You couldn’t PAY me to walk into a hospital. Too nice to enjoy my birth and bake a loaf of bread right after. Hospitals just drag out labor and then you see tired, sore mamas walk away like from out of a battlefield.

I could have walked miles after both my births!

I gave birth to my daughter at home in a birthing pool. The pain was incredible and I didn’t think I was going to make it through, especially towards the end. My husband, midwife and doula made sure that I was as comfortable as possible and coached me the entire way. Five and a half hours after my contractions began I gave birth in the tub. That was the most incredible moment of my life. My husband and I cried together at the miracle we bought into this world. You truly never know what it is like until you experience that joy. My friends have all given birth at hospitals and after describing my birth to them some are looking into home birth for possible subsequent pregnancies. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, no matter how bad the pain was…

Good for them! I had a homebirth the 2nd time around, and it was wonderful! They lie to women SO much in the hospitals!

I had my first two children in the hospital, both c-sections. Then I had my next two children unassisted with my husband catching. They were the most amazing, spiritual, glorious experiences. I trust my doctor, but i trust him to BE a doctor. He’s trained to treat illness and injury, my body doesn’t need a degree to do something I was born to do. For what it’s worth he was in awe and loves to ask me question about my births.

It makes me so sad to see how many people around the world are too fearful of the what if’s that they are paralyzed by it. What if we were all so scared of the things that could happen when driving a car? We’d never leave our homes. Food poisoning? chopping onions? ooooh the danger. I’ll call a doctor when I need one, until then they’re just another person with a job.

How are babies are born DOES matter birth is a process and no it is not just about getting the prize (a healthy baby) and stuff what the mother goes through. It is more than just our personal experiences too. Our society is fast becoming one where C/S is seen as normal, safe and convenient option while our hospital based care providers are fast losing any skills they had towards natural birth. If we want natural birth to be an option for our daughters and granddaughters we need to stand up and take back our power. Trust your body to birth and give it the time it needs,the support it needs and the environment it needs. Choose homebirth !! Great to see some celebrity role models for homebirth. I homebirthed this year in water (no interventions no drugs thankyou very much) I will never birth in a hospital again. In my humble opinion it is just not worth the risk to myself or my precius baby. Homebirth ahhh just awesome !!

Saving Australia $$$ and freeing up hospital beds for the sick. “I paid for my babies birth with my own money”

There is a secret in our culture and it is not that birth is painful but that women are strong Laura Stovell-Harm

It is fantastic to see that celebrities are homebirthing too. I have homebirthed myself (no intervention, no drugs) and caught my babe myself in the birth pool, while my 3 year old breastfed son looked on with my husband. It was awesome. My adorable midwife watched on, holding the space.

How lucky was I when in our society over 30% of babies are born via (unnecessary) LUSC and are exposed to multiple interventions.

Birth is so much more than just one day in your life, it is the beginning of your parenting and we should give birth gently and start as we mean to continue.

Birth is as safe as life gets when you put your faith into a midwife. Homebirth rocks.

2008 year of homebirth awareness–for more into see http://www.joyousbirth.info/

I’m planning a homebirth in late february/early march, and I can say that I trust my body and my ability to birth (without being told how to do it by a doctor) 110%

As a nurse-midwife, I am heartened to hear so many positive comments about women birthing naturally. Over the past 20 years, birth has returned to practices of the 1950′s- it is once again a spectator sport with the medicated woman convinced she is still an active participant in the birth process. I expect the hand and leg straps will soon reappear, as have the enemas, IV fluids and immobility.

Whether it’s an epidural in 2007 or the twilight sleep of 1950, overuse of interventions like medications and csections rob women of what is intended to be an empowering, developmental stage in their lives. Such interventions should be used only when indicated. With epidural rates nearing 100% across the nation, the mere fact one is in labor does not justify a knee jerk intervention like a needle in the back or a slice of a knife across the abdomen.

It is not the health care professionals that will lead a change. The call for change MUST come from women themselves, as it did from their grandmothers in the 60′s and 70′s.

Jane

Anyone can have a homebirth. Most complications are caused by hospital based providers. It’s unfortunate that so many women think that they cannot have one. There are so many more options at home, it is safer than in the hospital and it is a gentle birth experience for the baby. Look into it!

It is so refreshing to see homebirth being portrayed positively in the media. It is great to see so many celebrities having peaceful births in a culture where cesareans are becoming the norm.

I had my twins at home (a VBAC) last year and it was the most amazing experience of my entire life. Nothing can compare to that moment for me.