Why Home Birth? For me.

"Birth is as safe as life gets." -Harriette Hartigan

A lot of people may wonder why I would want a home birth. Especially when I already have an amazing relationship with midwives who work at a hospital just up the street. Well, there's not just one answer to that for me. But I'll do my best.

Starting with the boring stuff. The science and history of home birth. Many people are worried because in their minds, babies and moms die in home birth. They think this, because they think the hospital saved women and helped create safety for them in childbirth. Many people think that childbirth is a dangerous event. Having been through it myself, I know that it can be dangerous. But I also know it can also be normal, more often than not. The medical world came in and took over childbirth over time, and more and more women throughout history moved from having their babies at home, to having them in the hospital. This lead to increased risks that weren't present in the home. It took quite a while for doctors to develop a hygienic routine with dealing with so many women in one place. While it took a while to stabilize and work itself out, hospital birth became a good option for the small percentage of women who do happen to have occasional complications. But what about the majority of mother's who have normal pregnancies and normal births? Who don't need the extra medical stuff? I believe we should have the option to birth at home. In the instance that something begins to look abnormal, there is always the option to transfer during labor to the hospital if necessary. But if everything looks fine, I would like the option to stay at home.

One very practical reason, that I'd like to point out about home birth for me: Once I hit active labor, I tend to labor pretty fast. So far, in the past with my 3 births, I tend to have pretty fast labors. I was in the hospital for induction due to symptoms of pre-eclampsia with my first two. The medicines (cervidil) they give to prepare you for induction (the day before your scheduled induction) put me into labor with both of my first two. There was no drama (other than my alarmingly high blood pressure), no hours spent pushing, there was just no big deal. My doctor walked into the room as I pushed my second out. He barely made it. With my third I had early spontaneous labor throughout the day while shopping, but nothing big. I had dropped my other two kids at my dad's house to play for the day. It never turned into full active labor. I had contractions 10 minutes apart all day (I had contractions 10 minutes apart for TWO WEEKS with my second before being induced at 42 weeks). No big deal. My intuition told me to go to the hospital later on that night- that was it. Intuition. I'm glad we did, because once my water broke in the hospital, my baby was born three very forceful contractions later. There. No fuss. Now what if I had not followed my intuition? I second guess it all of the time. What if my kids were with us and we had to drive an hour out of the way to drop them off? I'm glad I didn't second guess it that time, but what if I had? What if I had an unplanned home birth? Honestly, it would have been fine. But there would have been a mess that I did not plan for. I would not have had any supplies to deal with the situation. Generally people up and go to the hospital right after having an unplanned home birth and end up staying there for a day or two, which seems quite unnecessary to me if everyone is fine. Anyhow, I'd rather be prepared. Even if the midwife does not make it in time, I'd rather have everything I need to feel safe at home. I'd rather know that help is on their way. I'd rather not labor in the car. I'd rather just stay home, when I know it's no big deal.

Some emotional reasons: I've been through quite a lot with my doula clients this past year. My job is full of so many emotional ups and downs. And my job just happens to occur most often at the last place I gave birth, although I work at all hospitals in the metro Atlanta area. Every time I walk into a labor and delivery room at this hospital, I am rushed with an overwhelming amount of emotions from the past, that flow through me and then I shed while I discover new ones with each new encounter. So yeah, there's a lot of baggage there. I do not have any of that at home. I feel safe and emotionally cared for within the walls of my home. Not only that, but in my house, I do not have to worry about seeing that nurse that I pissed of at work the other day, or eat that food that I know I hate, or listen to advice from *some* nurses that I know I don't want to hear.

When I think about having birth in the hospital, I'd actually dread seeing people I work with. I'd feel judged and like a spectacle. I'd go in knowing I don't agree with everything they'd suggest. This is not just at one hospital, either. I work at just about every hospital in the metro Atlanta area, and have gotten to know many of the nurses and hospital procedures very well. I'd go in knowing what I'd have to deal with, and know that most of it is completely unnecessary, and that's just a lot of aggravation that I'd love to skip. Then, there's the postpartum stuff. Last time, I told them I had a wheat allergy, so the nutritionist brought me white bread instead. This is the type of thing I'm talking about. I couldn't even eat the food they brought to me. But I knew I needed to eat, so I just ate it. Then they treat you like an inmate in a prison when they guard and judge every little thing you are doing with your baby, and TELL you how to do things with your baby.

If I were to have my baby at home, there would be very little of that. I would be in the comfort of my own home, with my own food, and my husband who is an awesome cook. I wouldn't have to worry about dropping my kids off (Only God knows where) while in labor. I wouldn't have to worry about seeing people from work. I wouldn't have to worry about transferring from labor and delivery to the postpartum unit. I wouldn't have to worry about anyone taking my baby from me. I wouldn't have to worry about any unwarranted advice (my family has given up, lol). I would be in a warm, safe, and intimate family-centered environment.

I know I did not go into the whole "home birth is as safe as hospital birth, and here's 50 reasons why" spill that so many other blogs write about. CDC says this ACOG says this, this midwivery association says this, blah blah blah. These are my reasons. There are enough blogs out there that you can google and get those stats. These are reasons that my family members and friends might care about. These are my prime motivators, aside from the evidence and lessons that I teach my clients every day. If you are one of those people who were hoping for that info, feel free to email me. I have allllllllllllllllll of that info readily available to email any time.

If any of you who are reading want to share why YOU chose home birth, I'd love for you to share. I know I have some friends who'd be interested in reading a few different perspectives.