The dippy doulas down under

I am not totally against home births. I welcome them in the right environment and with the right safeguards. I have said this many times but, when I do say it, the militant homebirthers take no notice. These blinkered zealots are blinded by anger if anyone dares to disagree with them. They put their obsessional belief in home births above any considerations of safety and science. The experience in Holland clearly suggests that with properly trained obstetricians (be they midwives or doctors) and with proper back up it is reasonable for low risk patients to have their babies at home. But you can’t have a rational discussion about risk analysis with the lunatic fringe of independent midwifery. They deal only in emotion.

Some rabid home birthers in Australia have put a video flogging their beliefs on YOU TUBE. I featured that video on top of the post below. This video is an unscientific appeal to the touchy-feely side of childbirth. If you put a video on YOU TUBE you are putting it in the public arena. If it is watched, it is going to be discussed. If you don’t want it to be discussed, don’t put it on YOU TUBE.

It appears that a woman who blogs under the name of “I am Brooke” is responsible for or even appears in the video. But she does not want to discuss it. She has her own blog called Loquacious Verve here. Do take a look. She has some good photos. She describes herself in the following way :

I am Brooke...

A young babywearing, breastfeeding, bogan hip mama to three wee men. A fledgeling feminist, finding her feet in a world working against the womyn.

Right on!

Brooke very kindly wrote to Dr Crippen to discuss his latest post on home birth:

i am brooke... said

Rightio mate, so can you tell me what the montage of WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA has to do with you crucifying midwives in the UK?

How is it that MY image can come up in something as blatantly bullshit as this?

Wank on love.

x Brooke, an aussie homebirther who's *shock horror* HIGH RISK and chooses to make her own choices about where she births regardless of what some wanky 'doctor' might think

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 1:59:00 PM

Right on! Again. 

Brooke has just had her third baby. She was high risk. History of postpartum haemorrhage. Big baby. Polyhydramnios, Hypertension. She had two doulas and a midwife to help her. Naturally, true to her principles, she exercised her choice to have a home birth. Er…no. She listened to some wanky medical advice and exercised her choice to go to hospital albeit taking her doulas with her. You can read all about it at BigBaby which is running a feature on “Inspiring hospital births of big babies” Brooke will probably moan that we are discussing her birth experience. Well, Brooke, if you don't want it discussed, don't put it on the internet.

Brooke’s big baby

This is the story of my third baby. Born after a homebirth, after a caesarean. I had polyhydramnios, pregnancy induced hypertension, and previously had large haemorrhages post birth. My first 2 kids were 3750g and 3900g, my third, was a 4780g stunner. This was a waterbirth in a tertiary hospital (a big no no lol) and the baby was born in the caul, drug free with NO intervention…

Read on (and see the photos) here


It is, unfortunately, militant but credulous women like this who fall prey to the independent midwives and the dippy doulas. Brooke epitomises the blinkered wannabe homebirthers better than anything I can say. How do you even begin to start a rational discussion with someone like this? You would get more sense from Rolf Harris

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