One Hundred Sixty One Reasons to Birth at Home
by The Peaceful Birth Project on Sunday, 22 August 2010 at 13:00
A few weeks ago I posted this question on Facebook: From the sublime to the mundane, what is your reason to birth at home? Many women posted that SAFETY was their reason to birth at home. Other common responses were COMFORT, FREEDOM and BONDING with baby.
These are the voices of mothers. My hope is that birth professionals reading this list can reflect on what women need from us and that mothers can be inspired to birth at home. My deep appreciation goes to all the women who contributed their thoughts to this list. A CNM friend who practices in a hospital said about this list: "Incredible! I hope this blossoms and finds its way around the earth." ENJOY and pass it on!
One Hundred Sixty One Reasons to Birth at Home
1. It's SAFER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Safety is at home, away from germs and interventions.
2. Comfort.
3. Because birth is a family event, not a medical one. Children should be welcomed into the world by the family in their family home!
4. My home has a 0% c/sec rate.
5. Freedom. Freedom to be myself, do what I want, make my own choices without pressure; birth my baby any way I want...
6. Knowing that if I had to transfer, it was a *true* need; not just something that was policy and wonder about for years after.
7. Why should I have to ride in a car while in labor, just to get to the hospital?
8. So that I may move at my own pace and not the pace imposed by another!
9. No need to pack a bag!
10. Eat your own food when you want to, sleep in your own bed, no noisy hospital roommates.
11. Because my vaj is no one's hand puppet!
12. Avoids the cascade of interventions!!
13. Because I can snack and drink during labor to keep me strong.
14. You can't forget anything,
15. You don't have to travel with a newborn.
16. You can always remember exactly where they were born (you may even have stains to prove it).
17. You can have your children or pets with you.
18. You're more likely to find something of comfort at home than in a sterile hospital.
19. No visiting hours, no "protocol", NO PRESSURE.
20. Freedom to walk around outside.
21. A kitchen full of food.
22. I want to poop and puke in my own toilet in my own bathroom.
23. Control of the birthing environment and your own body.
24. Freedom from foreign germs (all the germs are mine and my family's). The germs in your home are your own and you don't have to risk being exposed to other people's germs and/or drug-resistant strains prevalent in hospitals.
25. Freedom from hospital policy.
26. Freedom to eat and drink to keep up strength. My refrigerator would be stocked with food that I like!
27. Freedom from inhibitions.
28. Freedom from stirrups.
29. Freedom from constant badgering.
30. I can both labor in the tub and push in the tub.
31. I can get into my OWN bed right away and breastfeed in the comfort of my own home.
32. No shift changes!!! The people you invite to your birth are the people that will see you through... No "oh it's 6pm, gotta go, hope you like the next person"
33. Going to sleep in your own bed after baby is born. No one waking you up to take your vitals at 2am, usually right after you've finally fallen asleep.
34. Care providers who believe in my body's ability to birth and are there to support that experience, not that they are present to SAVE me from an inherently dangerous process.
35. My own smells, stuff, noises and all the stuff baby has already been exposed to in utero.
36. It's safe to walk around barefoot :) I felt like that was gross in the hospital.
37. You won't get shrieked at for getting out of bed.
38. To avoid 'moving quickly upon the earth'; it's ingrained in our psyche to be close to the earth in labor... moving at highway speeds goes against our instincts.
39. No separation for a few hours while the nurses take your baby to check on their vitals!!! Everything waits on you and your baby!!! It's so hard to be separated for that long after having the baby in you for 9 - 10 months!!!
40. You can make as much noise as you dang well please!
41. Traveling in labor sucks!
42. Midwife comes to me for post-partum checks.
43. My first son was injured by the traumatic birth in the hospital; I didn't want to repeat that.
44. Big brother could be sleeping in the same house while I was birthing.
45. My husband got to be my "birth stool" to support me.
46. I can say my child was conceived and birthed in the same bed. ;)
47. No IV's, EFM's (external or internal), forceps/vacuums, episiotomies, Pitocin, or scratchy blood pressure cuffs. No cranky nurses.
