Band-aid

Koen's mama wasn't feeling well today so I offered to pick him up from preschool. Lucky me, I always love the opportunity to hang out with the grandkids. Koen wasn't as excited about hanging out with me, but that was ok.

As soon as I buckled him into his car seat my phone rang. The sister in law of my over due client said it was time to come, a baby was coming. Really. Labor was in full force and they were in the car on their way home from shopping and I needed to come quick.

Oh, boy!

I explained to Koen that I had a client in labor and she was going to have her baby today and it was my job to help her have her baby. I tried to make it sound like a fun activity that we were going to hurry to my house and pack up my car with my supplies before I took him home.

While I was loading my supplies in the car Koen had a few questions.  He was wondering if the mama giving birth was going to bleed.  I'll admit I though twice about how to answer.  The quick and easy would have been to say no and move on. I'm sure it's no surprise that I decided to explain that yes, most moms bleed when having a baby. He didn't seem too upset about this but he did want to make sure I had some band-aids with me.

The grandkids know EXACTLY where all of my band-aids are so he promptly went into my office, opened the band-aids and brought one to me. I had it in my pocket which reminded me to share the story (along with the band-aid in my pocket) with the mom.

My Little Midwife

Emilia did a mini prenatal on Savannah this weekend.

She found the heart beat all on her own!

I almost always love my job. Not today.

I was going to put that as my status update on facebook this morning. I was feeling overly tired and a little bit angry. For the second time in the last three weeks I spent the night with a "laboring" mama, who wasn't really in labor. 

I'm not sure why I was feeling angry, other than the fact I was too tired and wondered how I missed that she wasn't really laboring. I guess it didn't help that after a few hours of sleep I was woken up by the school calling because my daughter didn't make it to school this morning, despite my stern emphasis on telling her as I left for the birth last night that she needed to get herself up for school in the morning.

I was pretty angry at her when I had to get her out of bed and take her to school.

I usually love my job. Really I do.

But when I endure all the less than desirable aspects of my job....and there wasn't even a birth and adorable baby at the end of it, those less desirable aspects become pretty annoying. I knew that I would be tired all day. I knew that it would be difficult to eat well, as I crave bad food when I'm overly tired. I knew that I essentially I would lose an entire day to tiredness and lack of motivation.

Not to mention I worried "what if she really goes into labor tonight and I miss another night of sleep?" Because you see, I'm still on call.

For me, losing sleep and being on call are the most difficult things, and no matter how long I do this those things do not get easier.

On the plus side one of my clients didn't get my message that I wanted to cancel appointments today so I got to play with these cute guys!

I got to be at Savannah's ultrasound and see my little grandchild. She is halfway through her pregnancy, and unlike my client's pregnancies, hers seems to be taking for.ev.er! Seeing the baby was amazing, thinking about this beautiful child growing within my own beautiful child. They decided to not find out the sex of the baby which makes it even more exciting....like waiting for Christmas!

My daughter is having a baby!

And Grandma Kelli is the midwife!

Feeling Sorry for Myself

Because I've been on call 

ALL SUMMER!!!!!

If you have never had a job where you were on call (most of the time) then you have no idea what a bummer this is. I did steal away for one week to the beach with my family (though technically I was still on call, the likely hood of my client going into labor was slim). But other than that week I've spent my entire summer on call. 

In the early part of summer my last client was due early August, but then I took a new client on late July for a mid to late August birth. I felt pretty certain that I would still have the last couple of weeks of summer off, and I especially thought I would enjoy Labor Day weekend doing something fun, and I certainly thought that one week into September I'd be free to step away from my cell phone. Ugh!!!

But here I am, feeling sorry for myself and very envious of those who don't live an on call life. Next summer I'm going off call!

The Little Midwife

Moments after birth

In Memory

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of a baby's birth that truly changed my life. She died 8 days later due to complications at her birth. I have spent the last three years processing my grief, guilt, sadness and remorse. There have been times that were extremely difficult and painful. Part of my process was going through a depression unlike any other I've experienced. Another process was a lot of self blame.

