Why I Chose Home Birth: Perspectives in Parenting {Series}

I am always surprised with the most common response I get from another woman when I tell her that I had a home birth. “I could never do that”.
That is usually coupled with “You are so brave”. Honestly, I never quite know how to respond to these comments. My gut reaction is to say, “Yes, you COULD have a home birth! And giving birth in a hospital requires more bravery than a home birth”! Statistically, for the majority of low-risk pregnancies, home birth is actually a much safer option, certainly with a lower risk of medical intervention.

Home birth mothers had much lower rates of interventions in labor. While some interventions are necessary for the safety and health of the mother or baby, many are overused, are lacking scientific evidence of benefit, and even carry their own risks. Cautious and judicious use of intervention results in healthier outcomes and easier recovery, and this is an area in which midwives excel. Women who planned a home birth had fewer episiotomies, pitocin for labor augmentation, and epidurals. Most importantly, their babies were born healthy and safe. Ninety-seven percent of babies were carried to full-term, they weighed an average of eight pounds at birth, and nearly 98% were being breastfed at the six-week postpartum visit with their midwife. Only 1% of babies required transfer to the hospital after birth, most for non-urgent conditions. Babies born to low-risk mothers had no higher risk of death in labor or the first few weeks of life than those in comparable studies of similarly low-risk pregnancies.

– Midwives Alliance of North America

So why is home birth not more popular? While home birth only accounts for approximately 1-3% of births in the Cincinnati area, in a lot of other countries, it takes a larger percentage. In the Netherlands, for example, the home birth rate is 20%!

I don’t want any woman with a low-risk pregnancy to feel like home birth is not a viable option for her. The culture here is more “underground”. You have to know where to look to find other people choosing home birth, as well as care providers. Fortunately there is a wonderful group of women (Cincinnati Homebirth Circle) that I found who share resources and hold monthly meetings, so I was able to find a midwife who was an awesome fit for us.

Some of the benefits I found in choosing to home birth:

• Midwifery care for prenatal appointments. My first baby was born in a hospital, and even though I chose my OB carefully and really liked him, my prenatal appointments still went like this: Wait indefinitely in waiting room. Wait indefinitely in exam room. See nurse for blood pressure and weight. Wait some more. See doctor for 5-10 minutes. Leave. My midwife appointments for my home birth went more like this: Arrive. See midwife immediately with maximum 3 minute wait. Chat with midwife for 20 minutes or so, discussing any concerns and checking in on diet and emotional health. Check blood pressure. Listen to baby with fetoscope or doppler. Chat some more. Leave. Overall I found the midwifery model of care to be way more thorough and personal. I also loved that it had a more holistic approach. When we needed to convince my placenta to come out after the birth, her first approach was to use herbs (which worked) instead of going straight for the pitocin. She was also very thorough in explaining everything to me. My husband even stated after the birth that he found our midwife team to be more thorough and professional than the hospital staff at our first birth.
• The comfort of being home for labor and being home immediately after the birth. Home is, well, home. Labor is affected so much by environment. Staying in the calmest, most comfortable environment I believe can help create a smoother and more productive labor. Plus, not being in a car during hard labor was a huge benefit. I really disliked being in a car during transition with my first birth. Being at home and in your own bed following the birth, plus getting to eat your food instead of hospital food is fabulous. After my first birth in the hospital, the meal that I was served included very little fiber (white bread, meat, cheese, etc.). At home, I was able to eat steel cut oats with fresh fruit, and a smoothie with kale and flax seed, which was a lot more healthful for postpartum healing and avoiding constipation. Also, maintaining skin-to-skin contact and getting rest while nursing your newborn is easier at home. I found with my first birth at the hospital that the nurses kept making me take my baby out of my bed for fear I’d fall asleep and smother her, I suppose. For any moms planning on breastfeeding, my experience was that being at home made it easier to trust my gut and let my mommy instinct be in charge of how I wanted to parent, instead of a nurse I’ve never met.
• Price. A home birth runs around $3000. “The average total price charged for pregnancy and newborn care was about $30,000 for a vaginal delivery and $50,000 for a C-section, with commercial insurers paying out an average of $18,329 and $27,866, the report found.”
• My oldest daughter could experience being a part of the birth. Our daughter is 2 1/2 and I really wanted to include her in our birth. This wouldn’t be an option at the hospital. She did fabulous and it was an amazing experience for all of us to all be together.
• Gorgeous birth photos. Of course you can get birth photos in a hospital as well, but the intimacy and beauty of home birth photos always brings me to tears (even when they are photos of people I’ve never met before)! For this birth we hired Erin Hull Photography. Erin was lovely to work with – I could tell I really liked her at our first meeting. She is also a doula, so she is very comfortable in the birth setting. The images she captured are amazing. She even made a birth announcement and a slideshow for us. You can view the slideshow HERE.

Home birth was such a wonderful experience for us. If we decide to have more children in the future, we will definitely be home birthing again. While home birth certainly is not for everyone, it is the perfect fit for us. To read my home birth story, go HERE.