48. My midwife actually knew how to help a woman who wasn't numb other than using knives or needles.
49. I could scream as loud as I wanted without worry about upsetting other patients.
50. WAYYYYY Less chance of a c-section!!!!
51. You can light candles at home.
52. Waterbirth in the comfort of our own home, warm wonderful loving women attending, eating our own food, feeling safe and secure, no threat of interventions, curling up after baby is born in my own bed... and waking there with my baby the next morning... ah, homebirth - it's the BEST!!
53. Because my midwife makes me cookies and does the dishes.
54. No bright lights, calm atmosphere, comfort, familiar people around me. I can have family there.
55. I feel respected, I am not rushed, and I can use the tub to relax.
56. If I need a moment alone I can get that and be respected for it.
57. No one takes the baby away from me.
58. I can have my toddler with me.
59. My husband is able to 'catch' the baby.
60. If I don't want my midwives to touch me they will respect that.
61. Birth is way more fun at home!!
62. My MAIN reason for birthing at home is because it was a SAFER environment for me to birth in. I trusted my care provider and felt like an active participant in the decision-making process during my entire labor and birth.
63. I've experienced a HORRIBLE labor that ended in an unnecesarean and completely eroded my faith and trust in OBs. With that being my head-space about them, there's NO WAY I'd ever trust another OB enough to take any advice towards intervention.......which could potentially put me in danger of refusing an intervention that MIGHT be medically prudent. I know that's not something I have to worry about with my competent, trustworthy midwife who patiently coached me through my labor. That dynamic alone makes homebirth a safer option for me.........I know that I won't refuse an intervention based upon mistrust of my care provider and therefore, I'm in a safer birthing environment should I actually NEED intervention.
64. To quote my FAVORITE musician of all time, Dave Matthews, on the homebirth of his son, August Oliver: "We had him at home, which was nice, because I knew where the beer was." My husband shares his sentiments.
65. Being able to be naked without a big audience.
66. Being able to burp or toot at will without embarrassment.
67. Being able to yell, moan, or cuss without feeling bad.
68. Being able to birth a baby in the same bed she was lovingly made in (unless it was a patio conception after drinks)
69. Privacy and Peace.
70. No rush in cutting the cord.
71. Because I don't have to have the carseat properly installed... just roll over and cuddle my baby!
72. So I can be naked and comfortable, eat food, birth in whatever position I want, to lay there awhile and no one rush off with my baby.
73. So my hands or my husband's hands are first to touch our baby.
74. To avoid unnecessary interventions.
75. To lay on my own recliner to recover :)
76. To eliminate the when-to-leave build up! "Am I ripe enough?","Did we pack everything?","Will I get sent home?", "Birth in the car?", "traffic?"
77. To be able to not worry about the complications of a repeat c section, because the hospital doesn't allow VBACS.
78. Because my husband can TRULY be there (he has a brain injury and while fine at home doesn't do well in new places).
79. Because birth is normal and hospitals are for SICK people. Pregnancy is not a sickness.
80. Wonderful homebirth midwives!!!
81. Because I am a VBAC and wanted a vaginal birth.
82. To experience the spiritual event of birth without interference.
83. No one to take your baby away to 'check on them'. Or someone else to give them their first bath. (Always cracks me up when friends post pictures of their baby's 'first bath'. At home, after they got home from the hospital).
84. The endless list of benefits to both mom and baby from not touching them when everything is going fine (less tearing, baby rotating on its own, no 'purple pushing', delayed cord clamping [if at all], using vernix as a lotion [as opposed to thinking it's acid and has to come off NOW], immediate skin-to-skin [and nothing to interrupt that].
85. WAITING on the placenta= less chance for PP hemorrhage.
86. No one abusing my baby with "standard procedures" of unnecessary suctioning, scrubbing off vernix, poking with needles and enforced separation for warming. Seeing the way newborns are treated in hospital always makes me cry.
