What is it Like to Homebirth?

by: Marye Audet

I have had eight children, and six of them at home. I always get a lot of questions when people find out. “What’s it really like?” is usually followed by, “I could never do that!”

So, after having six homebirths, what is it really like?

Having a baby at home is much different than my experiences in the hospital. I was in control of what I did and how I did it. I could decide what made me feel better and what didn’t…and I could go to the bathroom in the privacy of my bathroom rather than creating a PBS Documentary of it.

I liked being in my room, in my bed with my familiar stuff around me. I like total quiet when I am laboring and I was able to look at Helen, my midwife and say, “Shut up, Helen” without her getting offending. She would smile sweetly and get quiet until the contraction was over. I loved the part where I would be almost out of my mind with transition and Marc would always tell me that we were almost there… I liked that after the baby was born we got to take a relaxing herbal bath while the midwives fixed my room and changes sheets…allowing me to come back to a freshly made up bed.

I loved that my midwife wanted me on bed rest for two weeks and on light duty for two weeks after that. A nice long time to be pampered and get to know the little one! After that rest I could come back and ease into my regular schedule, rested and calm.

People who home birth love it because it is ultimately less stressful than a hospital birth. I found that my hospital births were more painful, harder to heal from, and less satisfactory than the homebirths that I had. I had large babies, ranging from just under nine lbs to just over eleven pounds. I am 5′4″ and a size 10 at my top weight… the births, other than Ethan’s, were not a big deal

Marc and I have Rh incompatibility. The midwife was able to give me rhogam shots as I needed them. It was not a problem.

My fourth child, the second to be born at home, had a huge chest and we ended up with stuck shoulders, or shoulder dysplasia after a very long labor. The midwife was able to use something called a corkscrew maneuver (exactly what it wounds like) to get him out and begin oxygen. So, yes, complications can happen at home but they can happen at the hospital as well.

I think that part of the charm of homebirth/midwife assisted is that you are treated as an individual. My pregnancies always went 19 to 21 days OVER my due date. It was normal for me. I did not have a doctor breathing down my neck telling my baby was going to die if I wasn’t induced…My midwife developed a relationship with me an my family and she is now delivering my grandchildren!

If homebirth is something you are interested in don’t let anyone scare you or make your decision for you. There are bad things that happen during home birth and there are bad things that happen during hospital birth. The truth is that with a midwife problems are generally caught early in the pregnancy and either dealt with or care is transferred to a specialist. I am at the point in my life where there will probably be no more babies. I am o.k. with that. I have wonderful memories of the experiences that I had.

It is important to choose what you will be happiest with because ultimately it is your experience.

Marye Audet is the homeschooling mom of eight kids. She and her husband are restoring a vintage farmhouse and trying to live simply. She is a freelance writer and the author of four b5 blogs: Baking Delights, Kettle and Cup, Simply Home Remedies, and Marriage Actually, which she coauthors with her husband, Marc.

(image: Marye Audet)