Homebirth

There are many advantages to having a homebirth. These advantages center on the principle that when a woman feels comfortable and has control over her environment, she will feel safer and therefore birth more normally. Other advantages include:

  • Continuity of care: you choose who will be at your birth and therefore can get to know and feel comfortable with your care provider
  • More autonomy: at home you are not subject to routines and interventions of an institution, you get to say what is right for you and your baby
  • Be surrounded by those you love: anyone you would like to have at your birth is welcome at a home birth
  • The comfort of your own home: You will feel comfortable in your own space, have your own bathroom to use, your own clothes to wear, your own food to eat as you please, and of course your own bed to crawl into after your birth
  • Your baby does not leave your side
  • Homebirth is not messy! Any "mess" at home is most often very well contained and will be cleaned up by your midwife before she leaves. She will even start your laundry for you!
  • Less intervention: lower rates of cesarean, episiotomy, epidural, induction, etc.
  • Safety on par with low-risk births in the hospital (see below)
  • Lower rates of infection for you and your baby

The Safety of Homebirth

While the safety of homebirth remains a hotly debated topic, the research has shown over and over again that homebirth, for low-risk women with a qualified attendant, is safe.

The most recent research:

Landmark Study Reports Planned Home Births Are Safe

"Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America." Kenneth C Johnson, senior epidemiologist, Betty-Anne Daviss, project manager. BMJ 2005;330:1416 (18 June). Published online at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehom

A study published in the June 18 edition of the British Medical Journal finds that when Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are the maternity care providers for low-risk women having planned home births, that these births are as safe as hospital births. The study also demonstrates that these women in the care of CPMs experience significantly lower rates of medical intervention than their counterparts having hospital births, as well as a much lower rate of birth by cesarean section.

This study is the largest yet of its kind. The researchers used prospective data on more than 5000 planned home births in North America attended by Certified Professional Midwives during the year 2000.

The researchers analyzed outcomes and medical interventions for planned home births, including transports to hospital care. According to the British Medical Journal press release, they found:

  • Planned homebirths "had a low mortality rate during labor and delivery, similar to [rates] found in most studies of low risk hospital births in North America."
  • "Rates of medical intervention, such as epidural, forceps and cesarean section, were lower for planned home births than for low risk hospital births."
  • "A high degree of safety and maternal satisfaction were reported, and over 87% of mothers and babies did not require transfer to hospital" care.

-- From a press release from the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives

Waterbirth

Waterbirth is a service that I provide to families who choose it.

The benefits of water for labor and birth have been shown to be:

  • Pain relief in labor — warm water helps the mother relax which then helps her uterus function more efficiently
  • Facilitates comfort and mobility for the mother so she can change positions easily
  • Energy conservation for mother
  • Warm water decreases stress hormones that can inhibit labor and increases endorphin release which are nature's natural pain killers
  • Softening of perineum and vaginal tissue possibly reducing the risk of tearing
  • Gentle transition for baby — easing of birth for mother means easing the birth for the baby too!

I have a tub that I rent to the families I work with. There are also other tub rental services in the area if you would like a different tub.