87. Made perfect sense for such an intimate, private event to be in the sanctuary of our home. x3
88. I have everything I need!
89. You feel so much more comfortable in your own home.
90. Avoiding transition (or any contraction for that matter) in the car!
91. Birthing at home let me create a reverent atmosphere to birth my baby into the world.
92. Your chiropractor can be a part of your birth team :)
93. Not getting cut open, not having CPS called for refusing medical care, no drug mix ups almost killing my kid or me.
94. Showering, in my own shower with my own towels, soap, and shampoo right after.
95. Baby watching football with daddy while I nap.
96. Chocolate chip cookies and roast beef for after-birth meal.
97. No worry about baby being kidnapped.
98. My belief in my body's ability to do what it was made to do - while avoiding this country's "standardized series of unfortunate events".
99. Sleeping with hubby (and baby, and other kids)
100. Home is the place where there's everything you need.
101. At home I can be naked, roar like a lioness and throw my head back with abandon without anyone batting an eye.
102. It is the only place where my 5 year old can assist "her baby" in coming into the world and "teach her/him to be alive."
103. Home is where I can hide in the corner if I need a break from everything, knowing that the floor is clean and I can nest there if I want.
104. At home, I can drink from my favorite cup and look at all of my family photos for strength.
105. I can light candles and "be alone" with my husband if labor slows.
106. I can birth my baby where/however I am most comfortable, shower with my own lovely towels, and feel truly safe for myself and my baby.
107. When it's over, it's over, and I can snuggle with everyone in my big bed and my oldest child, 1/4 of my lovely little family, will not be kicked out to stay with others while the other 3/4 of her family is going through an amazing transformation. That's truly the most important reason. No one will separate me from my baby - EITHER of them. :)
108. The postpartum is so so sweet.
109. The whole situation was about me and my baby. Everyone attending the birth was there for us and only us.
110. I can have a VBAC without fear of the medical staff pushing/scaring me to have a c-section like the first time around!
111. I don't want to wind up with the flu, since I'll be giving birth at the height of flu season.
112. As and L&D nurse (and midwife), I know what happens at the hospital. I didn't birth at home 3 times so much for me (I could take on anything), but for my babies. At home, there is no "accidental" formula feedings if he is found crying in the nursery after being taken there for "mandatory" procedures. No "accidental" procedures such as vit K, eye ointment, vaccinations (which are done so routinely that most nurses do a double take if you decline something). And for my sons, I didn't want them within 1000 feet of a scalpel or circ board... Most L&D nurses are well meaning (didn't know the babe was to be brought back to mom for breastfeeding after the nightly bath and weight and oops gave a bottle), but I didn't want any accidents happening. And as much as I'd like to think I'd protect them, even I know there are rules the most determined mother can't get around...
113. Being able to really let go and enjoy laborland... no reservations.
114. Plenty to keep you busy (dishes, scrapbooks, cleaning) and no one to rush you.
115. You'll never forget to pack anything.
116. No internal checks unless desired.
117. Drinking wine.
118. Thinking months later about how it all happened in this very room.
119. Making a snack afterwards in your own kitchen.
120. No annoying beeping to wake you up or nurses in and out pushing on your belly and micromanaging your nursing.
121. I was fortunate to have all of my seven babies at home. For me, it was about family, birthing the way I chose (with few interventions), and experiencing labor, birth and post partum in a peaceful way.
122. So that you can retreat to reach your power.
123. Bonding with baby!
124. Modesty and dignity.
125. It's family friendly.
126. Because NOTHING ELSE EVEN COMPARES.
127. It's our space, and people are coming into our space and need to respect our wishes.
128. I don't want to be abused!
129. My husband feels freer to be an active part of the labor process than if we were in the hospital.
130. As a doula I see women at home in labor, doing great in their own place, in their own surroundings, surrounded by those they love, doing their thing,... going into themselves, trusting their bodies, working with their bodies, trusting birth, trusting themselves, smiling at the joy of knowing it is going the way it should go, such beauty, candles, music, stripped off moving about the way they should and want, their husbands believing they can do this, encouraged, watching in disbelief at such a strong empowered women is their wife.
131. I can do what I want and also don't have "white coat syndrome" that they diagnose as PIH (Pregnancy Induced Hypertension) that happened with my first baby. No monitors, no IV's, no intruding guests... No one has to know except for me, my husband and my midwife!
