by Sari Krosinsky
Daily Lobo columnist
Pregnant? Thinking about having a baby in the near or distant future? Well, then I have some shocking - or not so shocking - news for you. You don't have to give birth in a hospital.
Around these parts, home birth isn't so much of a foreign phenomenon. Still, not everyone knows that it's an option, or that it's safe.
Women have been giving birth for as long as women have existed. Our bodies are made to know what to do. Pregnancy and birth are not diseases. As long as there are no additional health risk factors, there's no reason giving birth at home can't be an option.
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Besides, at home you're a lot less likely to encounter unnecessary caesareans, episiotomies, epidurals and assorted instruments inserted into your body, all of which can carry risk factors of their own.
Albuquerque is a great place for home birth. When I was pregnant, I interviewed several midwives here, and would have been happy to have any of them as my midwife.
From my own experience, I can draw no comparisons between home and hospital birth, since I've only given birth at home. But I can at least relate that experience as an example of the benefits of home birth.
The night I went into labor, I called my midwife's apprentice to come labor sit with me. There was no rushing off to the hospital. When by midnight things weren't progressing, I didn't have to leave a hospital and go home again; I just went to bed and the apprentice took a nap in the guest room, in case anything started up.
It did. About two hours later, I woke up with a contraction and found myself leaking. When I sat up, I left a puddle on the bed.
While my brother filled up the birthing tub, I walked around the house to ease the contractions. The apprentice offered suggestions for different positions I could try, but no one tried to stop me from having my own way.
Earlier on, we had gathered various materials that wouldn't normally be allowed in a hospital - cinnamon-scented candles, CDs, snacks one of my sister-in-law's friends brought over. When my cousin gave birth in a hospital a few months before me, she was advised to eat little early in her labor and not at all later on. I was nibbling on almonds throughout my labor, which felt pretty necessary to counterbalance my exertion.
Once the birthing tub was full and at the proper temperature, I got in. As to that, all I can say is: forget about drugs, water birth is the way to go. Kneeling, sitting, or reclining in warm water eased the pain, without dulling my senses the way I hear epidurals do.
There was a point in my birth when, if I had been in a hospital, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if a caesarean section had been recommended. The baby had descended very far down the birth canal, so I was starting to feel like I needed to push. But I was only dilated to five centimeters - not remotely enough to squeeze a whole baby through.
Instead of getting my belly sliced open, I got into a kneeling position with my arms hanging over the side of the tub to ease the pressure. My midwife did this hypnosis thing. I thought it was pretty goofy, but it worked. It also put my brother to sleep.
The other great thing about home birth was getting to have my family there, as much or as little of them as I wanted. Even the dog and cats could wander in and out of the room at will, though they looked a bit petrified when they did.
When I was ready to push, I turned into a sitting position, and my brother got in the pool behind me to support my back. My sister-in-law caught the baby. My midwife and her apprentice were there to help everything go smoothly, but we were familiar with them by that point; it remained an intimate, family-grounded experience.
After giving birth, I could shower in my own shower, and nap in my own bed, and listen to the voices of my family in the next room.
I'm not trying to tell you what to do, when or if you have a baby. Just know that your choices are open.
E-mail Sari Krosinsky at michal_kro@hotmail.com.
