[ArmsOfLove]

I pm'd this to Terri when the board was locked and I was frustrated

There are birth options.

Hospital--many have a *good* experience, some would say their experience is great, far too many end in C-section and there is a lot of debate over how many are actually necessary. Induction pushes for birth before mother and baby are ready, doctors control birth, mother is part of the system.

Birth Center--designed to be as close to home environment as possible but with the benefits of the hospital if needed. Many women *feel* safer, but are under strict supervision because of the liability of the birth center and staff if things don't go "on schedule".

Homebirth--in a planned homebirth with or without a midwife there is absolute and total control of the birth in the hands of the mother. All rights and responsibilities fall on her shoulders and it is up to her to surround herself with support that will enable her to be successful.

A woman who gives birth before she gets to the hospital didn't have a "homebirth"; a woman who gives birth in a hospital obviously didn't have a homebirth, and a woman who had a birth at a birth center, even if it's wonderful, even if it's "just like being at home"--did NOT have a homebirth.

It doesn't make her birth "wrong", "less than", or other than what it should have been, but it isn't a homebirth

To me this is the same. You cannot define something simply by what it isn't, but what it isn't is part of what it is. VS is an alternative to the traditional public schools and I think it's great that this is out there Just like I think birth centers are a wonderful alternative to a routine hospital birth. But while VS is home, it isn't homeschool.