Before I became pregnant I knew little about birthing and assumed, like 99% of American women that I would “deliver” my baby in a hospital.  I had heard about homebirths and water births while working in the natural healthcare field for 14 years, but assumed they were for rural women, the Amish and hippies.  I mean, I wore suits to work and had a retirement plan.

But, when I started researching hospitals and speaking with friends who recently had babies something didn’t feel right.  The experience seemed too hi-tech and so many medical interventions were regularly used. Don’t misunderstand me.  We are all about technology in our home – the iMac, the iphone, the apple tv, GPS and all sorts of other iStuff– this is the age we are living in.  But, women have been giving birth for eons and I felt that it should be a more primal, more powerful and definitely more natural process.  I wanted to connect with my womanhood through what promised to be the most profound experience of female existence. Maybe I am just a control freak and it felt like I was giving up too much control over something too important – my body and my baby. And, I just don’t like hospitals. They are for sick people – and I felt the healthiest I’ve ever been while pregnant.

For women who choose home birth, being in familiar surroundings is a very important factor.  According to a study published in the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, the five main reasons for choosing homebirth were:

-safety
-avoidance of unnecessary medical interventions common in hospital births
-previous negative hospital experiences
-more control
-a comfortable and familiar environment

Fortunately, one of my friends was dating a wonderful man who has a son who was born at home.  He couldn’t say enough positive things about the entire experience and recommended that I meet with the midwife who attended his son’s birth.  She was still practicing in Los Angeles and held informational sessions.  His son is a good kid and turned out really healthy with a drug-free birth, so I figured I had nothing to lose.

When we met Leslie, a predictably earthy and confident woman in her fifties, at her little office in Studio City, CA we were surrounded by photographs of babies – and mothers having babies – in tubs, on beds, standing up, squatting, on their sides, in all their glory – but we didn’t see any on their backs strapped to beds with monitors attached to them.  We saw them giving birth in living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and even back yards.  I could see the interiors of warm friendly homes with family photographs on mantles with glimpses of the accoutrements used during labor.   I imagined what our photo would look like.  We went on to meet with Leslie and learn more about birthing at our home. We learned that as a certified nurse midwife (CNM), who had been practicing for over 20 years, that she had better health outcomes than hospital births and a significantly lower C-Section rate.  She informed us about prenatal visits, birth plans, childbirth classes, back up obstetricians and when hospital transfers were necessary. What sold me was that she never referred to me as a patient.  I wasn’t ill.  I was her client or partner. The term midwife comes from Old English and literally means “with woman”.  By the end of our session we felt a connection with her and were confident to have our baby at home with her attending.

I am not convinced that U.S. women know how safe or cost effective midwifery care is or about the level of personal attention a woman receives throughout prenatal care and labor. In Europe, midwives outnumber physicians.  Obstetricians there do not provide primary health care for most normal pregnancies and birth. The U.S. has the highest intervention rates but has not proven to be a safer place to have a baby, yet only 1% of women choose to have their babies at home as an alternative.  My hope is that modern, American women who gave birth at home, naturally, will start sharing their birth stories. It will give women more understanding of the birth process and the choices available to them for a safe and empowering birth – because homebirth isn’t just for hippies anymore.

As a nation we women need to reclaim birth and take it back from the doctors who coerce us to have our babies on their schedule and by their rules, not nature’s.  Our Bradley Childbirth instructor said it best when she compared due dates to the ripening of oranges.  Oranges will ripen during a season. This is akin to the 38 to 42 week gestation period where a fetus is considered full term.  But each orange will ripen and fall off the tree at different times within that window. The same is true of our babies.  They are ready when they are ready and do not need to be induced if they do not ‘ripen’ at exactly 40 weeks.  Each woman’s labor is different and unique and shouldn’t be forced to fit into a 12-hour window or be subjected to intervention with drugs to move it along.  This often causes the distress that results in our high C-Section rates. Some labors take 20 or 30 or more hours.  The mother and baby need this time.  Every woman and every labor is different.  Pregnancy, labor and birth are states of health – not disease – and shouldn’t be treated as such.  For women who have health problems, prior pregnancy-related issues, like placenta accreta or are considered at risk for home birth, the hospital is the best location for them with a surgeon attending.  That would be the safest choice for the well being of mother and baby. For all normal, healthy pregnancies, home birth should be considered.

I’ve read some comments on homebirth posts in the past that say, “as long as mother and baby are alive, that’s all that matters”.  Is it?  Has birth been deduced to that -simply making it through with both participants living at the end with no accounting for the process or the possible negative effects of the hospital’s interventions?  We can’t just dismiss the process because of the desired outcome.

Keep in mind, not all home births are successful. During a homebirth there is no access to pain relief drugs or labor induction drugs. There is also no equipment or supplies for emergency delivery, neonatal intensive care or procedures for addressing any other medical problems that arise. Births necessitating these interventions would require transfer to a hospital. Depending on the midwifery practice, transfer rates can range anywhere from 5% to 40%, but most studies cite a transfer rate of about 16%. Trained midwives are prepared for this. We toured the hospital where I would be transferred in an emergency, so we would know where I was going and in case of a breech baby I had a wonderful back-up OB/GYN who supported my midwife. I had a few pre-natal visits with him, as well.

Perhaps the US rates of C-Section have climbed due to the increase in elective C-Section as opposed to the “medically necessary” surgeries. This may be due to the exposure of high profile celebrities making those choices and deeming elective C-Sections trendy.  I imagine that they are unaware of the negative impact their choice could make on the health of their baby, and their attempt to breast feed, as well as, their own health.  Healing time is significantly faster with a natural, vaginal birth.  It makes me happy that some other celebrities, like Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore, Pam Anderson Lee, Nelly Furtado, Thandie Newton and Josie Maran chose to have homebirths. My hope is that their stories will make it to the masses and outshine the celebrities who opted for elective C-Sections. For second pregnancies requiring a C-Section because you are not a good candidate for VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), it would be wise to wait until your body goes into labor naturally in lieu of scheduling for the doctor’s convenience.  Scheduling ahead of time has absolutely no correlation to having a healthy baby via C-Section. Doctors want to maintain a smooth schedule and have hopital protocols and insurance carriers to answer to. But, the baby is ready when labor begins, naturally.

Wherever you decide, or however you end up birthing your baby, once you learn more about home birth, you can make an informed decision and can feel confident that you chose the best way possible for the health of you and your baby. There are many great books available about home births. Actress, talk show host and producer of the documentary “The Business of Being Born” Ricki Lake and producer Abby Epstein published a book recently called “My Best Birth”.  Their website is fantastic and has in depth information about informed birth. I highly recommend it, along with Spiritual Midwifery and Guide To Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. Birthing From Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz is also a great resource.

I am grateful that I had access to a well-trained Certified Nurse Midwife and had a labor unhindered by drugs and interventions. I trusted my body and my midwife. I knew my baby would come when he was ready.  Did I ask for drugs during labor?  Hell, yes!  But my husband took the 12 week Bradley childbirth class with me and knew how to handle my requests. He did a great job and my baby boy was born 36 (long) hours later, was laid on my chest and began nursing right away. Two hours later my husband collapsed in our bed while I answered the door to hand off my baby’s cord blood to a courier.  Needless to say, the courier was very surprised to learn that I had just given birth!

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the  mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new”
Rajneesh (Indian Mystic)

Our midwife, Leslie swaddling “D” as Daddy looks on.

Daddy stays with “D” for Agpar tests while I took a much needed shower!

In my arms right after birth on our sofa bed.

In the comfort of my own bed getting acqainted.