Going Home...

Home Birth that is!

My girlfriend Shaw's little sister introduced me to the movie The Business of Being Born and coming from a documentary background I was intrigued. I am always conscious when watching documentaries that yes, they are biased (it is that passionate bias of the filmmaker that usually is what gets them made) and yes, the "truths" in them cannot be taken for fact, but still... the admission of the doctors and the stories of these women were so compelling.

You know how I am... I just thought "this sucks". We can go to the hospital if we want or if we need, but if we don't want or need and don't have the access and education to have a natural drug-less birth safely, that is yet another example of how far away HEALTHcare is far from where it should be. Not cool.

After that I quickly found this website called Giving Birth Naturally and the statistics surrounding hospital birth in the U.S. and I got really angry again. Then I got happy.

I realized could TOTALLY do this. It became clear to me that I really WANTED this experience of us bonding with our baby right away, the experience of being well taken care of but also left to give birth the way god intended me to.

I am in love with the SB Midwives and in a lot of ways I feel spoiled doing it this way. I have all my appt's at their houses and in the last month they will be coming to ours. I love how much time they spend with me/us. They really get to know you in a way I don't believe many doctors ever do. I am a big believer in holistic healing and a lot of what you get from a midwife proves that point perfectly. When you're not sick but your body needs attention (duh pregnancy) you take away all the technology and the gadgets and really figure out what helps make you well, you're halfway there.

That said, if I do every thing I can to get her out naturally and the birth turns into a medical emergency then of course it is what is. I live in a town with a great hospital that I volunteered at with my best friend Jen for 4 years (Jen and my other awesome friend Kat just gave birth there 2 years ago and it's a good place) and a fantastic Obstetrician that both Jen and the SB Midwives LOVE! I am so lucky for ALL of this and if I have to go down that road I will be grateful.