Some inspirational videos for the pregnant or breastfeeding mamas out there!

Awesome photo collection of Dads wearing their babies!

A Dad’s perspective of their home birth

Another Dad tells the story of how he navigated the choice between hospital or home birth.

And yet another Dad tells us why, if he had a uterus, he would never give birth in a hospital.

Thought provoking article about first time mothers.. “If I had a dollar for every woman I have heard say “I want a home birth, but the first one is going to be in the hospital, JUST IN CASE” I’d be a midwife with a lot more dollars.”

This is a long read, but so worth it. I remember the first time I learned about how going through all the natural stages of birth actually affected my hormone levels, helped me birth, and even made me a better mother.  Mothering article, The Hormonal Blueprint of Labor.

One mother’s story of why she chooses not to vaccinate

Lies and truth surrounding breastfeeding.

This article finds me nodding in agreement about the tendency moms have to neglect their marriage, but then seething with anger at the man’s completely idiotic conclusion.  It’s an interesting opinion on marriage and breastfeeding.  Ack, what a douchebag he is, though.

Mothering article on preparing your home for a homebirth.

Another Mothering article, about Elimination Communication.

The yuck factor of breastfeeding in the bathroom.

A thoughtful blog post of the safety of home birth.

One in three hospital births are via cesarean section?!

Five questions a pregnant mom should ask her doctor to help avoid a c-section.

Giving Birth Naturally has compiled a list of fascinating facts about birthing in our country, complete with references.

It’s cute how you think it’s your business whether or not I decide to give birth at home.

I have had two beautiful home births, attended by loving, capable midwives.  But I am not simply a proponent of home births.

I am a proponent of women having real birth choices.

So while you may talk out of one side of your mouth and say things like, “The AMA supports a woman’s right to make an informed decision regarding her delivery and to choose her health care provider” the truth of the matter is that you want to ignore all the evidence to the contrary and insist the safest place to have my baby is the hospital, and then make sure that’s the only option available to me.

I appreciate you and the care and technology your community provides.  I also appreciate the choice each woman should have to decide when, or even if, she has need of your services.

I am all too aware that your group doesn’t even know what a normal, natural birth looks like anymore.

Why are you ignoring the evidence and research that show birthing at home is not only safe, but actually increases the likelihood of a safe and normal delivery?

Why do hospital cesarean rates continue to skyrocket?

Why does the United States have such a terrible infant mortality rate if we have the ‘best’ medical technology?

Why does the thought of women having their babies at home make you so nervous?

Why are you so threatened by the increase of uncensored information regarding births and laboring options?

Celebrities having home births and then talking openly and positively about it.  Books, like Pushed, that talk about the history of birth and how it’s changed over the years.  Movies, like The Business of Being Born, that attempt to document how the medical community no longer even knows what a normal, natural birth looks like.

You’ve said that Ricki Lake talking about her personal experience is glamorizing home births.

Why are you not equally concerned about the way Hollywood portrays birth as a panic-inducing, scary medical condition?

Shame on you, AMA.

Sincerely,
A passionate mother of six

Read the article here

Recently, a friend was talking about how she had seen the movie Paranormal Activity. She had an awful time falling asleep that night, and then woke up several times, finding it extremely difficult to go back to sleep each time. Nothing had changed, really. Familiar home, familiar surroundings…

I have a suspicion it’s a similar feeling infants feel when they are suddenly expected to put themselves to sleep. Alone.

Or think about the last time your husband was away overnight. Did you toss and turn before falling asleep? Did you wake several times during the night?

I hear over and over wives saying they have huge difficulties when they periodically have to sleep without their husband…

And yet they haven’t even lived in his belly for nine months.

Peaceful Parenting has a wonderful post full of links about sleeping and infants. It’s a great resource.

I love her byline: Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being ~ Kittie Franz

A couple years ago on my family website, I published a natural childbirth article with a funny twist on Thanksgiving dinner.  I am reposting it below.  (I could no longer find a valid link to the original article.)

by Carolyn Keefe 
from Citizens for Midwifery News, Fall/Winter 2004

Thanksgiving is coming up, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to think about the normality of birth. We often say that birth is a normal physiological process, but its hard for most people to understand what that means. Comparisons to other normal physiological functions are valuable. Although some others more closely resemble birth, eating will work to illustrate how a normal function can be spoiled by over-zealous attempts to control it.

Of course, birth is a far more profound and rare experience. Also, in both cases, sometimes some people need help — when eating people can choke, have allergic reactions, have digestive disorders, and even need to bypass the whole process. But in both cases, most of the time, our bodies can perform the function more or less as designed.
Let’s imagine, then, consuming our Thanksgiving dinner under the same circumstances that most women in the US give birth:

Welcome to our humble establishment. We hope you enjoy sharing your special Thanksgiving Dinner with us. Well do our best to make your dinner a unique and memorable experience.

Our highly trained professional staff is among the best in business and will work to ensure your comfort, privacy, and safety while dining in our establishment, a state of the art facility. The home-like ambiance will help you relax, and you’ll appreciate the comfort of knowing that the operating room is right down the hall, should the need arise.

• First, you make the decision to leave home and go out to the “best” restaurant in town with the “best” chefs. This means leaving behind your children and most of your family, but you agree anyway.

• When you make your reservations, you are informed that consuming the meal will very likely be dangerous and difficult, so a surgeon will be supervising in case it becomes necessary to insert a tube.

• The restaurant insists that you arrive before Thanksgiving and get started on the meal early, so as not to miss the holiday.

• You are encouraged to change into appropriate clothes for eating, though they may be uncomfortable and make you feel self conscious.

• Before you can sit down to eat, you’re hooked up to an IV and wires to monitor your progress with swallowing and digestion, just in case emergency surgery is needed.

• As you eat, various medical personnel hover, looking in your mouth periodically — sometimes in mid-chew — to make sure you’re progressing well.

• At the first sign of displeasure or difficulty, you’re offered seasonings to mask the flavor and the meal is pureed to make it easier to swallow.

• If you aren’t eating quickly enough, the surgeon comes in to give you something to improve your appetite and tells you that the tube will need to be inserted if you don’t finish soon.

• When the moment you’ve been waiting for finally comes, the surgeon performs a procedure to expedite the process.

• When the meal is all over, everyone tells you that are lucky to have finished it alive, with your entire family intact. After all, such unpleasantness is the price we pay for eating safely.

• Even if you are able to complete the meal under these circumstances, any complaints you might have are dismissed as ingratitude. You learn to not discuss it and accept that you will be expected to undergo exactly the same experience for each Thanksgiving dinner.

Of course, birthing women are in a far more heightened state of awareness. They are extremely vulnerable to stimuli, which can have a profound effect on their ability to function well under such circumstances and on their perceptions of the experience later.
If the meal described above seems unpleasant, imagine how difficult giving birth under such circumstances must be. That so many women do it successfully with a minimum of negative effects is remarkable. Then again, many do not. Small wonder.

Happy Thanksgiving and Bon Appétit!

Enjoying the peace that surrounds a home birth