005. Why Hospital Birth Is Riskier Than Ever: Avoiding Unproven Interventions with Dr. Stuart Fischbein

Dive deeper into preparing for birth, navigating the system and becoming fully prepared for an empowered postpartum & parenting journey. Your peaceful pregnancy begins here.

Dr. Stuart J. Fischbein is a community-based obstetrician with decades of experience attending births. His current focus is on teaching breech and twin birth skills.

In this episode, you're going to learn about the six high-risk interventions commonly used on pregnant women that have never been tested or proven to be safe, why modern hospital birth models have worse outcomes than those of 50 years ago, the cascade of medical interventions that leads to unnecessary C-sections, why many birth complications are caused by the hospital environment itself and how women can make more empowered choices to avoid unnecessary medical interventions during childbirth.

Stuart J. Fischbein, MD, is a community-based obstetrician and an Associate of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology, published author of the book “Fearless Pregnancy, Wisdom & Reassurance from a Doctor, A Midwife and A Mom” and peer-reviewed papers: Homebirth with an Obstetrician, A Series of 135 Out of Hospital Births and Breech birth at home: outcomes of 60 breech and 109 cephalic planned home and birth center births. 

After completing his residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dr. Stu spent 24 years assisting women with hospital birthing and for the last 13 years has been a home birth obstetrician who works directly with midwives. 

Since retiring from attending home births in 2022, Dr. Stu has turned his focus to travelling around the world as a lecturer and advocate for reteaching breech & twin birth skills, respect for the normalcy of birth and honouring informed consent. 

He hosts a weekly podcast with co-host Blyss Young and together they offer hope, reassurance and safe, honest evidence-supported choices for those women who understand pregnancy is a normal bodily function not to be feared.

Timestamps:

[03:29] Dr. Stu’s experience with hospital and home births

[08:25] Common medical interventions and their risks

[13:19] Differences between home birth and hospital birth environments

[17:07] How interventions lead to unnecessary C-sections

[22:24] Importance of partner support during labour

[31:28] Vaccine safety concerns during pregnancy

[38:40] Breech birth misconceptions and why they are labelled high-risk

[47:14] How doctors' fear affects birthing choices and outcomes

Confused about medical information or hearing advice that just doesn’t sit well with your intuition? Work with Dr. Stu! 

You can also follow Dr. Stu on Instagram.

Resources Mentioned:

Reteach Breech Training with Dr. Stu | Website

Home Birth Peer Reviewed Study by Dr. Stu | Article

Birthing Instincts Podcast | Website or Spotify or Apple

Connect with Eyla through the Uncovering Birth Website and her Instagram.