Birth of my grandaughter

On Dec 26, 2012 I became a grandmother! This experience was amazing and very scary at the same time. The pregnancy for my daughter was not the normal pregnancy that many women have. My daughter takes anti seizure meds. This caused concern for the baby. She had to see a high risk doctor and they determined that she needed to stay on her meds. Throughout her pregnancy she had to see specialist and have many tests done to make sure that there were no birth defects. This made everyone scared every time she had an appointment. Luckily there were none. But in her 37th week her blood pressure was up and she began to have chest pain. On the day after Christmas she was admitted and a c-section was planned. There was a cardiologist called in, they were worried about her heart. It was determined that it was best for my daughters health to deliver that day. They sent in a neo natal doctor to inform us of the risk of delivering early. It was possible that the babys lungs were not developed enough and she would be in the ICU. Not only was I in fear for my daughters life, I was in fear for the baby. The stress of the delivery could have caused my daughter to have a seizure and this stops oxygen from going to the baby. When they came into the room and took my daughter for surgery, the tears came uncontrollably, I was scared to death. She had a excellent doctor, and in about 25 minutes a perfectly normal baby with no complications was born. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches. I thanked god for our good fortune!
I read an article about birthing rituals in Jamaica at HTTP://JAMAICA-GLEANOR.COM They give birth at home with a midwife and s nana. There was an open bible in the room and the mothers belly was anointed with caster oil that would later be given to both mother and child. The mother and child have to stay in the house with the nana for 8 days to protect the mother and child from spiritual and physical dangers. The placenta and umbilical cord are buried and a tree is planted where the umbilical cord is. The baby was bathed in cold water that contained rum and a silver coin given by the father, this would also be buried with the placenta and umbilical cord.
What I found interesting is that these rituals are practiced out of firm spiritual beliefs. Many birthing practices are done for this reason. In the US we tend to take the medical approach. Our infant mortality rate is lower. If these mothers have complications the chance of getting proper medical care is scarce. And the survival rate of mothers and babies decreases.

 Since my spiritual beliefs do not interfere with how babies are born, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would risk a complication and not having proper medical care. Comparing them for me is impossible, since you need such a strong spiritual belief to understand their choice.