Home Births

Our society today views childbirth as a sickness that can only be managed by “professionals” in the hospital. Babies that might come out blue and unresponsive, possible hemorrhaging, and babies that get stuck in the birth canal are all things that deter families from having births at home.
These are real issues and should not be ignored, but they make up only a small percentage of birth outcomes. The vast majority of women in the world can and do give birth safely at home. As fellow survivalists, we understand that the government and media either hide statistics or distort them.
The fact is that the U.S. is ranked 24th in infant mortality following such countries as Cuba, Portugal, and Singapore. When one looks at the countries with the lowest mortality rates, at least 70% of the births are attended by midwives. At the turn of the 20th century, that same statistic was true for our country.
Now home births account for less than 3% of all births. In fact, in some of our major cities, nearly 50% of births are performed by a major surgical procedure known as Caesarean. When one investigates the facts concerning the safety and reasons for home birth, it is not hard to see that it is a better way to birth.
Regardless of opinion and inclinations during normal and peaceful times, in a survival situation caused by economic collapse or natural disaster, childbirth will have to be dealt in possibly less than ideal conditions. I believe that in such a situation, midwives will be an invaluable and precious asset.

Preparing Children for a Crisis

As many of us are working on our bug out location, stocking food and water, which we all know takes both time and money. You might be working on living off the grid, solar, wind and water which again is time-consuming and costly, securing guns in case martial law goes into effect, and it seems the list of things grow each time you think about what you will need. In our home, the food and water storage is the work of both of us, the off grid falls on my husband as well as working on securing our safety with guns, gas and wood. My job is securing the future of our grandchildren.

So much has been posted on the above, but I have not read much on the children who will be impacted the most in the worst case scenario. Our grandchildren range from the ages of entering the world in October 2012 to eleven and it is very important to me that life keeps some normalcy for them in changing times. Since nobody knows how long life will be effective, preparing for them is my top priority.
Preparing both our local bug out location and our second, where we will end up and hopefully live out the major portion of our time, takes planning. As some of our grandchildren are not of the age to walk far (a consideration that truly needs to be addressed by all) if the need arises, and ground needs to be covered to reach your location, have you considered how to move them if needed. A bike with a cart in tow is one option if you have the means to get them or build them.