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Home births in Japan

"... surprisingly the doctor gave us only half the placenta"

Rushing home I reached the house fearing that I would have missed the birth. We were expecting our second child and had decided to have a home birth after an unsatisfactory experience at the hospital when we had our first child. We had wanted the placenta after the birth but had been told it was illegal in Japan for a woman to keep the placenta. I was surprised at the lack of control a women has over her body in Japan. The reason we were told is that unscrupulous parents sell the placenta to cosmetic companies for use in facial creams. After many negotiations we were giving half of the placenta. I couldn't understand why we were not able to receive the whole placenta. So after the birth we had to then watch as the nurse cut the placenta in half.


The Illogical hospital concepts made as determined to find another way to have our second child. After much searching we found a mid wife living in a nearby suburb. The first meeting was completely different form what we had experienced at the hospital. We meet in the woman's home taking over a cup of tea. She explained that she had probably been present at close to 14000 births. She was 88 at the time (2001). She had been a POW during the Japanese invasion of Mongolia. She had been a mid wife in a hospital in Mongolia so had seen a many births. She was able to speak Chinese because of her experiences in the war. In 2001, the cost of a birth was roughly 300000 yen if there weren't any complications the money would be refunded later. However, with a homebirth we able to negotiate a lower cost and we paid about 200000yen but received a refund from the government of 300000yen.


Busting in the door I found the mid wife there talking and relaxing on the sofa. She told me that soon a young mid wife would be arriving to assist her with birth. My daughter was playing with her toys in the living room and her mother was lying on her back in the back room on top of the fold down sofa. I was a little flustered. Soon after the other younger mid wife arrived? I must admit I was expecting someone young. She was 68. They moved into the back room and continued talking about a range of topics none of which were remotely related to the situation. I felt completely relaxed and a part of something special. As the time grew closer my daughter grew tires and fell asleep on my left leg and her mother had her head in my lap. After my son was born, without the use of any drugs, I lent over and cut the umbilical. The midwife later gave us the placenta wrapped in white linen. My daughter woke and looked excitedly at her new brother. Luckily, my brother was also there at the time and when the extended family arrived we had a meal together.

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