Recently, with the help of a good friend and midwife, I was able to process this experience in a way that I had not been able to before. I was afraid to move through the deep feelings I had. But my friend offered. I knew I was ready. I did it. My friend gave me the time and space of love and safety along with the skill to help me move through. I am immensely grateful to her for this gift. 

As the months have passed I have been aware of the release I have had of the negative feelings and self talk. There are times when I still think of this precious child and her death. I feel it in my gut and it hurts. But I am able to think less and let go easier.

As the day approached that would have been her third birthday I thought of her several times. But yesterday, as the sun shone so bright and I drove through the countryside to visit another precious child so newly born,  my thoughts did not once turn to her. I only remembered when I got a sweet message of love from another who remembered this day. I was grateful for the reminder. I was even more grateful that I had forgotten. I know this may sound strange, but after punishing myself with negative thoughts for three years, it was so refreshing to not remember, and then to remember. To light a candle of remembrance and to know that life does go on.

Funny Cat

Ava had always been drawn to the prenatal room, especially when there is a pregnant mama in there. She was an attachment mama herself and nursed her babies longer than any cat I've heard of. But today when she just plopped herself on the belly of this pregnant mom I was laughing! Good thing this mama loves cats and didn't mind.

The Kelli/y's

I feel like I've whined about losing some really great friends who moved away. Each one has felt significant and I've mourned the loss, knowing the relationship will never be the same. For some reason these losses have felt bigger than they should have. I feel there must be a reason for this, but I don't fully understand why.

Kelly, baby C, Kelli, Kate

I met Kelly when I interviewed her to be my new apprentice. In hindsight, it was significant that my midwifery partner at the time, Kate, could not be at the interview so I did it myself. Kate would move away shortly after that. And I would evolve into a midwife that didn't have a partner and ended up liking it that way. And Kelly would evolve into being more than an apprentice through that journey with me.

This is what I remember about my first time meeting Kelly.
  ** She was wearing a brown skirt from Old Navy that I had hanging in my closet.
  ** She talked about hating running.

This is what is so funny about those two things.
  ** On more than one occasion she arrived at my door wearing almost the exact thing I was wearing and I would quickly change my clothes before our client arrived. I stopped wearing the brown Old Navy skirt for this reason. At a home visit I put on her fleece jacket and wondered why my keys were no longer in the pocket, because it was the same color and brand as mine. And a client's husband once asked us if that was our "uniform" because we were wearing such similar clothing.
  **That traitor ended up running the Portland Marathon. And I loved hearing about every detail of it.

I'm sure it was not easy for our clients to have two midwives with the same name. But no one complained. And we became the Kelli/y's, especially to our client's children. It was such an endearing term. As time went on we became more than teacher and apprentice. We grew as midwives and friends. We went through some hard things, both personally and professionally. And one thing I always knew was that no matter how much Kelly loved living in Portland, she missed her family in Ohio more. She struggled with where to settle and what she would have to give up no matter where she landed.

It was no surprise to me when her family decided it was time to go. And no surprise when things fell in place for that to happen, as they do when things are meant to be.

This is what was a surprise to me. How much we had in common. How much I relied on her. How much I took for granted that she lived right across the river. How hard it would be to say goodbye.

As she spent her last weeks saying goodbye to friends, crying, grieving, questioning, I spent the last few weeks trying to cheer her up and support her and deny that this was going to be the hardest goodbye of all. So in the last week, each time I saw her, I just made another plan to see her again. It was easier to serve her than it was to talk about her or to her.

The last thing I did for her was to clean out her refrigerator. I told her this was my least favorite job in the world. My own refrigerator at home, smelly and dirty. I hoped she knew this was how much I loved her. Because we didn't have that kind of relationship before, where we said I love you and how much I appreciate you and you are one of my best friends. But that's how it ended up.

And then it was time. Time to give a hug and say goodbye. Knowing this would certainly NOT be the last time we saw each other. And yet knowing that things would be different. But hopeful that the change would be good.

She is going to cry when she reads this. But that's not why I wrote it. I wrote it for me. Because it was time.

