Homebirth with a Midwife

I grew up in a family where everyone had their babies in the hospital. I had never heard of homebirth before except where it was an emergency and the mother had the baby at home because she could not get to the hospital in time. The first time that I was introduced to homebirth was when my wife's sister was getting close to her due date. My wife told me that she was going to have her baby delivered by a midwife in her own home. I immediately thought that her sister was insane and questioned why anyone would even consider such a thing. My wife then told me that one of her other sisters had one of her children at home with a midwife and that she liked it better than when she had her first child in the hospital. We talked about many issues dealing with midwifery and homebirth. We discussed the purpose of hospitals and how they are there for sick people to get the treatment or surgery they need for their condition and how pregnancy is not a sickness that needs to be treated. If pregnancy is not a sickness then why do the majority of mothers in the US go to hospitals to have their babies delivered?

My wife was pregnant at the time and, after seeing the births of her sisters' children (both at home and in the hospital), wanted to have our baby at home with a midwife too. I felt scared and worried that if something went wrong we would be at home and not be able to get the medical help my wife or baby might need. There were people on my side of the family who thought the idea of having our baby with a midwife at home was insane. I valued their opinions and questioned the idea myself. I was confused. I knew that there were pros and cons to both birth methods but I didn't know how to set my mind at peace and know that my wife's choice was the right one. At the time we lived about 3 minutes away from the hospital so I knew that if anything did go wrong it would not be a long trip to get to help. The obstetrician said that my wife did not have a high-risk pregnancy. I also studied and read many articles about midwifery and homebirth. When my wife had her appointments to see the midwife I went with her and asked the midwife and her assistants questions to help ease my concern. These things ultimately helped put my mind at ease and helped me to know that everything would be alright.

Then the day came that my wife went into labor. I had very little experience with birth and pregnancy being that this was our first child. I decided to call my wife's sisters so they could come over and help us. We tried a bunch of different things to help my wife with her contractions and finally found that if I pushed on her lower back with my hands while she was experiencing a contraction it would take the edge off the pain for her. I continued pushing on her back while she continued having contractions. Eventually her contractions became more intense and more frequent to the point that we decided it would be a good idea to call the midwife. She told us she would come over but in the meantime we should setup the birthing tub (my wife wanted to have a water birth) and fill it with warm water. We started to fill it up but the small water-heater in our apartment could not warm the water fast enough. We began to boil large pots of water on the stove to help get the water in the tub to a comfortable temperature.

The midwife arrived and I felt a great feeling of relief when she got there. My wife and I both got into the birthing tub and I continued to push on her lower back while she had contractions. The labor progressed and soon it was time for my wife to begin pushing the baby out. She experienced intense pain while pushing and I was worried when she started screaming during some of the contractions. The midwife, her assistant, and my wife's sisters all did everything they could to help my wife. They talked to her, they hugged her, and I continued to provide support by pushing on her lower back

After about 10 minutes of very intense pushing, our daughter, Charity, was born. She was looking a little purple most because she wasn't getting enough oxygen while she was coming out. The midwife had a tank of oxygen and she quickly gave some oxygen to our baby to help her begin breathing. It took a couple of minutes for her to start breathing normally and to have a normalized heartbeat. Those were a couple of the longest minutes of my life. Our daughter quickly recovered from this incident however and began to take on a pinkish color within just a few minutes.

The midwife stayed with us for a couple hours after the birth and after attending to my baby and wife she helped us clean up and take down the birthing tub. She came back later that day too just to make sure that everything was going ok.

My thoughts and opinions of homebirth and midwives had changed. Our midwife was great and most importantly my wife and baby were safe and sound. It was an amazing experience to have our baby in the comfort of our own home. We were able to lay down together in the same bed to rest after the birth which is not possible in the hospital with the small beds they provide. Our baby was not whisked away to some nursery where strangers would take care of her but instead we cared for her and got to know her a little better. My wife recovered quickly because she had not been drugged at all and was able to get up and move around the house and visit with company that came over to visit us and our new baby.

In the future I would hope that we can always have our babies at home with a midwife. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. Since then I have taken an active interest in legislation involving midwifery and homebirth in Utah. I send email to the senators and lawmakers of the Utah government to express my opinion on these topics. Midwifery is now legal in Utah and midwives can use a few medications to help their patients such as local anesthetics and pitocin due to new Utah legislation. I am happy that I was a part of that process which will allow many others to have an experience similar to mine.