132. The birth of my first daughter was horrific (in the hospital) I vowed never to do it again...... No impatient Dr.'s, no rude nurses, I don't have to be chained to the bed by IV's or internal monitors, or having someone telling what I can and can't do during labor, I had to BEG and beg for them to let move 2 feet from the bed to the rocker during my first birth.
133. No one taking my baby away 2 seconds after they are born to be poked and prodded against my will, they gave my daughter Vit K shot without my consent...
134. I can be in own comfortable bed in my own home and not feel like I am in prison!
135. Birth at home because home is where the heart is. Plain and simple.
136. I loved the fact that I was in control... that my body decided how and what will happen...
137. The fact that my family could spend the night with me and that my baby girl was with me all the time!!
138. No strangers! Being completely surrounded by the people of my choosing!
139. Getting to push without a doc's hand inside "telling you where" to push.
140. Getting to cuddle as a family afterward....
141. To be able to sit in firelight and tell stories with your midwife and best friend (when contractions are still coming 10 minutes apart of course).
142. You get to decide when you call your midwife and birth team... early on if you prefer to have someone nearby or late in labor if you prefer to labor alone.
143. Obstetricians are surgeons, childbirth is not a disease.
144. What is safer than having one (or more) care providers with you and only you, not being sidetracked by other clients with needs?
145. Deciding where and in what position you would like to birth your baby.
146. Reaching down and receiving your own baby.
147. You can focus all your energy and power into birthing your baby instead of preventing interventions and warding off strangers.
148. Recovery is faster with fewer interventions.
149. A homebirth is cheaper than a C-section.
150. I can be as green as I want.
151. You don't need an ID bracelet for the mother or the baby.
152. I can birth in my backyard.
153. You don't end up with a "gift bag" (marketing samples) from big corporate America, full of disposable diapers, formula, baby wipes, shampoo, soaps, and brand propaganda.
154. Your baby's placenta does not become a biohazard.
155. You can have a lotus birth.
156. Your best friend can make you a placenta smoothie.
157. I can choose the room for the birth, or change rooms in the middle of things.
158. Wear your own clothes or no clothes at all!
159. No pushy hospital nurses!!!!
160. Because I can.
161. Why not?!
These are the voices of mothers. My hope is that birth professionals reading this list can reflect on what women need from us and that mothers can be inspired to birth at home. My deep appreciation goes to all the women who contributed their thoughts to this list. A CNM friend who practices in a hospital said about this list: "Incredible! I hope this blossoms and finds its way around the earth." ENJOY and pass it on!
One Hundred Sixty One Reasons to Birth at Home
1. It's SAFER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Safety is at home, away from germs and interventions.
2. Comfort.
3. Because birth is a family event, not a medical one. Children should be welcomed into the world by the family in their family home!
4. My home has a 0% c/sec rate.
5. Freedom. Freedom to be myself, do what I want, make my own choices without pressure; birth my baby any way I want...
6. Knowing that if I had to transfer, it was a *true* need; not just something that was policy and wonder about for years after.
7. Why should I have to ride in a car while in labor, just to get to the hospital?
8. So that I may move at my own pace and not the pace imposed by another!
9. No need to pack a bag!
10. Eat your own food when you want to, sleep in your own bed, no noisy hospital roommates.
11. Because my vaj is no one's hand puppet!
12. Avoids the cascade of interventions!!
13. Because I can snack and drink during labor to keep me strong.
14. You can't forget anything,
15. You don't have to travel with a newborn.
16. You can always remember exactly where they were born (you may even have stains to prove it).
17. You can have your children or pets with you.
18. You're more likely to find something of comfort at home than in a sterile hospital.
19. No visiting hours, no "protocol", NO PRESSURE.
20. Freedom to walk around outside.
21. A kitchen full of food.
22. I want to poop and puke in my own toilet in my own bathroom.
23. Control of the birthing environment and your own body.
24. Freedom from foreign germs (all the germs are mine and my family's). The germs in your home are your own and you don't have to risk being exposed to other people's germs and/or drug-resistant strains prevalent in hospitals.
