Homebirthing Story- Guest Post by American Family Now

TOR here: Today I am happy to bring you another guest post from American Family Now. The topic is home birthing. This is very practical today as many folks are hard up for cash and/ or don't have great insurance,. Also it is obviously applicable as a "just in case" sort of thing. As a disclaimer you should consider this article as one persons experiences and for informational purposes only. Do your own research, consult professionals you trust and make your own adult decisions about home birthing, just like everything else in life.

Homebirthing Story

Homebirthing, for me, did not begin as a parenting decision for our family. Unlike families who make their birthing choices after discovering they were pregnant, or families who grew up among homebirthers, my journey began as a teenager when becoming a midwife was my choice of career.

Helping women give birth under their own power, in their own environment, became my passion, and as midwifery was not an option for me at the time, I trained to become a birth doula and opened a business to support women through pregnancy and birth.

It was in this context that I became comfortable with the physiology of pregnancy and birth, and laid the groundwork for my future family.

When my husband and I became pregnant with our first child in 2006, choosing to give birth at home felt like the common sense choice. I was healthy and home felt like the best place for us. Unfortunately, in my ninth month I developed mild gestational hypertension, and so, just to be on the safe side we transferred our care to a midwife in the hospital.

Despite an initial, yet temporary rise in blood pressure upon arrival in labor, the birth went well and we brought home a healthy baby boy. I was very proud of myself for the work I did, but I was at the same time disappointed that it had become such a stressful experience, with everyone getting concerned about possible consequences of high blood pressure, of which I was already quite familiar with as a doula.

In 2008 we were due with our second child, and this time around I chose a new home birth midwife and tried again. This time around I remained healthy, and our baby girl was born at home. It was a faster birth than I had anticipated, making the labor intense, but I felt so much more at peace knowing I was in a familiar place with only people there whom I trusted.

Our third child, a boy, was born at home in 2010. This labor was my easiest yet, in part because I used HypnoBabies, and in part because my body had finally figured out this whole birthing thing. There is nothing like body knowledge to teach you about birth!

We thought we were done after this, but after my carpenter husband was laid off and we moved into a camper, we discovered our fourth child was on the way! And my family, who had grown accustomed to my birthing choices asked, are you going to birth at home? A house is one thing, but a camper?

Turns out that isn’t enough to get me back to the hospital. We confidently hired our midwife and on the second day of spring this year our second daughter was born. She was born in our livingroom, but since it was a record-breaking 80 degree day, I spent a good amount of time outdoors, making this such a peaceful, happy birth.

I know homebirthing is not for everyone, and of those who are low-risk, very few will feel comfortable giving birth outside of the hospital, but for me and a growing number of women around the country, giving birth at home reflects a desire to keep birth as woman’s work, a family event, a part of life that is both natural and not to be feared. It reflects a way of life in which birthing is just a part, and with limited words, that is why my family chose homebirth.

 
Naomi Kilbreth is a Christian, wife to Glen for 7 years, and mother of four children, ages 5, 3, 2, and under 1. She is the author of Inspired Birth: A Fresh on Perspective on Childbirth for Christian Maternity Care Providers. For more information about homebirth, visit Birth a Miracle Services. To follow their family’s story, visit their blog, American Family Now