R, baby L, Megan, Kelli & Kelly

 In my office with my new apprentice, Megan and the Kelli/y's.

Going to Haiti

It's crazy to think I was scheduled to be in Haiti this week! I would have missed the one spectacular weekend of Sun we've had in a long time. I would have missed all this rain! I would have missed my daughter's 8th grade graduation.

The decision to not go at this time was the right one, even though the journey to make that decision was difficult. I am glad I waited. I needed to put myself first and get my body in order. Things are progressing there. I am happy with my new naturopath and the plan of action we have.

I created a new blog that will be dedicated to midwifery and traveling to Haiti. I'm still working on it but check back and hopefully as things get closer I will be posting more information. Keep the people of Haiti in your prayers!

Footling Breech

Isn't it incredibly sweet that the wall says "Happy Birthday".
The little brother of this baby being born celebrated his birthday two days before her birth and the family left the sign up to wait for the baby.
I love it!

This little girl had been persistently breech for the last six weeks. Her mama and midwives tried many things to get her head down but she didn't want to come out that way. We all had a lot of trust in proceeding with this breech birth at home.

There were a few moments of anxiousness these last couple of weeks. Mama went a little overdue and I had another client having several episodes of false labor. I did not want them to labor at the same time. I wanted to be fully present for both births.

I have to admit for the last week or two I was convinced that this baby was going to come out feet first. When we had the ultrasound she wasn't in a classical frank breech, the most ideal of breech positions. I would say she was more in a complete breech position, but looking more like frog legs!



So this morning when dad announced that he saw a foot emerging I was not at all surprised. I was grateful that I had invited another midwife with a lot of breech experience to come along to this birth. But always felt confident that all would be well. I had planned to follow the "hands off the breech" rule, which is easy when mom is laboring in a birth tub. But this tub was only half full of water and you can see that mom's bum in completely out of the water. As baby continued to emerge I was afraid she would come quickly and her head would slip into the water. I kept putting my hand on her while in my head I was chanting "get your hands off". I did not want that baby to fall into the water. When the body was birthed we had the mom stand up to birth the head and I did place my hands on the baby at this time as the baby emerged completely and vigorously! It was beautiful.

Look at those cute little feet! Amazing!

Oh, Please, No!

There has been some recent blogging about a couple of positive birth portrayals on TV. I was so intrigued I logged onto hulu.com (awesome website) and watch "The Office" baby episode. My daughter loves this show but I haven't really watched it. Now I'm wondering why? Funny!!

Except for the hooter hider (which, by the way was really stupid looking), from a birth advocates point of view this was a great episode. First of all when Pam went into labor she did not panic and insisted on not going to the hospital until her contractions were 5 minutes apart. There was a staff meeting with the purpose of finding ways to distract Pam from her contractions. When breastfeeding was becoming a challenge and the nurse acted like it was no big deal to give the baby a bottle, Pam insisted on having a lactation consultant and didn't give up. Of course the lactation consultant was male and while he had his hands all over Pam's breasts Jim's reaction was hilarious! One of the funniest scenes was when Pam finally found success breastfeeding in the middle of the night, then discovered that she had really been feeding her roommates baby....Pam whispers in a panic to Jim, wrong baby, wrong baby! It was great to see a funny, yet positive spin on birth on TV.

Another show that I have not reviewed yet, but have heard positive things about is -SURPRISINGLY- Kourtney Kardashian's labor and birth. Apparantly when her water broke she just went about her life, even taking a shower and putting on makeup before heading to the hospital. When she pushed her baby out she...get this...TOUCHED HER BABY!!! Amazing stuff people. Way to go, Kourtney! I'm going to try to find this episode.

Update:

Here is the link to some video of Kourtney's labor and birth!!

Finding some Peace

The last few days have been emotional.

Ok, it IS that time of the month, but that's not the only reason. There's been drama in the family. My life used to be FILLED to the brim with drama. I dumped that crap and have spent a good deal of energy healing and finding balance. When the crap comes back in I am sensitive to it's effects on me.