25. Freedom from hospital policy.
26. Freedom to eat and drink to keep up strength. My refrigerator would be stocked with food that I like!
27. Freedom from inhibitions.
28. Freedom from stirrups.
29. Freedom from constant badgering.
30. I can both labor in the tub and push in the tub.
31. I can get into my OWN bed right away and breastfeed in the comfort of my own home.
32. No shift changes!!! The people you invite to your birth are the people that will see you through... No "oh it's 6pm, gotta go, hope you like the next person"
33. Going to sleep in your own bed after baby is born. No one waking you up to take your vitals at 2am, usually right after you've finally fallen asleep.
34. Care providers who believe in my body's ability to birth and are there to support that experience, not that they are present to SAVE me from an inherently dangerous process.
35. My own smells, stuff, noises and all the stuff baby has already been exposed to in utero.
36. It's safe to walk around barefoot :) I felt like that was gross in the hospital.
37. You won't get shrieked at for getting out of bed.
38. To avoid 'moving quickly upon the earth'; it's ingrained in our psyche to be close to the earth in labor... moving at highway speeds goes against our instincts.
39. No separation for a few hours while the nurses take your baby to check on their vitals!!! Everything waits on you and your baby!!! It's so hard to be separated for that long after having the baby in you for 9 - 10 months!!!
40. You can make as much noise as you dang well please!
41. Traveling in labor sucks!
42. Midwife comes to me for post-partum checks.
43. My first son was injured by the traumatic birth in the hospital; I didn't want to repeat that.
44. Big brother could be sleeping in the same house while I was birthing.
45. My husband got to be my "birth stool" to support me.
46. I can say my child was conceived and birthed in the same bed. ;)
47. No IV's, EFM's (external or internal), forceps/vacuums, episiotomies, Pitocin, or scratchy blood pressure cuffs. No cranky nurses.
48. My midwife actually knew how to help a woman who wasn't numb other than using knives or needles.
49. I could scream as loud as I wanted without worry about upsetting other patients.
50. WAYYYYY Less chance of a c-section!!!!
51. You can light candles at home.
52. Waterbirth in the comfort of our own home, warm wonderful loving women attending, eating our own food, feeling safe and secure, no threat of interventions, curling up after baby is born in my own bed... and waking there with my baby the next morning... ah, homebirth - it's the BEST!!
53. Because my midwife makes me cookies and does the dishes.
54. No bright lights, calm atmosphere, comfort, familiar people around me. I can have family there.
55. I feel respected, I am not rushed, and I can use the tub to relax.
56. If I need a moment alone I can get that and be respected for it.
57. No one takes the baby away from me.
58. I can have my toddler with me.
59. My husband is able to 'catch' the baby.
60. If I don't want my midwives to touch me they will respect that.
61. Birth is way more fun at home!!
62. My MAIN reason for birthing at home is because it was a SAFER environment for me to birth in. I trusted my care provider and felt like an active participant in the decision-making process during my entire labor and birth.
63. I've experienced a HORRIBLE labor that ended in an unnecesarean and completely eroded my faith and trust in OBs. With that being my head-space about them, there's NO WAY I'd ever trust another OB enough to take any advice towards intervention.......which could potentially put me in danger of refusing an intervention that MIGHT be medically prudent. I know that's not something I have to worry about with my competent, trustworthy midwife who patiently coached me through my labor. That dynamic alone makes homebirth a safer option for me.........I know that I won't refuse an intervention based upon mistrust of my care provider and therefore, I'm in a safer birthing environment should I actually NEED intervention.
64. To quote my FAVORITE musician of all time, Dave Matthews, on the homebirth of his son, August Oliver: "We had him at home, which was nice, because I knew where the beer was." My husband shares his sentiments.
65. Being able to be naked without a big audience.
66. Being able to burp or toot at will without embarrassment.
67. Being able to yell, moan, or cuss without feeling bad.
68. Being able to birth a baby in the same bed she was lovingly made in (unless it was a patio conception after drinks)
69. Privacy and Peace.
70. No rush in cutting the cord.
71. Because I don't have to have the carseat properly installed... just roll over and cuddle my baby!
72. So I can be naked and comfortable, eat food, birth in whatever position I want, to lay there awhile and no one rush off with my baby.
