Homebirth: Angelina Jolie wants a homebirth: What sort of birth would you have if money was no object?

I was doing the obligatorily food shopping and as usual the queue was long, shopping trolleys laden with food, good, bad and indifferent. Alas I have to wait, the cover of the Woman's Day beckons me with its striking heading.

Brad and Angies SHOCK HOME BIRTH

Nothing like headlines about Homebirth to get you to buy a magazine when you are a midwife. I flicked through the magazine until it was time to unload my shopping, pack and pay for it.
I sat down at home with a cup of Earl Grey tea, kicked of my shoes and read the article.

Angie loves the idea of a home birth

How fantastic I thought, did no one tell her that having twins puts you in a high category in terms of obstetric risk factors and therefore a homebirth is really not ideal. Then I read further "a team of medics has been flown to the French hideaway in preparation for the twins' arrival"

A gynaecological consultant and midwife, are said to be staying with the family. Angie is looked after around the clock by an ob-gyn, a midwife and at least two nannies

Woh, how good is that, at least there is a midwife present. That shows our status is of some importance. I wonder if they have a portable ultrasound machine in the house?

Angie has a pilot, who has US Army training and a helicopter on 24-hour stand-by to fly her to a local hospital. She is taking no chances.

I wonder how much this is costing? the magazine did not elude to the cost however did say the property they are staying at belongs to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and is valued at $63 million US. It is clear that money is no object.
I would like this job as the midwife? over looking the Mediterranean and caring for Angie.
There are many questions about this case that we do not know, for instance what position are the twins? so it is really difficult to make any clear decisions regarding Angie's care.

I pondered on this for a while and thought if everyone had the money to do and have what ever birth you wanted, what sort of birth would you have?
Who would you have present? What resources would you have and use? does this mean that helicopters are an option?
The mind boggles at the thought. Now stop dreaming, the reality is you do not have to pay millions to have a homebirth.
Homebirth's are within the reach of every woman and midwives are recognised as the best professional to care for a woman within a low risk category - or normal pregnancy.
Every pregnant woman needs to know who her midwife is.


Perth WA, has a Community Midwifery Program which is government funded however we do need more places to be made available for the women of this State. The government is currently reviewing the homebirth policy................so watch this space.

The Community Midwifery Program (CMP) is a unique community based midwife-led service. The Program aims to meet the needs of women and their families by providing them with continuous midwifery care throughout their pregnancy, labour, birth and the early postnatal period. Continuity of care is internationally recognised as increasing satisfaction rates for women who utilise this care option. The CMP is the only government supported homebirth program in Western Australia. The Program is fully funded through Medicare for women eligible for this benefit.

http://www.cmwa.net.au/CMWA%20pages/program.html