Is home birth right for you?
Are you a healthy woman experiencing a normal pregnancy?
Do you desire to be an active participant in your prenatal care and birth?
Do you choose a non-medical approach when it is a safe option?
Do you want to be supported by your birth team in your desire for a natural birth?
My clients choose home birth for many reasons.
The overall themes they discuss are safety, comfort, family, empowerment and support.
These are some of the reasons my clients give for choosing home birth:
Safety
I want my baby to be exposed to as few chemicals and germs as possible.
If my baby and I are healthy, I want to wait for labor to start on its own.
If my labor fails to progress, I want to try natural means of stimulating labor.
I want my provider to work very hard to help me not tear. I definitely don't want a provider who would cut an unnecessary episiotomy just to hurry things up.
I want a vaginal birth. I don't want to worry that a c-section will be done just because my labor is progressing slowly.
I want interventions to be used only as needed, not due to "protocol."
Comfort
I want to move freely in labor. When my baby needs to be monitored, I want the monitor to come to me rather than me being sent to bed.
I want to eat and drink in labor--my own food, from my own fridge.
I want to be able to consider a water birth.
I don't want to travel while in labor.
I want to be loud if I need to be loud, naked if I need to be naked, and to cry if I need to cry.
I might just want to sit alone...or never be left alone.
I don't feel comfortable, or empowered, in a hospital gown.
I want a fire in the fireplace, my music on, and my dog lying at the foot of my bed.
After my difficult and triumphant labor I want to be resting at home in my own bed.
Support
I want my prenatal appointments to include a lot of face-to-face time with my provider.
I want to be supported in breastfeeding, even if it's tough.
I want my provider to be invested in me holistically--not just interested in my medical concerns, but my emotional and spiritual concerns as well.
When I call to say "I'm in labor," I want my provider to know who I am and remember me from our prenatal visits.
I want to be taken care of by someone who knows me and my birth plan, someone who respects and cares personally about me and my partner.
I want my provider to be with me for much of my labor, not just the birth of the baby.
I don't want my birth team to change shifts in the middle of my birth.
I want to know that my midwife is focused only on me and my labor.
I want a provider who believes in me and believes in birth, and knows how to help me believe.
Amy Paulson
Family
I want my baby to stay with me from the moment she is born.
I want all those newborn procedures (weighing, medicines, exam, footprints) to wait until after the most important and precious part: nursing and bonding with my new baby while he is still alert after birth.
I want my family to be included in my prenatal care and birth--as many or as few as I choose.
I want my baby to have this peaceful, reverent and joyful welcome.
Empowerment
I don't want to be treated like I'm sick just because I'm pregnant.
I don't want to be told what position to give birth in. I want to see what is working well for me.
I want to be able to ask questions, and even to question the advice of my provider.
I want to understand why different procedures and tests are being offered and have the ability to decline them if they are not best for me and my baby.
I know I can do this. But if I start to forget, I want you to be there to remind me.