73. So my hands or my husband's hands are first to touch our baby.
74. To avoid unnecessary interventions.
75. To lay on my own recliner to recover :)
76. To eliminate the when-to-leave build up! "Am I ripe enough?","Did we pack everything?","Will I get sent home?", "Birth in the car?", "traffic?"
77. To be able to not worry about the complications of a repeat c section, because the hospital doesn't allow VBACS.
78. Because my husband can TRULY be there (he has a brain injury and while fine at home doesn't do well in new places).
79. Because birth is normal and hospitals are for SICK people. Pregnancy is not a sickness.
80. Wonderful homebirth midwives!!!
81. Because I am a VBAC and wanted a vaginal birth.
82. To experience the spiritual event of birth without interference.
83. No one to take your baby away to 'check on them'. Or someone else to give them their first bath. (Always cracks me up when friends post pictures of their baby's 'first bath'. At home, after they got home from the hospital).
84. The endless list of benefits to both mom and baby from not touching them when everything is going fine (less tearing, baby rotating on its own, no 'purple pushing', delayed cord clamping [if at all], using vernix as a lotion [as opposed to thinking it's acid and has to come off NOW], immediate skin-to-skin [and nothing to interrupt that].
85. WAITING on the placenta= less chance for PP hemorrhage.
86. No one abusing my baby with "standard procedures" of unnecessary suctioning, scrubbing off vernix, poking with needles and enforced separation for warming. Seeing the way newborns are treated in hospital always makes me cry.
87. Made perfect sense for such an intimate, private event to be in the sanctuary of our home. x3
88. I have everything I need!
89. You feel so much more comfortable in your own home.
90. Avoiding transition (or any contraction for that matter) in the car!
91. Birthing at home let me create a reverent atmosphere to birth my baby into the world.
92. Your chiropractor can be a part of your birth team :)
93. Not getting cut open, not having CPS called for refusing medical care, no drug mix ups almost killing my kid or me.
94. Showering, in my own shower with my own towels, soap, and shampoo right after.
95. Baby watching football with daddy while I nap.
96. Chocolate chip cookies and roast beef for after-birth meal.
97. No worry about baby being kidnapped.
98. My belief in my body's ability to do what it was made to do - while avoiding this country's "standardized series of unfortunate events".
99. Sleeping with hubby (and baby, and other kids)
100. Home is the place where there's everything you need.
101. At home I can be naked, roar like a lioness and throw my head back with abandon without anyone batting an eye.
102. It is the only place where my 5 year old can assist "her baby" in coming into the world and "teach her/him to be alive."
103. Home is where I can hide in the corner if I need a break from everything, knowing that the floor is clean and I can nest there if I want.
104. At home, I can drink from my favorite cup and look at all of my family photos for strength.
105. I can light candles and "be alone" with my husband if labor slows.
106. I can birth my baby where/however I am most comfortable, shower with my own lovely towels, and feel truly safe for myself and my baby.
107. When it's over, it's over, and I can snuggle with everyone in my big bed and my oldest child, 1/4 of my lovely little family, will not be kicked out to stay with others while the other 3/4 of her family is going through an amazing transformation. That's truly the most important reason. No one will separate me from my baby - EITHER of them. :)
108. The postpartum is so so sweet.
109. The whole situation was about me and my baby. Everyone attending the birth was there for us and only us.
110. I can have a VBAC without fear of the medical staff pushing/scaring me to have a c-section like the first time around!
111. I don't want to wind up with the flu, since I'll be giving birth at the height of flu season.
112. As and L&D nurse (and midwife), I know what happens at the hospital. I didn't birth at home 3 times so much for me (I could take on anything), but for my babies. At home, there is no "accidental" formula feedings if he is found crying in the nursery after being taken there for "mandatory" procedures. No "accidental" procedures such as vit K, eye ointment, vaccinations (which are done so routinely that most nurses do a double take if you decline something). And for my sons, I didn't want them within 1000 feet of a scalpel or circ board... Most L&D nurses are well meaning (didn't know the babe was to be brought back to mom for breastfeeding after the nightly bath and weight and oops gave a bottle), but I didn't want any accidents happening. And as much as I'd like to think I'd protect them, even I know there are rules the most determined mother can't get around...
