appropriate precautions to prevent infection, they do. And the difference in the two groups in the study were not very high, if I remember correctly. But it is interesting to note that there in enough foreign bacteria floating around in a hospital environment that there was a difference at all, despite hygienic practice. Especially when most of us might have expected the opposite results, that infection would be lower in a hospital environment.

What's different at home? Aren't there germs at home too? Your toddler has a cold, and your cousin who has the flu just visited, and you were outside working in the garden - so how does that factor into the lower infection rate at home?

Assuming that you have good hygiene practices (like washing your hands when you come in from outdoors, opening windows after your flu cousin leaves...!) the germs in your house are germs that your body (and your baby) are used to. You have developed antibodies to resist infection from the micro-organisms that exist in the space that you live. When you go to a hospital or even your doctor's office, you are exposing yourself to the germs that other people are carrying. Especially in a hospital, which are where people go when they are ill (and carrying all sorts of infections!)

True story: My grandfather passed away a little over two years ago. He was 92 and had never had chicken pox. I was at the end of my pregnancy w/ my daughter at the time. I went to visit him in the cardiac ICU unit where he was being treated. A few weeks later, I called my uncle to arrange to go when no one else would be able to, so that he would have someone there with him. He told me I couldn't go. My grandfather was on quarantine due to a rash that the dr's couldn't or wouldn't identify. I didn't get to see my grandfather again before he passed on, because even after the "rash" had cleared, they would't let me in with a newborn. Later I found out that the unknown "rash" was chicken pox! He had contracted in in the most restricted unit of the hospital!

The purpose of this post is not to advocate homebirth (although I personally choose it for myself, and recommend looking into it if you are a healthy low-risk pregnant woman with no history of complications). The purpose is to dispell the myth that hospitals and doctor's offices are a "safer" environment than your home.

Comments and questions welcome! And if anyone has a copy or a link to that study from the Netherlands, please send it my way!!

Blessings on your journey!
~Ayelet