My midwifery community lost a friend yesterday. She was young (my age :). I went to high school with her, where we were both in the dance community, but we weren't close friends. In the midwifery community you don't have to be close friends to have a bond. The passion for the job is enough to bring you together with a deep caring. The fact that this woman died of a stroke, leaving a loving family motherless is heart wrenching to me.

I have friends in Haiti right now. Reading their stories fills me with sorrow and joy. The people of Haiti are joyful and gracious, but they are suffering beyond anything I can even imagine. I am nervous about going, yet I know I need to go and try to make a difference, to help just a little.

So after a good talk with a friend today, (who seems to always be available to me and willing to listen...thanks!) I feel much better and gained a great deal of perspective. I left the conversation filled with hope. I am working towards love to those who have offended. I am feeling strong about who I am and my family structure and our choices. I will tell myself every day that I can have love towards the people who hurt me, because I know they are hurting, too. And I KNOW this is NOT about me.

On the drive to a home visit I was enjoying the drive, enjoying the scenery and feeling good. I thought about my own midwife and how much she meant to me. I enjoyed our relationship and she holds a special place of honor in my heart and in our family. It made me appreciate my job so much! What a unique honor it is to be invited into the sacred bubble of birthing at home. Each family teaches me, touches me and I love them for the gifts they give me. And I felt joy at believing that some of them will think of me fourteen years from now and still remember that most amazing day of their baby's birth, and that I was a part of it. It's not about me! But I'm so glad I was there.

My Job in Pictures

I don't have many pictures of myself while working at a birth. At one of the births I attended this week the grandma took some great pictures and there were many of me. I thought it would be fun to share a little glimpe into the home birth experience.


When we arrive to a birth one of the first things we do it set up the equipment. Here is my birth bag and oxygen tank. I use a cutting board to put a heating pad on with layers of baby blankets, baby hats and the newborn stethoscope. The cutting board serves as a warm and firm surface if we need to perform CPR on a baby. I also cover a cookie sheet with a disposable pad and place all of the things I need handy for the actual moment of birth. Most of them we don't use, but they are close by if needed. This tray allows us to move it from room to room and be ready wherever the mom wants to birth. On the tray are gloves, herbs, medications for bleeding, mirror, flashlight, instuments (umbilical scissors and clamps), and guaze.



We listen to fetal heart tones with a doppler about every 30 minutes during active labor. Here I am listening while mom is on her hands and knees and dad is giving support.



Awww, the magical part of birth. This baby was born with her cord around her neck and wrapped around her body. I needed to somersault her in the water to get it loose enough to unwind. At one point she was upside down and it was funny looking. This is just as I am helping mom lift the baby out of the water. I don't always lift the baby to the mom, but in this situation I did because of the cord. It's nice when mom and dad can be the ones to touch their baby first.


After the birth we are monitoring the mom and baby, and most of that monitoring is done just like this. Sitting or standing around and watching. I want the parents to have as much undisturbed time as possible. Mom will let us know when she's ready to get out of the tub or if she feels the placenta is coming.


A couple of hours after the birth we do a newborn examination. He we are measuring the baby.


Weighing the baby on our scale. (A client's husband made this sling for my scale and I love it. I also have a blue one,)

This baby was struggling with her respirations, so we were monitoring her frequently after the birth. We always want to make sure things are improving and act quickly if they are not. She is doing well now!

Thoughts on Midwifery

I have had a lot of thoughts about midwifery swirling through my head recently. I feel so passionate about what I do and how women are treated during pregnancy and childbirth, that even my children get sick of me moaning when I hear of ANOTHER woman having a cesarean. I can NOT understand why more people are not outraged at the FACT that the rate of cesarean birth is out of control! Why are women, men, health care workers and the general population of people NOT raising their voices in outrage? The lies are perpetuated when women are told that the only thing of importance is that they leave the hospital with a healthy baby.