113. Being able to really let go and enjoy laborland... no reservations.
114. Plenty to keep you busy (dishes, scrapbooks, cleaning) and no one to rush you.
115. You'll never forget to pack anything.
116. No internal checks unless desired.
117. Drinking wine.
118. Thinking months later about how it all happened in this very room.
119. Making a snack afterwards in your own kitchen.
120. No annoying beeping to wake you up or nurses in and out pushing on your belly and micromanaging your nursing.
121. I was fortunate to have all of my seven babies at home. For me, it was about family, birthing the way I chose (with few interventions), and experiencing labor, birth and post partum in a peaceful way.
122. So that you can retreat to reach your power.
123. Bonding with baby!
124. Modesty and dignity.
125. It's family friendly.
126. Because NOTHING ELSE EVEN COMPARES.
127. It's our space, and people are coming into our space and need to respect our wishes.
128. I don't want to be abused!
129. My husband feels freer to be an active part of the labor process than if we were in the hospital.
130. As a doula I see women at home in labor, doing great in their own place, in their own surroundings, surrounded by those they love, doing their thing,... going into themselves, trusting their bodies, working with their bodies, trusting birth, trusting themselves, smiling at the joy of knowing it is going the way it should go, such beauty, candles, music, stripped off moving about the way they should and want, their husbands believing they can do this, encouraged, watching in disbelief at such a strong empowered women is their wife.
131. I can do what I want and also don't have "white coat syndrome" that they diagnose as PIH (Pregnancy Induced Hypertension) that happened with my first baby. No monitors, no IV's, no intruding guests... No one has to know except for me, my husband and my midwife!
132. The birth of my first daughter was horrific (in the hospital) I vowed never to do it again...... No impatient Dr.'s, no rude nurses, I don't have to be chained to the bed by IV's or internal monitors, or having someone telling what I can and can't do during labor, I had to BEG and beg for them to let move 2 feet from the bed to the rocker during my first birth.
133. No one taking my baby away 2 seconds after they are born to be poked and prodded against my will, they gave my daughter Vit K shot without my consent...
134. I can be in own comfortable bed in my own home and not feel like I am in prison!
135. Birth at home because home is where the heart is. Plain and simple.
136. I loved the fact that I was in control... that my body decided how and what will happen...
137. The fact that my family could spend the night with me and that my baby girl was with me all the time!!
138. No strangers! Being completely surrounded by the people of my choosing!
139. Getting to push without a doc's hand inside "telling you where" to push.
140. Getting to cuddle as a family afterward....
141. To be able to sit in firelight and tell stories with your midwife and best friend (when contractions are still coming 10 minutes apart of course).
142. You get to decide when you call your midwife and birth team... early on if you prefer to have someone nearby or late in labor if you prefer to labor alone.
143. Obstetricians are surgeons, childbirth is not a disease.
144. What is safer than having one (or more) care providers with you and only you, not being sidetracked by other clients with needs?
145. Deciding where and in what position you would like to birth your baby.
146. Reaching down and receiving your own baby.
147. You can focus all your energy and power into birthing your baby instead of preventing interventions and warding off strangers.
148. Recovery is faster with fewer interventions.
149. A homebirth is cheaper than a C-section.
150. I can be as green as I want.
151. You don't need an ID bracelet for the mother or the baby.
152. I can birth in my backyard.
153. You don't end up with a "gift bag" (marketing samples) from big corporate America, full of disposable diapers, formula, baby wipes, shampoo, soaps, and brand propaganda.
154. Your baby's placenta does not become a biohazard.
155. You can have a lotus birth.
156. Your best friend can make you a placenta smoothie.
157. I can choose the room for the birth, or change rooms in the middle of things.
158. Wear your own clothes or no clothes at all!
159. No pushy hospital nurses!!!!
160. Because I can.
161. Why not?!
