Home Birth: DIY Labor and Delivery - Part 2

Part 2 of 2
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BTW: This video is safe for work and all ages, totally PG. Have no fear, there is nothing graphic in this video. Also weve received requests for DVD copies of this video. Please email us for details, hello@ryanishungry.com.
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We first met Katherine and Todd through LocalHarvest.org as our closest Community Supported Agriculture provider. We quickly became interested in their story as small farmers trying to make a living growing food and selling it locally. Needless to say we started documenting work on their farm the week after we signed up for their CSA share. A month into taping, Katherine said I hope this doesnt affect the story, but Im three months pregnant. As you can see, it didnt just affect the story, it helped us go deeper into it, focusing on the fact that they were planning a home birth.

Simply put, their labor and birth would be an assisted, at home process attended by Certified Professional Midwife Peggy Franklin and two assistants Aimee and Desiree, with no unnecessary interventions including pitocin, epidural, C-section, etc. CPMs and their assistants are highly trained to watch for danger signs before, during and after birth so they can swiftly assess if the mother and baby need to go to the hospital for any reason. Luckily, a large majority of healthy, low risk women giving birth naturally at home, with the assistance of midwives, have no reason to be transported to a hospital.

If you live in the United States, your choices for how, where and who can attend your birth, depending on your state of residence, may be very limited. Some states are still struggling to get certain Midwifery certifications to be legally recognized. See this state by state guide of legal status and resources on Citizens for Midwifery. Here is another chart on Midwives Alliance of North America. However, the American Medical Association claims that the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex. As you might imagine, not everyone agrees with that statement. Especially since the World Health Organization says a healthy Caesarean rate should be between 5-10% and no more than 15%. The average rate in The United States has, since the 1960s, creeped from below 5% to currently 30%.

While birthing centers within hospital complexes are often champions for uninterrupted labor and vaginal birth, in many places, including our rural part of Virginia, there are no birthing centers available. So the choices are limited to hospital or home. The Direct Entry Midwife credentials (midwives allowed to attend births outside a hospital like CPMs) are legally recognized in Virginia so home is openly an option, but for several states in the US, they are not.

With the recent premiere of Ricki Lake and Abby Epsteins documentary The Business of Being Born, home birth and the practice of midwifery have been gaining more attention and popularity. We highly recommend this film as well as Ina May Gaskins books Spiritual Midwifery and Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth as good starting resources for learning about home birth. Also check out Child Birth Connection, International Cesarean Awareness Network and Pushed Birth Blog.

Big thanks to Katherine and Todd for letting us document and share their most intimate life moments. Also to Bekah Havens, Aimee Fairman and Kate Dimbleby and Rupert Howe for sharing their stories.

Category:

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Tags:

• Cesarean section
• child birth
• home birth
• midwife
• midwifery
• natural birth
• thebusinessofbeingborn
• ryanishungry
• Virginia

[verdouxkai]

"All hospitals should have cats."

Amen! :D

[willowtreephoto]

very informative and honest video.

the parents seem very down to earth and intelligent. i love how much the dad participates.

[deliverynurse5873]

You CAN do this in a hospital. I helped someone yesterday have a similar birth. minus the cats.

and i'm glad she was in the hospital, the baby was not great at delivery, even though there was not ONE sign of distress in labor. Do you want to risk your child's life?????

[PromisedJubilee]

Oh my gosh, cute baby!

[diana11071988]

best vid of home birth ever. that baby is lucky for having such amazing parents

[kusa1978]

My daughters enjoyed watching this thank you. Now three little girls have had a lot of questions answers. They do not have fear of home births. I told them all about their births and they wanted to see what I was talking about. We did not have a video cam handy during those days. We still remember everything like it happened.

[noblemishleft]

Beautiful and very helpful video! I just gave birth to my first son at home about a month ago, and it was by far the best experience of my life. I really believe women need to be informed that homebirth is a safe and wonderful option! Thank you for sharing.

[Ay1ab]

hi i am Ayla, love home births. i have two girls Cyprus five and Saphira one. i had Cyprus at home when i was 18. i would have had Saphira at home but my mid wife was in france, she came back to NZ 3days after i had her. i wish i had her at home. at the hospital i didn't no the mid wife and it just felt so impersonal. in NZ its not as bad having your baby in hospital . they don't give out epidural like lollies. Cyprus was 5hours 8lb 10oz, Saphira was 5hours 30mins 7lb 8oz both 100%natura,

[MrSnowman103]

in the netherlands two out of three babies are born at home. only special cases go to the hospital and thats generally known before you go into labour.

[dgmkerry444]

The parents seem very old-fashioned and natural, it's really quite beautiful if you think about it. Whenever I get pregnant, I'm planning to have a 100% natural home birth.

[gowlands]

wow you are an insperation girl...well done to you all x

[ashleyecarr]

Thanks for sharing this lovely normal birth.. :)