Home Birth

For those of you who don't already know, Zack and I are planning on having a home birth.

When I share that with people, I tend to get a mixture of responses. Most of them including... "Are you crazy?" "Why would you do that?" "What happens if.....(insert problem here)?". But occasionally, I will get an "Oh wow, that's so cool!"

Regardless of everyone else's opinions about it, I know that this is definitely the right choice for us. Anybody who has known me for a significant amount of time would be able to tell you that natural birth and home birth is something that I have always been passionate about. So, it was only natural to go that route when I found out that I was going to be having this baby. It may seem crazy to people, but it is really not. It is a growing trend in the United States, and in most other countries it is more normal to have a home birth than it is to have a hospital birth. My feelings about the subject, in general, stem from a few different places. I truthfully think that hospitals push medication on laboring women, and I did not want to be put in a position where I felt that my wishes were not being respected. Hospitals also push Cesarean Sections really hard, and I certainly did not want to be put in a position where I was being told that I "needed" to have a C-Section that was in fact, not necessary. Besides all of these things... Birthing in a hospital can be really stressful to some people... having multiple people in and out of your room, constantly; beeping monitors all around you; being connected to machines and IVs; not being allowed to eat or drink anything... etc. Although these rules may make some women feel safe, they make me feel very anxious.

Birthing at home, compared to birthing in a hospital, is a really peaceful experience. The only people around you are the people you want to be around you. There are no monitors or machines, and no one pressuring you to do anything you are not comfortable doing. Basically, all of the shots are called by the mother, not by a doctor. Birthing at home is really about trusting and listening to your body. Even never having a child before, your body instinctively knows what it is supposed to do, and it just does it. Personally, I have become really content with the process of birth, especially birthing from home and I really feel that I am in the right mind set. I am ready for this birth, and I trust my body 110% to do what needs to be done.

To make things clear, it won't be only me and Zack at the birth. The entire birth will be accompanied by our midwife, Monica, and a nurse that assists her with all of her client's births. Monica has been the person who has provided all of my prenatal care, and I trust her with both my life and my child's life. She is extremely experienced, having delivered nearly 3,000 babies in her career as a Registered Nurse Midwife; and the majority of those births were home births.

When we first found out that I was pregnant, I immediately began a mission to find a midwife in our area. Because this pregnancy was not planned in advance, I really did not know of any midwives. Monica has actually been a midwife for people on Zack's side of the family, so it was an easy decision once I got a hold of her. I won't lie, Zack was not 100% on board with the home birth thing, prior to meeting and talking with Monica. It's not that he wasn't supportive, but he had all of the normal concerns that everybody else has, especially with it being his wife and child involved. But, after our first visit with Monica, where we sat and talked about what the plan was, and the possibilities of what could happen...etc, we both walked out of there feeling completely confident in both the entire process of home birth, and having Monica as the person who would be taking care of me.

Now, onto the main question that I get from people... "What happens if something goes wrong?"
Here's the thing... the chances of something going wrong is pretty minuscule. And that is not me being naive, because of course I know that there is a small chance of something going wrong, but in the same respect, if that is my mind set going into the birth, then something probably will go wrong. Also, if we are going through the labor and Monica does notice that something is happening and she feels that we would be better served going to the hospital, those problems will show up soon enough that we will definitely have time to make it to a hospital. Like I mentioned above, she has delivered nearly 3,000 babies, most of them at home, and has never lost a baby or mother in the process. I think her track record speaks for itself.

Really, it is all about mind set. If you go into labor with a negative outlook, or an uneasy feeling about your care giver, then you will most likely have a difficult labor. Contrary to that, if you go into labor with a positive outlook and are 100% confident in your caregiver, your body, and yourself, then the chances of you having an easy labor are pretty high.

I want to add, that just because I feel this way, does not mean that I am, in any way, trying to bash people who have had hospital births. There is no one right way to give birth. Each person and individual situation is different, so I am not here to judge. I admire any woman who has gone through pregnancy and birth, whatever form it was in. It is a truly amazing and powerful thing and that feeling shouldn't be taken away from anybody. There are lots of different choices when it comes to birthing, but for us, home birth is the best choice.

We are really looking forward to this birth & everything going smoothly, and as planned. Keep your fingers crossed! :)