I recently had a homebirth client that I transferred to the hospital for fetal distress. When I arrived at my clients home this baby was clearly in fetal distress and the mom needed to be transported to the hospital. She was ready to go, as she had instinctively felt something was wrong with her baby and this is why she had called upon me to come to her home and listen to her baby. (Mom's are wise that way.) I called the hospital, talked with the midwife on call and they were expecting us when we arrived. My client was treated with respect and genuine care. I was grateful for this. The midwife explained everything to my client, her feelings mattered and she was listened to. She was cared for. A decision to do a cesarean was made quickly and I felt it was the right decision. I am not against cesarean. I was grateful for the midwife's care and the doctor's skill in performing a surgery that gave this family a healthy baby. There were some moments that made me angry, but overall this was an ideal transport.

Recently ACOG (American College of Gynecologists) put up a survey on their website asking healthcare workers to submit homebirth stories gone bad! They quickly changed the page to be password protected. Not surprising, since I'm sure that the midwifery community went wild posting positive stories. Since I no longer have access to this page I won't waste time posting a link, and my memory is not great, but I do remember that it seemed that the most pressing reason for this survey was the fear that doctors were being sued by patients who transferred into their care from a planned homebirth. It is my experience and understanding that the bottom line for most hospitals and doctors is the prevention of litigation. If the decisions for YOUR healthcare are being made based on whether or not your doctor could be sued by you how does this make you feel? This is not the way to keep a person healthy. If decisions are made based on what's best for the doctor, how is this best for the patient?

You can go here to read an article that was posted on the Huffington Post about ACOG's recent stunt.

It is unfortunate that the medical community can not get together with the midwifery community to build a bridge of common understanding. In my community there are amazing women willing to put themselves on the line for this cause. I am thankful for them and the work that they have done. I believe it played a part in the recent transport that I had.

If women (PEOPLE) were treated with respect concerning their health care what could happen in our country? I wish the medical community realized that women (PEOPLE) can and do have knowledge about their bodies and healthcare. They can make educated decisions based on evidence. They can be TRUSTED to make the RIGHT decision for themselves, their babies, their families, their health. I wish the medical community trusted alternative health care and the approach of HEALTH and the role that preventive care, nutrition and mental well being play in the overall health of a person. I wish that WE could ALL stand up for ourselves in the medical community and make sure that we have all the information concerning our health care before letting doctors take control of our bodies.

I have had more moments in the last year than I would like to admit where I have seriously condidered why I am a midwife. Sometimes the sacrifice is SO great that I can not even describe it. I dream of not being on call, of going to bed at night with no concern for whether or not I will sleep all night, of taking weekends away with my family, of not having the responsibility I do for another human's life. But in spite of the sacrifices, I can not deny the high I feel when observing a laboring mom, of witnessing a wet baby slip out of her mother's womb and into her father's hands, of laughing and crying as siblings greet siblings with respect and honor and love. As much as I can't describe the sacrifice I find it difficult to describe the awe of witnessing a family being born. I am blessed to be invited into the home of a birthing family for such a private moment. I do not take this lightly. And this trust is what gets me through the rough times. This magic is what keeps me coming back for more.

I'm still here.

I've been busy. And not so busy. The real reason I haven't blogged in awhile is that I haven't had much to say. But I wanted you all to know that I'm still here! Here's a little photo montage of a few things I've been up to.

Watching the dog and the girl sleep. Really, at times it seems that's all they do!

Me and my FABULOUS apprentice, the other Kelly. Together we are the Kelli/y's.

We don't look our best here, but we were having a great time. This was at a birth that we refer to as a "butter birth". Third baby, Kelly was there just a few minutes before the birth, me a little longer. Mom was amazing and the baby was born healthy. But it was early in the morning!

And here we are with the new little guy. So cute.

We had 4 births in three weeks. 3 primips (first time moms) and one multip (see above). They were all great, none were super long and we were excited to be busy, yet with perfect spacing, giving us time to recuperate.

I'm off call for the holidays!

It's been snowing and freezing around here. I'm enjoying having my sweetie home....5 days and counting now. We've been taking walks in the snow, running errands, shopping for treats to eat while we're snowed in.

