Why Home Birth?

If you didn't already know (and hardly anybody does), we are planning on having our baby at home. We have kept that bit of information to ourselves because most people don't understand why we would choose to do it that way this time around, and will think we're crazy for doing so. I know that many people feel like it is an irresponsible thing to do and I get that. Ironically, I now feel like it is the more responsible choice, but a few years ago, I certainly didn't. I thought that only people who were completely "out there" would choose to have a home birth. But, that was because I was completely uninformed and uneducated about anything outside of the "normal" maternity care and hospital birth. My first two births were both in the hospital, both with the pitocin, epidural, medical interventions, etc., and both were fine experiences. I didn't even consider that there might be a different or better way to do it. It's not like I had a horrible hospital experience that steered me in this new direction.

So, why in the world are we choosing to do it this way this time? This post would have to be way too long to really delve into the whole thing (because trust me, I have done my research), so I'm not going to try. But, suffice it to say that our thinking and beliefs regarding doctors, medical care, natural care, medicine, alternative medicine, etc. has gradually shifted over the last several years and we think totally differently than we did 5 and 7 years ago when we had Jake and Addi. I no longer blindly put my trust in the medical profession and no longer believe that they have all the right answers regarding the health of me or my family. Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-doctor. I think that they are skilled and necessary in certain situations. They are absolutely needed for emergencies, surgeries, etc. However, childbirth, for the most part, is not an emergency situation. Yes, there ARE times when it is an emergency situation, or when there are complications or known high-risk issues, and doctors and hospitals are essential for those times. But for the majority of women, giving birth is not an emergency, it is a natural process. And yet, for various reasons, in America, we have been conditioned to believe that it is an emergency situation all the time. (Homebirth is much more common and mainstream in many other developed countries.)

As I have gradually looked more into natural medicine and care, and researched more about the way our bodies work, I have become more and more amazed at the way God has created us; and He created a woman's body to know how to give birth. Looking back on my first two births though, I really didn't trust at all in God who created my body to do this amazing, miraculous thing, and I really didn't let my body do any of it. Instead, I put all my trust in the nurses and doctors. I got to the hospital, let them hook me up to all the machines and pump me full of whatever they wanted to pump me full of, laid in the bed, pushed when they told me to push (because I certainly couldn't feel when I was supposed to push), and was honestly pretty disconnected from the whole experience.

In the end, however, the result was a beautiful, healthy baby each time, and with relatively little pain. So, why wouldn't I want to do it that way again? Because I want to experience birth the way that God intended it to be experienced. And, yes, I know that's going to mean more pain. But I think and I pray that it will also mean experiencing something beautiful on an entirely different level. I have also come to learn that all of those little medical interventions that we blindly trust in and accept actually lead to more and more medical interventions (the c-section rate in America is up to a ridiculous 1 in 3 births, and in many cases is due to the side effects of common labor interventions), and these interventions result in less and less of how God actually designed our bodies to give birth. I would encourage you to look into how these normal, common medical interventions like pitocin and induction and epidurals interfere with what your body should naturally be doing. And, because it is changing what your body should naturally be doing, it can affect you and your baby in ways that you are not really aware of. This time around, I am choosing to trust that God's way and God's design is better than anything that modern medical technology has come up with, and to trust that He designed my body to know how to give birth with the best possible outcome.

So, the next question is, why not give birth naturally at the hospital rather than at home so that if there is some sort of complication or emergency, we are already at the hospital to deal with it? Well, personally, I think that giving birth totally naturally at a hospital would be extremely difficult. They have rules, protocol, insurance companies, and lawsuits to worry about. Yes, you can refuse the epidural, but being hooked up to monitors and laying in a bed (in the most unnatural possible position for giving birth) will not make that easy to do. You are not really given the freedom to ease the pain in other ways, and you are not given the freedom to refuse other medical interventions that are hospital protocol. For many reasons, a hospital is simply not conducive, in my opinion, to trying to have a natural birth.

That doesn't mean that I don't want a professional around to help me through it and to make sure things are going the way they should be going. Good midwives have had that training. They are the experts when it comes to "normal" births that are not high-risk and do not require the attention of specialists, because that is the focus of their training. They are knowledgable and experienced, and work with you to help your body do what it has been created to do. And, they also recognize if there is a problem that does need intervention - intervention that, yes, they are trained and prepared to deal with. They carry oxygen, medication to control hemorrhages, antibiotics, equipment for suturing, etc. And, they are also well equipped to recognize if there is a complication that could be better dealt with by getting you to a hospital. (Incidentally, the transfer rate to a hospital is extremely low, and the majority of those transfers are the result of the woman wanting an epidural, not because of a medical emergency.)

So, I can accept that you might think we are crazy for wanting to have our baby at home under the care of a midwife, but we believe that for us, it is the best option this time around (I am certainly not claiming that it is the best option in everybody's case). Granted, we have not yet done it and not yet experienced it, and maybe I will be singing a very different tune once we have. But for now, I am so excited and absolutely cannot wait to experience it.