Some Perspective

I'm not the kind of person who likes to get in people's faces and tell them what they should do. I generally avoid confrontation, and tend to quietly hold my feelings to myself.

Choosing a home birth was an easy choice for me with this pregnancy. It seemed like a natural step, and I immediately felt immense peace about my decision and knew it was right for me to plan this for my baby's birth. The hard part for me has been telling other people about my decision. I've been so afraid to even approach my close friends and family because I've been worried they would criticize me and try to talk me out of it. So far I've received more support than criticism, and I'm grateful for that. I think part of this journey for me is to help me develop some thicker skin and learn to stand my ground on the things that are most important to me, despite what anyone else thinks. I usually do what I want no matter what anyone else says, especially if they tell me not to do it, just because that's one of my strong personality traits. But, I generally just do it quietly without letting on that I'm going against the norm. I can't stay quiet about this.

I don't believe home birth is right for everyone. I don't believe natural (un-medicated) birth is right for everyone. I wasn't ready to do natural birth or home birth with my first baby, and here I am expecting my fifth and finally fulfilling my dream of a water birth. Many times when someone supports natural home birth they stay on that extreme side and tend to argue that everyone should do it that way. I don't feel that way. I feel I have a somewhat unique perspective in supporting women in whatever birth choices they make.

Some of my opinions expressed in my blog may seem extreme. I feel that in the United States we are inundated with medical information about childbirth from the medical community's perspective. Part of my goal with this blog is to offer alternatives that might otherwise be more difficult to learn about. There's a wealth of information advocating hospital births and medications, and not so much that supports natural birth and home birth. In some ways I'm trying to help even the playing field by presenting information so women can make informed decisions about their prenatal care and birthing options. I want all women to realize that they have options and to educate themselves about those options so they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families.