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Homebirth Is a Family Affair! When in their own environment, families seem to have a sense of freedom that they don't enjoy in the hospital. There is more
playfullness, more interaction with their partner, and more activities to keep the mind occupied. The refrigerator is stocked with
your own favorite foods and your CD player has a good selection of music (and we have done some labor dancing to get a stalled
labor moving - much nicer than pitocin!). Relaxing candles are an option at home and are not an option in the hospital. I have
had lots of cookies (a great early labor project whether you plan a home birth or not), several "birthday cakes," and more than one
woman has baked bread! The process of kneading the dough seems to be very centering to some people.  Labor dancing to help the baby descend into the pelvis. | 
|  | We don't usually bathe homeborn babies in the first 24 hours, but sometimes they just need a little cleanup! Serenity doesn't look like she minds.  This mother had the good sense to call me for a homebirth after her doctor recommended she schedule a c-section because he thought her baby was too big. Six lbs even, not exactly jumbo. She slid right out after a nice quick labor. |  |  |  | 
First baby was a long tough labor, second time I got there just in time! |  | We woke up the whole crowd for help with this rapid birth!  The little one in front is Rosebud alumni! Four of seven born at home. | After baking homemade rolls and homemade gingerbread and cooking a delicious beef stew, Jennie is showing off her baking skills at 8-9 cms. 
Baby was born within the next hour! Not really an option at the hospital! | Somehow I don't think we could have included the WHOLE family if the baby were born in the hospital. 
This picture was taken within an hour or so of the birth. |
Other activities have included being outdoors, watching humorous videos, folding laundry, and art projects like photography or
painting your belly cast if you have made one. The ritual of preparing the ground for planting a rose or other perennial plant over
your placenta is an enjoyable activity for many families during labor, if the weather is right for it. In other words, when you are in
your own environment, you can pretty much do what you feel like doing at the time! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * When your baby is born in the hospital, it is often whisked away by the nursery nurse to do procedures involving needles, poking, prodding,
bright lights, cold equipment, a vaseline like substance put in their eyes and lots of buzzers and loud noises. Below is a baby that has just
spent 9 months in a dark, warm, cocoon soothed by moms motions and the rhythmic beat of her heart. It must be frightening to the baby to
be left under the warmer, naked and alone, for prolonged periods of time. It is totally unnecessary, babies can easily be assessed on moms
chest even while breastfeeding. It really doesn't even take any extra time. For the first hour after birth, it is essential to keep mom and baby skin to skin as the baby gets used to the moms smell, soft voice, and her
warmth. This immediate attachment is one reason that homebirth moms rarely have difficulty breastfeeding. If you are having your baby in
a hospital, you can insist on these things, but you will find alot of resistance from the hospital staff. They don't even like to delay putting the
antibiotic, vaseline-like ointment in the babies eyes, since it slows down their paperwork. If a baby gets cold in the hospital, many nurses
will take it away from its mother and put it under a warmer. The most likely reason for it to be cold is that they have spent too much time
away from mom. The best way to warm it up is to put the baby skin to skin with mom and cover them both with a warm blanket.
Which of these babies would YOU like to be??
  Do you want your baby to be laid naked, flat on its back, looking up at bright lights with a heater warming them from above and drafts
hitting them from the sides? Do you want the babies first touches to be the feel of plastic gloves? NO! You want the baby snuggled
up to your chest, nuzzling for their first meal, bonding to your smells, voices, and touch. Homeborn babies rarely get taken from the
mom for even the most basic assessment, since we have learned to evaluate the baby while it is in your arms. Dad even helps weigh
the baby! We do the newborn exam and dad cuddles up while mom is in the shower. We leave after we have cleaned up any mess, and you have usually showered, been to the bathroom and had something to eat and drink.
We help you get started breastfeeding if your baby doesn't take right to it, although that is very unusual. We try not to touch the baby or
your breast while you are getting into the "rhythym." No one at your homebirth will disrupt the routine you are creating for yourselves for
arbitrary procedures. This is not to say that it is never necessary to do these things, and certain "hospital" procedures are sometimes
necessary even at home. But to make it a routine is the utmost disrespect for the natural act of giving birth. No wonder it is such a fearful
thing for some women. |
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