Keeping Birth Out of the Landfill
Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 12:42AM by Joni Dawning, DEM
For many of us, the idea of homebirth implies a sense of personal ecology–a respect for the nature of birth as passage for both parents and babes. Why then, as women and their birth companions have come to trust and honor the process of giving birth, do most midwives and birthing families continue to follow the medical model of using nonessential, nonrecyclable, landfill-disposable “birth kits”? The majority of homebirth attendants require their clients to order individually packaged birth supplies from a mail order distributor. For $30.00 to $60.00 clients purchase plastic sheets, disposable “chux” pads, individual packets of lubricating gel, individually wrapped gloves, menstrual pads, plastic cord clamps, plastic bottles, plastic sitzbaths, chemical cold packs, etc., etc., etc., which are packed in a box stuffed with styrofoam pellets and shipped in a dinosaur guzzling truck which is owned by a parent corporation that also owns who knows what else. Along with the new born baby arrives a plastic garbage bag full of “biohazardous waste”–the blood and fluid soaked “birth supplies” which must now be incinerated or landfilled.
Birth, by nature is not sterile. The mother’s skin and mucous membranes through which the baby passes are rich microecosystems which contribute beneficial microorganisms for the baby’s skin and digestive system as the birth takes place. Additionally, a baby comes into the world protected from many pathogenic microorganisms by a process known as passive temporary immunity- the mother’s antibodies having been transferred to the baby through the placenta. Logically then, the mom’s own clean home environment will not present microscopic danger to her baby. Babies and moms do need to be protected from microorganisms which could be introduced by a careprovider or a non-home birthplace–it is recognized that many infections of babies and moms in hospital births are from organisms present in the hospital or healthcare workers (nosocomial infections). It follows then, that disposable gloves must be used during exams, and suctioning devices must be sterile and for use by a single infant, but other standard disposable supplies at a homebirth are conveniences, used both to make clean-up easy (and to minimize the midwife team’s contact with body fluids associated with birth–universal precaution).
To minimize birth trash in my homebirth practice, I ask my clients to assemble a collection of old towels, sheets and blankets (used flannel receiving blankets are cheap, soft and can be used to make diapers or menstrual rags after the birth). Parents wash these supplies carefully and dry them in a hot dryer. A clean shower curtain, or a new tarp which will be reused for camping or on the wood pile, or even several thicknesses of newsprint work well to keep the bed or floor dry. All of these supplies are put in a bucket or plastic bag as they become soiled and are then carefully loaded in the washer while wearing rubber gloves. Hydrogen peroxide safely removes blood stains. The placenta, membranes and birth blood usually are returned to the earth by the birthing family: planted under a tree or buried in a spot that “feels right”. A couple of bowls or buckets, a clean plastic bottle, coffee for the midwife, and a friend to help with housecleaning complete my birth supply list. The average birth generates one or two loads of laundry, a very small bag of trash (5 or 6 gloves), and a few paper glove wrappers to recycle.
Once parents consider how to have a baby with minimal consumption it is easier to see how to raise a child with as little impact on our mother earth as is possible.
Reader Comments (2)
When you have kids you can never have too many towels anyway. Use them over and over rather than throw away paper towels.