Yesterday on our way out we passed an old man lying in the snow and ice just a few houses away from ours. Mario didn't even see him. I saw him, but absentmindedly. It was only after we passed him that I realized the seriousness of what I saw. I made Mario slide to a stop, reverse and help him. Poor gentleman had gone to get his mail, (no hat, no gloves, thin jacket.....it was FREEZING out there) he fell and the best we could figure he had been lying on the ice for ten minutes. He was bleeding, shaking and unable to speak much. When we lifted him off the ground he was unable to stand, so we held him until another neighbor came out with a blanket, hat, and chair for him to sit on. He seemed pretty hurt, especially complaining about his hip, so we called 911. It took another 10 minutes for them to get to us, but they were kind and thoughtful and we left him in good hands. It was so scary to me that he could have been laying out there in the cold for any longer if we hadn't decided to brave the ARCTIC BLAST and go to Ikea.

Today was an even better day! Woke up to a mom calling in labor. I decided to ask Mario to drive me to the birth. I knew the roads were relatively clear, but I was worried about the hill that they lived on being steep and icy (it was!) and I didn't want to get stranded by myself. We picked up my apprentice on the way, and in the excitement and adrenaline, we didn't check the address of the house and went to the wrong house! Waking up a poor woman at 7:30 am to two women and one man and a whole load of baggage! We apologized and then headed up the street a little farther to the correct house, that seriously looks just like the wrong house! A sweet baby girl was born a little over an hour later. A surprise breech. When we first walked into the house the mom said she thought the baby was breech. I palpated but didn't concur. We heard heart tones low on mom's belly and were reassured until we saw a steady stream of meconium. Not a lot, but enough. By the time we knew it was breech, she was coming fast, just a couple minutes later she slid right out. Mom lifted her out of the water and that little girl lifted her head up in a way I have never witnessed---I mean she REALLY lifted her head---and looked each one of us present at her birth straight in the eyes, telling each of us of her presence. It was a blessing.

I began this year with a surprise breech birth that ended in a death. I ended this year with a surprise breech birth of a healthy baby. Both girls, with heads full of dark hair, beauty beyond looks, and loved by many. I thank them both for their gifts to me, for the journey they have helped me take.

So much to be thankful for.

And now I'm off call for the holidays!

Midwife Psalm

Thank you to Gloria Lemay, midwife in Canada, for this beautiful prose.

I am a midwife, I am safe in the world. I am allowed into the lives of others and am given the words that I speak. Yea, though I make mistakes, none are so great that they can not be forgiven. All I could want is supplied to me and my heart rises up with joy and gratitude. When I am afraid, I know that I am surrounded by a Presence mightier than the petty tyrants of this world. The only enemy I fear is the one within me. There is always an abundant table before me if I will but look and see it. My cup runneth over, if I say so. Surely, I am blessed to have a vocation that I love and that serves the Higher good. My heaven is here and now. In service, I find peace and tranquility and I dwell in the love of the moment, moment by moment. Ah woman.

The Dr. Phil Show

I heard a rumor that Dr. Phil was doing a show on homebirths gone bad. I debated whether I wanted to waste my time writing a letter to the show, but in the end I decided one more letter urging Dr. Phil to go another direction wouldn't be a waste of time. I expected an automated response email, but was surprised to find an email in my inbox a few days later from the production assistant of a new show, "The Doctors", which Dr. Phil's son is producing. He requested that I send a picture of myself, my husband and my mom (my mom?) to be considered to be a guest on the show. He also asked me to answer five questions. I considered deleting the whole thing, because there is NO WAY I would be a guest on the show. Instead, I answered the questions honestly and was rather proud of my response. Ultimately, I hope I make a small difference to someone, somewhere.

Here is the letter they sent me, followed by my letter of response.

Hi Kelli –

I read through your email regarding home birthing and midwives and thought you might be a good fit for a show we are doing. We have an incredible team of doctors who will be hosting a new medical show premiering this Fall. The new show, called "The Doctors," features a team of medical professionals discussing a range of various health-related topics and answering unique questions from viewers. The doctors include Dr. Travis Stork (ER Doctor), Dr. Lisa Masterson (OB-GYN), Dr Jim Sears (Pediatrician) and Dr. Andrew Ordon (Plastic Surgeon).

