Homebirth in Georgia

From a Papa's point of view.

Once you have read the article.....

I have met, some of the Georgia Lay-Midwives, or Direct-Entry midwives. The ones I have met, I have a lot of respect for, and would/do recommend them when people ask.

When I was about 7 months pregnant with my son, I'd been reading a lot of natural and unmedicated birth stories. I was doing less research, and looking for more inspiration. Each homebirth story I read was so truly inspiring. This is where my research into homebirth began. After only a week or so, I turned to my husband one night and said "I want to have the baby here" he wasn't a fan of the idea of having our first baby at home. "What if something happens?" Understanding his worry, I decided to look for a couple midwives in the area. I had no luck finding any that were with in a 30 minute drive. But I did talk to him again about it, and we decided, we've come this far, lets have the baby in the hospital, like we've been planning, and have the second one at home. He was open to that idea.

Over year following years, I read more and more birth stories, did more research on 'common' problems that arise in birth. Come to find out, most of them occur because of some routine hospital intervention. Now, that doesn't mean some occur on their own, but, when looking at things like 'failure to progress' and babies getting 'stuck' on mom's pubic bone, many of these things are preventable even in a hospital setting.

I read about how direct-entry midwives learn how to handle those little and big problems that crop up with out help from any outside source, and continued to educate myself on as much as possible.when I felt 100%, or more, comfortable with the idea of having my next child at home,
I was already well on my way to becoming a doula. It didn't really take long at all for homebirth to seem like the logical choice for birthing. After all, if I'm healthy and my baby is healthy, why would I choose the hospital? I have no need nor desire for medication, and I certainly want to avoid any kind of augmentation!.

For those who haven't read, here is a brief story of my sons birth. If you don't feel like clicking and reading... he was born at 38 weeks and 5 days after being told I had pre-eclampsia. My labor had managed to begin on it's own (probably out of fear of being induced). I arrived at the hospital 3-4 cm dilate, and 80% effaced, he was 'high' (-2), and my contractions were regular at 6 minutes apart. My labor was augmented with a pitocen drip, and magnesium-sulfate was added to reduce my blood pressure, and reduce the risk of seizure due to blood pressure. His labor was 9 hours from augmentation through birth. I pushed for 2 hours, flat on my back.

At some point before my sons first birthday I asked my husband how he felt about catching our second child, about being the first hands to touch our new baby. He actually liked the idea very much. Part of me wonders though, if it had to grow on him, or if he really did want to, as soon as i asked. Either way, by the time we were pregnant again, he was excited of the prospect. I contacted the midwife a very good friend of mine had used, and set up my first appointment with her for 10 weeks. Unfortunately that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, and I didn't get out to that first appointment. But 4 months later, we were pregnant again. This time I called a few other midwives, before deciding that the one I'd called last time, seemed like the right fit.

10 weeks in to my pregnancy, my son and I met my husband at the midwifes house on a Saturday afternoon. My husband had to work that day, so meeting up was the easiest thing. We were probably there for close to 2 hours talking to her, and going through a lot of questions. She had her list, and I had a short one of my own. My husband had a few as well. Our biggest concern, was what if I had pre-eclampsia again. She assured us, that with a proper diet, and the right eyes on the situation, we could avoid it, or catch it early enough and try to control the blood pressure. Before we left, we hired her.

Over the weeks and months that followed I went to her house, usually with my 3 yr old in tow, and each visit was about an hour in length, and FUN! Of course being a birth doula, she and I got to chat about birth, and talk about babies :) We laughed about how the baby would always run and hide from her when she would listen for the heart tones, and later when she was bigger, when palpating for position. Kate usually took refuge behind her placenta, at least until she got too big to play games. I got to listen to the fetal heart tones through a fetoscope. Let me tell you, if you think hearing your baby's heart over a dopplar or ultrasound machine is cool, you ain't heard nothing yet! Imagine using a regular stethoscope to hear the heart beating, it's the true sound of the heart, and it's one of the most amazing things ever. I learned how to tell what part was what of the baby as she lay in my belly. I could tell the difference between and arm and a leg, and sometimes, an elbow and a knee.

We really formed a connection, as you should, long before the birth. And, then, we waited, waited for labor, so we could call her and our doulas out, and have our own little 'party' until things got serious. Well, they got serious with a quickness. I woke up a bit after 2 am to use the bathroom, but felt like I had to go again a few moments after getting back in bed. I'd been doing this dance all week long. I headed for refuge in the living room, flipped on the tv and computer. Got online for about half an hour. Then a contraction hit. I had to breath through it. Then another one! I moved to the sofa to lay down and time them. I was using the time on the tv because my husband had taken his watch back. They were 2 minutes apart! 3:01 was probably the first one on the sofa at the computer, then 3:03 had me move to the other sofa to lay down. 3:05, I checked the time. 3:07, 3:09, 3:11 POP my water broke. I just made it to the bathroom when the smallest bit trickled down my leg. But I'd heard, and felt the pop, I knew it was real. 3:13 I was on the phone with the midwife. I had a contraction while talking to her "was that a contraction?" Yeah. "I'm on my way, call my cell phone from here on if you need me again" ok.

3:17 on the phone with my doula..contraction... God I hope I didn't just push...."I don't think you are, I'll call H we'll be there soon" 3:20 woke up my husband "I'm in labor, my water broke" contraction...I got in the bathtub, the water running, hoping beyond hope that I could get in the water and slow things down. Every 2 minutes, with what I know, this should be near the end of labor, not the beginning, waters broken or not!!! Husband calls midwife again. I'm naked in the tub on my hands and knees, I grunt with 2 contractions my husband calls out the midwife wants to know "Are you pushing?" I reply "A little bit" or "yeah I think so" he comes in the bathroom, and sets the phone on speaker down. He puts his arm on the side of the tub, and I grab his hand. With the next contraction, I know I'm pushing, I feel the baby move down, another contraction, almost right on top of that previous, and I feel her head, she's crowing! I reach down, "I have her head" my husband takes his arm, and puts his hands over mine. Push, head. Push "I have cord" Push "more cord" my body is doing all the work, this time i push with it "I have the baby!" I turn in time to see her still startling, she's pink, ....and she's crying! She was born at 3:30. My midwife in her driveway.

My midwife can not legally practice in my state. She does so, because she loves what she does. If it weren't for her I wouldn't have had the idea of being able to have the calm, quiet labor I'd dreamed of, and hoped for with my son. We need to bring the states with out direct entry midwifery back in to 'the times' and get these midwives what they need in order to practice. Birthing women deserve to have this choice readily available to them. By doing this, we can decrease the incidence of post partum depression, increase the number of babies being breastfed beyond infancy, drastically reduce the primary cesarean rate, increase the rate of successful VBACs, get dads more involved with the labor, birth and newborn. There is so much to be gained by society as a whole if every state would legalize the direct entry midwives.

Then we just have to work on the insurance companies! Homebirths run between $1,000 and $5,000, that's just a rough average. The unmedicated hospital birth can still cost over $17,000. That's with no iv's, no medications, nothing. A cesarean can cost more than $20,000.

Just some of my thoughts on the matter. I've already gone on long enough.