Why I Chose A Natural Home Birth
If you’re reading this because you’re pregnant and soaking up all the info you can about natural home birth, firstly..
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your body is doing an incredible thing and making a little miracle 😊✨
Secondly, I’ve been there too, trying to decide what I should do - natural home birth, or hospital birth - and when it all comes down to it, whatever way you birth your baby is right for you.
I only recommend educating yourself and following your intuition because you do have options!
When I found out I was pregnant at the end of Summer 2022, it took quite a while for it to sink in.
I was ecstatic to get the fourth and final, “Yes, it’s true- this is really happening” confirmation from our doctor on my husband’s birthday.
Now that the time was here, and a baby was for sure on the way, I started finally getting serious about thinking about how I wanted to give birth.
A few years ago, it wouldn’t have even been a question.
I would have gone to the doctor and done whatever they told me to do because that’s what my mom did, it’s what her mom did, and pretty much what every other mom I knew did too.
That felt like the norm to me.
Natural home birth (meaning vaginal birth, no drugs, and birthing at home with a midwife) was something I just happened to come across when I was watching my favorite YouTubers share their lives.
I never thought about it much before, but now that I was preggers myself, I thought, “Holy shit - that seems gold standard.. I love the idea, but don’t know if I could do that.”
But after that, I started scratching the surface and learning why some mothers choose to birth at home.
Not surprisingly, what I found out about home birth really resonated with me and started speaking to my heart.
However, I was a little worried about what if something went wrong and we had to go to the hospital anyway, or what if I regret not taking the drugs!
Crap.
Now I have to make a hard decision.
Well..
The heart won.
As usual with me.
And my head followed suit not long after reading and learning more.
The more I learned the more confident I was that we were doing the right thing for us.
I’m writing this blog with the purpose of consolidating a few of the big points on why I chose to go the route of natural home birth, just in case there’s someone out there that’s researching the same things. 😊
I also want to share because I ended up making my decision based on educating myself however I could, and listening to my intuition (as opposed to making the decision based on fear).
I 100% encourage you to do the same and make the decision for you and your baby and no one else - whether birthing in a hospital, birth center, home, wherever!
Here’s what persuaded me to birth naturally at home (in our apartment):
We were built to do this
I read up on a lot of info about how to prepare my body best for birthing naturally.
This made me feel like I had some control in how things were going to go, so I went all in.
I learned that our incredible female bodies are capable of doing this, that our hormones and muscles work with us to give birth - that we are made to do this!
Also, doing what was best for birth helped:
me be a healthier mama during pregnancy with nutrition and exercise
ease my mind by knowing I was prepared and had some control in how I would labor
my baby enter the world alert and responsive without lethargy
me recover quicker and smoother postpartum, making me a happier mama 💕
No drugs
This turned into a plus for me.
Here’s a few reasons why I decided so:
shorter and smoother labor
our own natural hormones are doing a lot of work for us without need for a cascade of other interventions which could potentially end up with needing a cesarean.
allow me to sense when I needed to push
I also learned that if you can’t feel when to push, you could end up pushing so hard that your likelihood to tear would increase - no, thank you.
Contractions do have a low point where mama gets a little break in between, and I kept telling myself that when the contraction wave peaks, I can do anything for 60 seconds!
more alert and responsive baby
I wanted our baby to arrive naturally and uninterrupted, not cloudy and lethargic from an epidural
quicker recovery for me postpartum
that would help me be better able to take care of our newborn and ward off possible postpartum depression
When I was in the middle of the second stage of labor (pushing stage) I was experiencing back labor pain, so I asked my midwife if I could take a CBD gummy and she said that would be fine.
I think that was just a little placebo mental trick for me, though, lol.
I felt like I just needed something that had the intention of reducing pain.
3. The unnecessary episiotomy
Short story..
I did NOT want to risk being cut by default.
A lot of hospitals will do an episiotomy to prevent tearing.
To me, that sounds like giving me a cut in my precious area without knowing if I even needed it, thus giving me the worst case scenario anyway.
Also, sometimes that affects your sensation down there afterwards.. and no one wants that.
Best part is, you can do things during pregnancy to prepare your perineum for not tearing.
I did squat stretches like lunging on an exercise ball, deep squat holds, and had my husband help out a little by using his hands (which you can look up how to do online of course).
