Our first child entered the world with the glare of operating room lights blinding her as she struggled to open her eyes for the first time outside the womb. She was welcomed with a suction cup on her head pulling her from the womb and loud shouts of strange voices shouting "PUSH!! PUSH!!" at her mother. As soon as she was born, a man held her up and passed her to a woman who whisked her to the corner of the room, wrapped her in a blanket and began the assessment process while the doctor stitched up the damage he had done with his scalpel.
In the twelve hours prior to her birth, the nursing staff had broken my water, given me prostaglandin gel and Pitocin, morphine to numb the pain and finally an epidural. My perineum was shaved and I was forced to lay in bed so as not to disturb the fetal monitor. By the time I gave birth, I hadn't eaten for 15 hours. I was weak and dazed from the medication, but relieved that it was over. It took a full three weeks after the birth before I could sit on a chair without wincing. The reward for my labor was a beautiful, healthy baby girl and I was thrilled to have had a "normal" delivery.
Our second child joined the family in much the same way.
Having now had the opportunity to experience both hospital and home births, the differences are just incomparable and I can truly say without hesitation that my natural, non-medicated home births were MUCH easier than my highly intervened, medicalized hospital births!
We've now come to realize that birth is a natural process - not a medical one. Babies were born naturally without interventions for thousands of years before hospital birth became the norm in the 50's. Along with hospital births, came medical interventions that are not necessary for a safe birth, but more so for malpractice avoidance on behalf of the doctor and hospital staff.
It has been suggested that much of the pain of labor is brought on by fear of the unknown, being in a strange place with strangers coming and going and the pressure of having to perform and produce once at the hospital.
Many women in our culture today just go to the hospital and do what they're told because they don't trust their bodies to know what to do. The majority of women have never even seen a birth unless it was dramatized on television. They assume the delivery room personnel are "experts" and know better than the mother what needs to be done to have a "safe" delivery.
Besides -- epidurals are the norm now and a woman can have an "almost painless" childbirth experience in the hospital that she couldn't have at home. Unfortunately, most women don't stop to research the dangers of epidurals because their doctor assures them it is safe!
There is a vicious cycle in most hospital births that lead to a cascade of interventions. Fear leads to pain - pain leads to medication - medication leads to the need for monitoring - monitoring prohibits free movement - lack of free movement prohibits natural gravity assisted passage of the baby through the birth canal - when the baby can't move as he should, the mother is told she is in stalled labor and is given Pitocin or prostaglandin gel to "help the labor along". Finally, she is given an epidural to help her deal with the slow progress so she can "relax" while her body contracts. When it's finally time to push the baby out, she has no feeling from the waist down and can not effectively go with the impulses her body is giving her, so there is often the need for vacuum extraction or forceps assistance and finally for an episiotomy, or in many cases (1 in 4), surgical removal of the baby in a cesarian.
Our advise to anyone expecting a baby (regardless of where you plan to deliver) is to read, study and watch everything you can about the birth process. Having your baby is one of the most important things you'll ever do! Does it make sense to do more research on what options you want in your new car than on the best option for having your baby? NO! The best parent is an informed parent!
Homebirth Midwives are birth experts who train for years and apprentice under other midwives. They attend and assist in many births before practicing on their own. Their learning comes from real life and birth experiences -- not just from a class room (though much 'study' is involved in their training as well). Midwives treat the expectant mother as a friend, not just a 'patient'. The family is included in the prenatal appointments and when she comes for the birth, she brings with her all the equipment necessary to handle an emergency and a back-up plan is always in place should a true emergency present itself necessitating transfer to a hospital.
Homebirth is not for everyone. High risk pregnancies should be treated by an obstetrician, but in a routine, low risk pregnancy, a natural birth in a woman's own home where she is comfortable is the best option.
Imagine not having to worry about getting the kids to a sitter or family member, packing a suitcase, getting to the hospital on time in traffic and timing contractions on the highway! Imagine having meals at your own table and enjoying the privacy of your own bathroom without someone you've never met asking you if you're finished. Imagine giving birth to your baby in the privacy and comfort of your own home instead of in a bed someone else has just birthed in. Imagine getting into your own bed after the birth with your husband and new baby and with your other children there to welcome him or her into the family.
Birth can be a wonderful experience and not something to fear!
