Before Dave and I made the decision to go ahead and try for baby number two we agreed that if it happened we would want a midwife and would prefer to deliver at home.  (Please read my blog post on why I didn’t want to deliver in a hospital if you haven’t already -so you know why )

My original plan was to find a midwife and have an Obgyn just incase I ended up getting transported to the hospital so the Dr would be on the same page as me and I wouldn’t just be going in and having someone I didn’t know in the hospital.  I was able to find a wonderful obgyn that was supportive of working with midwifes and doulas and understood why I wanted a different experience this birth.  After talking with him he informed me that (due to (his)insurance reasons) if I started to deliver at home and ended up transporting he could deliver my baby only if he was already at the hospital. I could not call him in to meet us there. (gotta love insurance companies) After finding that out I didn’t really see the point and overall I felt like I needed to fully commit to my decision to have a homebirth.

The U.S. maternal mortality rate nearly doubled in a decade and is higher than in 40 other industrialized countries.

Found a very easy to read graph, it was from an UK paper so that is why the UK is highlighted red but check out where the US is, I find it pretty sad.

What is one thing the countries that have a higher success rate then the U.S. have in common?? More midwives.  Most problems that happen in delivery are cause from some type of intervention.  Having babies is a natural thing and we are designed to be able to have them, more people need to trust their body and not listen to someone telling you you are not progressing enough according to “hospital” time.  I know that a homebirth is not for everyone, but you can still have a midwife and/or a doula to make sure your birth plan will be respected.

A wonderful site with studies showing better outcomes with midwives and other usual information.

If you do not know, a midwife is a person trained to assist a woman in birth.  What is amazing about this simple definition is that midwives have the experience of different births and how to make them happen naturally.  Most obgyns have never seen a natural birth.  Midwives know how to deliver babies that are “too big”, breech, have shoulder dystocia, twins,born in the cull, and know how to handle a woman that is in labor for a “long time”. All of those instances are normally an immediate c-section.  A midwife will respect and listen to your body and support you.  A midwife also spends more time with you than a standard Obgyn will, at pre-natal appointments, delivery, and after the baby arrives.

My prenatal appointments have averaged an hour long at my house, yes in the comfort of my house! No labs or invasive checks.  At each appointment she :

Listens to the baby’s heartbeat (the best indicator of how your baby is doing)
Takes blood pressure
Perform a urinalysis
Measures fundal height
Checks the baby’s position
Also, I can discuss any issues or concerns I may have. She provides education and counseling, as needed.

My favorite part about the appointments is that she involves my daughter so much and asks her to help do things like get her measuring tape and push the button to time the baby’s heart.  Charley LOVES helping.  I am able to call or text her anytime that I need and she always has something wonderful (and real) to say.  She also hosts meet-ups so moms (and dads) going through the same thing can talk and learn more.

At my next appointment I will have to video tape Charley helping, it of course makes me tear up every time 🙂

For more information check out my Birth page with multiple links on it