When we got pregnant with our second baby we knew we wanted to have a different birth experience than with our first. We had our first son at a free-standing birth center, after a long labor at home complicated by multiple car trips back and forth to the birth center and home again. I had an uncomplicated vaginal unmedicated delivery at the birth center but it wasn't the experience I had hoped for in choosing an out of hospital, unmedicated birth.

Now, pregnant a second time, we were considering a home birth. Our decision was solidified after hospital clinic midwives told me they couldn't provide my care due to my BMI being "too high" for their midwifery care and that I would be risked out due to that factor alone and have to have an OB. They also informed me I couldn't have a water birth in any hospital for the same reason, despite the fact that I had already had a successful water birth with my first birth, and had no complications or other risk factors with this current pregnancy. They even acknowledged that BMI alone did not make a pregnancy "high risk", but wouldn't change their policies. Unwilling to go back to the birth center and risked out of hospital midwife care, I decided home birth was the best choice to get evidence based care that was respectful, free of weight stigmatizing policies, and that would give me the best chance of having the birth experience I wanted.

We chose to work with Northstar Midwifery on Liz (our doula)'s recommendation. Aly, our midwife, saw no reason I couldn't have a water birth at home given my health status and low risk pregnancy. We received all our prenatal care from Aly, seeing her for every 45 min-1hr long visit. We got all the same tests and ultrasounds done that we wanted, just as we would have had in a clinic or birth center.

When I developed gestational diabetes at 28 weeks I was devastated at first thinking it was the end of my home birth dream. Aly assured me that if I monitored my blood sugar regularly and could keep my numbers in range by observing how different foods affected my blood sugar levels and mindfully combining my food choices, that I wasn't risked out of home birth. I was fortunate to be able to keep my blood sugars in range with food choices, exercise, and certain supplements, though it wasn't easy. I also prepared for birth with prenatal focused strength and mobility exercise that also helped with the GD with Body Ready Method. When I tested positive for Group B strep in my third trimester I also worried it could compromise my home birth, but Aly again assured me that she could administer the IV antibiotics at our home once I was in labor and that it didn't complicate my pregnancy in a way that meant home birth would be a risk.

I went into labor at 41 weeks, the day after doing a biophysical profile at my request at a radiology lab to confirm all was well with the baby since I was 35 and had GD. I went into labor that afternoon around 2pm. I was in early labor for the afternoon, texting Liz that it was finally happening but otherwise going about my normal afternoon. I took my 2 year old son to the park with my husband, made dinner, and then decided to send our son to his grandparents for the night as I was feeling like birth was coming that night. We took a walk after dinner, my husband mowed the lawn to pass the time, and I chatted with our doula about labor strategies. I sat on my birth ball, took a shower, did some pelvic lift and tucks, ate a big snack, and watched the Timberwolves game. Early labor steadily got harder to ignore by around 8-9pm and by 10pm we were talking to Liz on the phone and timing contractions; labor was here now. I labored in my living room, alternating between the birth ball, the couch, and the toilet.

Liz arrived around 11:30pm and we worked through coping with contractions getting longer and stronger. My husband started filling the birth tub around 12:30am and Liz called our midwife Aly to join us. Aly arrived just before 1am, checked our vitals, and placed my IV for antibiotics. Labor was moving so fast at that point I got right into the (very big and comfortable!) tub and within minutes I was feeling the urge to push. Our 9lb 15oz baby boy was born at 1:56am after 12 minutes of pushing in the tub kneeling on all fours. Aly caught him and passed him right to me and I brought him up and out of the water onto my chest. We leaned back and I held my newly born son in the tub in my living room while Aly performed all the checks on him and me. I delivered the placenta, still attached to the baby, in the tub before getting out and getting tucked into my own bed.

Aly and Liz stayed a few hours, monitoring us, giving us lots of unhurried skin to skin time, and ensuring the baby got latched for a breastfeed before leaving. We ate breakfast sandwiches prepared by Liz in our kitchen while snuggling the baby in bed. Aly left just before dawn and she and her birth assistant cleaned up everything, took the tub down, and started laundry. We would never have known a birth happened in our living room when we walked out hours later after taking a big nap with the baby.

Aly returned to check on us at 24 hours, 3 days, and 1 week, all in our own home. I didn't have to leave my home for anything. We also had 3 week and 6 week check ups at Aly's office, completing our postpartum care for me and newborn care for the baby with way more visits and time with our provider than we would have received after a birth center or hospital birth. Aly was also available by phone for any concerns, day or night and we were comforted knowing we had such an experienced midwife just a call away.

Our home birth was exactly the experience we were hoping for. I got to labor in the comfort of my own home, we didn't have to worry about when to leave, if we would be sent home again, or have to spend any time in the car. I felt safe, comfortable, and unhurried. It was such a straightforward birth compared to our first and I credit the home birth environment for some of that. We trusted our birth team completely, having built a relationship with them from the start and knowing they both came with many years of experience with birth. It was truly a beautiful, affirming, and heartwarming experience to bring our baby into the world in our home, to snuggle for the first time in our own bed, and to have a birth that felt like the most natural, normal thing in the world; just having a baby in our living room. My husband loved the experience so much better than our first that he has become somewhat of a home birth advocate. We both tell everyone who asks that we recommend home birth for anyone looking for a safe, straightforward, comfortable, and empowering birth without unnecessary interventions and arbitrary policies. It was truly a special experience that I treasure and would wish for everyone to have as they bring their baby into this world.

Thank you to this amazing family for choosing birthED and for sharing their story! If you’d like to access some of the support, services, and education they used to achieve their birth please utilize the list below:

DOULA - Liz Hochman BDT(DONA), FACCE, LCCE, CLC

MIDWIFE - Aly Folin NorthStar Midwifery

EXERCISE PROGRAM - Body Ready Method

EDUCATION - birthED Homebirth Prep

birthED Homebirth Story - High risk, or not?