Also, a midwife is going to help you not tear during labor (likely by using natural oil and helping to hold you together), and may be able to stitch you up herself if you have just a minor tear.
(In my experience, I didn’t tear, but had a minor abrasion.
It wasn’t really painful and it wasn’t difficult to heal from at all.)
4. Birthing my way
I wanted to labor the way I wanted to..
Learning how to have a pleasant experience with birth made me confident in what I wanted.
I decided I wanted..
To try for a water birth
I did start in the water at the beginning of the pushing stage, but ended up on a birthing stool for the most part
Labor in my desired positions that work with gravity (not against it, like laying on your back!)
Birth in the peaceful, good vibing, sanctuary of my home and be able to rest in our own bed together as a family afterwards
Having less stress from hospital setting like the bright fluorescent lights and being bombarded with multiple nurses with contradicting info and opinions (as described by one of my friends who recently had a hospital birth)
To be able to eat and drink as I needed to keep my energy up
To not have a lot of people in the room with me for a more relaxed and intimate atmosphere
So that my body could relax and I wouldn’t hinder my hormones from doing their job
(I talked about this in my last blog - what gets baby in, gets baby out, and you don’t have sex with lots of people watching you!)
5. Longer, more thorough visits with our midwife
Our midwife visits were an hour long each time.
This was definitely not the case when we were going to our doctor’s appointments before we switched over.
The reason I loved this so much was that:
It gave plenty of time to ask all our questions
We were able to talk through everything we wanted to and not feel rushed (including my initial worries like my weight gain and baby’s size)
Our appointments were much more relaxed and informal than the hospital setting
We still got to listen to baby’s heartbeat, check my blood pressure, etc., but it was minimal monitoring
I didn’t have to stress so much about my pregnancy weight gain
In the beginning at the hospital, they would weigh me before each visit and told me I was gaining too fast (= more stress)
We were not being told our baby was “too big”
I learned that the guesstimate weight that the nurses will tell you is usually wrong in the end and causes a lot of unnecessary stress.
6. Less stress
This was actually huge for me to learn about natural childbirth.
Stress sucks.
And a lot of the monitoring in the hospital can be.. well, stressful!
I avoided stress like the plague when I was pregnant.
I knew it would keep me and my baby happy, and most of all, healthy!
Things fluctuate throughout pregnancy like your weight, blood sugar, baby’s weight, etc, and it can cause some worry if something is up that should be down and vice versa.
Lots of monitoring can sometimes cause unnecessary anxiety.
Of course, you want to make sure everything is okay.
By all means, if there’s a reason for high risk during pregnancy, do the needful!!!
Here, I’m just talking about a normal, healthy pregnancy with no reason for high risk.
For me, I had to keep a positive attitude and had to keep my peace.
I really enjoyed just having the midwife check my blood pressure and our baby’s heartbeat and positioning in our regular appointments.
I still had peace of mind knowing my baby was okay and felt confident in learning how to take care of my mind and body during pregnancy.
Most of all, I learned how to block out fear without blocking out precautions.
Overall, I am so happy we went the route of a natural home birth.
Labor seemed to go by pretty fast and my recovery went really fast and smooth as well.
Let me quickly go over the best and the not-so-great parts of my labor:
The not-so-great:
I had back labor - meaning, I was feeling a lot of pressure and pain from the contractions in my lower back.
What helped was a heating pad and my husband applying counter pressure
The best:
My labor seemed fast because I got through the most of the first stage of labor without freaking out.
I learned that the first stage can take a whiiiile, so doing what you can get through at home will help it feel shorter.
My husband and I just sat in bed and watched tv while I used a heating pad.
I got in our bathtub with some warm water around 11, called the midwife at midnight, and I was fully dilated and just beginning to push.
Then, our son was born at 3:49 am.
Every birth is obviously going to be different, but I want to leave you with this..
You’re more powerful and more capable than you think.
This might be the hardest thing you ever have to do, but it’s totally worth it, and I believe in you!
I hope you found some of my story helpful and if you’d like to connect, feel free to connect with me on Pinterest or Instagram, or you could even email me at mel@fitlivinginspired.com.
Also, my last blog talks all about preparing for a healthy and happy natural home birth 😊
I wish you all the very best on your pregnancy and birth journey!
Stay fli!
