Just kidding. I don’t take on anyone or any topic. That title is just a shameless ploy to get attention. It’s what I do best as a middle child. Or something.
Anyway, my dear friend Kathryn Whitaker is running a cool series on birthing options at her blog, Team Whitaker, this week. She invited me to write a guest post representing hospital birth.
Sidebar here: some of you Iowa State alumni and St. Cecilia (Ames, Iowa) parishioners may recognize Kathryn. Although she is Texan through and through, she attended graduate school at Iowa State and called Ames home for a couple of years. Shoot, she even co-chaired VEISHEA in 1998 during her short stay in Iowa. Kathryn promises me that all of Team Whitaker is planning a trip back to Iowa soon. I sure hope so because I love this gal and want to hang with her in the “Great State.”
But let’s get back to birthing plans. For all you Downton Abbey fans, remember when Lady Sybil died while birthing at home? Immediately after the episode aired, my Facebook feed flooded with “Why didn’t Sybil give birth at the hospital?”, “Shame on Downton Abbey. Homebirth is not dangerous!”, “More women die from a caesarean birth than homebirth!” and on and on and on.
Can we agree to stop with all the dangerous childbirth stories already? And can we please support one another in our decisions? I am quite proud of my decision to birth my children at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, and I’m honored to share my positive experiences in the post at Kathryn’s site today. I don’t try to persuade you to side with me by knocking you over the head with stats and morbid stories. I simply share my story. Positive hospital birth stories DO exist. I thrived from mine. So go give me some love, huh? Click here to read the post.
August 7th, 2013 
You know I loved having a fellow Cyclone on the blog. Hugs to you, Lisa, and thank you for sharing your heart!
Haha, middle child antics. Love it.
So true! And I’m so amazed at what a great experience you had. Good for you, Lisa, and good for Mercy Medical Center.
Great post – I had a failed homebirth, transport to the hospital by ambulance, and C-Section with my first birth. With my second, we had an attempted VBAC followed by a C-Section. The hospital staff were wonderful and supportive. I have many friends who have had home and birthing center births with no problems and I support them in their decisions as well. Come by and visit me at Home In Douglas!
Thank you for this!!!