I would love to hear more of your story to consider you for this new medical show. At this point, I will need for you to do the following for me right away. Be sure to respond as thoroughly as possible.

Email me recent pictures of yourself, your husband and your mom. Include a full body shot as well as an up-close smiling shot.

1) Give 5 clear examples of how home birthing is good/beneficial.

2) Why do YOU believe some people are against home birthing?

3) How does one handle a home birthing?

4) How does one prepare for home birthing?

5) List 3 questions you would have for our expert doctors.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Dear Mr. Simon,

I would love to answer your questions, in spite of the fact that I am not interested in being on a show to "debate" homebirth. I am not a good debater! As in my previous email I stated that there are many in my field who are better equipped to take that challenge on. Also as I stated in my previous email to the Dr. Phil show I would highly recommend that you contact Ricki Lake to be on your show. She is well known and regarded, she has done a documentary about homebirth and I'm sure would be a perfect guest for your show. Because of her documentary she would also be able to steer you in the direction of those who would better be able to take on your subject in a public forum.

To answer your questions:
1. Home birth is ONE option for pregnant women. Women should have options and be able to find information that is accurate regarding their birthing choices. Because homebirth is only an option for healthy women with healthy pregnancies, it has been shown statistically to be just as safe as hospital birth for women and babies. Midwives who attend homebirths have been trained for the job that they do-attending normal vaginal birth. (OB's are not trained in normal, vaginal birth, they are surgeons). In a homebirth a women is allowed to birth however she wants, meaning she can eat, drink, move around, get in a birth tub, and her or her partner can catch their own baby. The couple make choices about any procedures or testing that they want done. And a woman who is able to go into labor in her home and doesn't have to leave her home, and is left to labor on her own time line, and is attended by midwives that she knows and trusts, will feel safe. Safety, both physically and emotionally is important to the process of labor.

2. I believe some people are against homebirth because of fear, and lack of information. If they looked at the facts and realized that this is a PERSONAL choice, they should not be so afraid. We should not tell women how to birth, just as we don't tell people how to vote, or how to worship. It is none of our business. But for some reason in this culture when a woman is pregnant we think we can give her all of our great advice!

3. If a client hires a homebirth midwife, then they have regular prenatal appointments, on the same schedule they would if they were seeing an OB. They are offered the same testing options, the only difference being I give all of my clients a full, written informed consent about any testing option available so they can make an informed decision. They need to have a few basic supplies in their home for the birth near the end of pregnancy, but I bring most of the needed supplies. When they go into labor they call me and we consult by phone until the woman is ready for me and my assistant to be there. When we arrive we monitor mom and baby continuously during and after the birth. After the birth we do a newborn exam, administer any medications to the baby that the parents have chosen, clean up (which is NOT as bad as most people think), make sure mom and baby are stable before we tuck them in bed and leave. We also do at least 3 home visits in the first week postpartum to make sure mom and baby are healthy and nursing is going well.

4. I think I answered most of that in the previous question. I would add that some couples decide to do childbirth education, but most don't. Our prenatal visits last one hour and we spend most of that time talking about questions the parents have, so that by the time labor begins they feel comfortable and confident in the procedure. We try to deal with any fears that come up prenatally.

5. I would ask the doctors if and why they are threatened by women having the choice to birth at home. I have heard recently that ACOG has made homebirth it's number 2 legislative issue. WHY? Is there a way for midwives and doctors to bridge the gap so that we could attain the ideal relationship of working together to serve ALL women? In my community the midwives have worked hard to come together with the CNM's and OB's in our hospitals that we transport to and it has been successful for us, which is ultimately better for our clients because they get the care they need in a respectful way.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my beliefs with you. I do feel passionate about homebirth and the belief that all women should have a choice in how they birth. I hope if you use homebirth as a subject on your show it will be give the respect it deserves, and not be used as a way to demean those who choose to birth at home and those who choose midwifery as their career. Birth is safe. And yet, sometimes we have bad outcomes. This is life. There are no guarantees.