Welcome.
Interested in home birth? Do you know your midwifery options?
True informed choice is made when families are informed about all of their birth options, not just the most popular ones.
Hospital birth isn't for everyone. The birth center is a great community resource.
But what if you're interested in birthing at home? Home birth midwives and options can be hard to find in the greater Asheville area. I'm passionate about families having many options so you can be discerning and choose the right option for you.
There are many myths about home birth in Asheville, and I believe with education and informed choice families can decide if home birth is the path for you and who the best midwife is for your values. Not all home birth midwives are created equally--there are various paths to becoming a midwife and all providers differ with education, training, skills, clinical experience, and passions. I believe there is a home birth midwife for every family who wants one.
Want to learn more? Check out the home birth midwifery FAQ to learn about the laws, risks, safety, types of midwives, differences between OB and midwifery care, and how to get connected.
What would it look like to really acknowledge that our birth matters-- to us and to our babies--- that how we are held, supported, spoken to, and respected (or not) during our birth will stick with us for life?
- What does it look like for mothers, babies and families to receive individual, attuned care in just the way they desire? What do you imagine unconditional support, care and guidance to look like throughout pregnancy and birth?
- How do your personal values, ideologies, birth dreams, spiritual views and community shape the type of care you want to receive? What if the maternal health system acknowledged that what is the best decision for one family may not be suitable for another?
- How would your nervous system respond if you knew that the care provider that you got to know deeply during pregnancy would be the one to show up and attend to you during your birth?
- What would be the impact if more babies were born at home and received into their parents hands?
- What if we understood that the wellness of mothers was directly correlated to the wellness of babies, and if postpartum care was comprehensive, frequent and mother-centered?
For many women and families, their answers to these questions will lead them to home birth midwifery care.
Home birth isn't for every family, but in Western North Carolina we are fortunate to have a robust community of out-of-hospital home birth midwives and options.
Do you know all of your choices?
Home birth: A mundane miracle.
Imagine this:
Throughout your pregnancy you have gotten to know your midwife well, but even more, she has gotten to know your family well. She knows the name you've picked out for this baby and calls them by name. She knows the reasons why you are choosing to have a home birth with your first baby and that you've had to set some boundaries with your parents who are a bit apprehensive of your non-hospital plan. She knows what you and your partner do for work and your nervousness around how that will be impacted by having a baby. She knows that you love touch and imagine wanting hands on support during labor, and that you want shepherd's pie for your first postpartum meal. She understands that your mother's birth with you was fast, and made sure to go over Emergency Childbirth 101 for your husband's peace of mind. She remembers that having a video of the birth is important to you and that you want to keep your placenta to bury under the new mulberry tree in your yard. She knows that it is important to you that your partner be the one to catch the baby.
Prenatal visits are at least an hour long, while leisurely sipping tea, and cover more than just routine vitals and "do you have any questions?" No taking off work to wait 40 minutes in the waiting room before your provider can see you. Midwifery prenatal visits are a deep dive into all the pillars of wellness and what is coming up for you on this journey. Maybe you want to talk about nourishment for pregnancy and guidance on supplements, the changes of your physical body, the stress with the in-laws, how to ask for optimal postpartum support from friends who don't have kids, the safety of co-sleeping, concerns about your nipple shape and breastfeeding, your fears of tearing, paid paternal leave, what it would look like if baby needed support with breathing after birth.
Instead of a quick heartbeat check with just the doppler, ample time is spent hearing about your perceived feeling of baby's movements and patterns, hiccups and kicks. Palpating and teaching you how to feel for baby's head and bum, belly mapping with hands and the fetoscope to locate baby's position.
When you can't kick the common cold during pregnancy and want to know what herbs are safe to take.... When you have a concern about baby's movement or position that is keeping you up at night.... When you need in-the-moment advice about a pregnancy concern.... You have your midwife's phone number and can reach out.
Home birth midwifery is personalized, concierge level, on-call care.
At the birth, when it's time for the midwife to come, she enters your home with deep respect-- taking her shoes off at the door and stepping in quietly, greeting your dog by name, not flipping on all the lights, and gently offering your partner a task to help him feel grounded. Then she setttles down on the floor next to you to offer you sips of electrolytes and rub your back in between waves, before asking consent to listen to your baby's heart tones. No one on your birth team is a stranger, and your nervous system can settle as you surrender into the sensations and stay present with the natural flow of your birth.
You're invited to follow your intuition around birthing positions and location, and decide to get into the birth tub your midwife lent you to take the edge off of the contractions as they increase in frequency and length. She reminds you to work with your body when you spontaneously start bearing down. When baby begins to emerge, you can look to your midwife to receive unobtrusive validation that all seems well, that you're doing beautifully, and that it is normal for there to be a pause for restitution after the birth of your baby's head. Your partner catches the baby, hands them to you when you feel ready and you cry as you look at your partner and midwife and say "I really I did it!"
After the birth, you get to soak in the uninterrupted, sacred time of meeting your new baby without needing to move. There's (attentive, watchful) patience with the timing of the placental birth and no rush to initiate the cutting of the umbilical cord.
No need to find childcare for days, any older kids can be at the birth. You are "allowed" to birth in water. You or your partner can catch your own baby if that feels important. Delayed cord cutting means delaying it until you ask to sever it. You get tucked into your own bed with your perfect pillows and down comforter, and brought your own food, that your midwife helped to warm. Your house gets picked up, soiled laundry gets started, and after a few hours and another round of vitals on you both, the midwives sneak out to leave you to rest. The next day, the midwives come back to your house for the first of multiple at home postpartum visits. No need to get in the car with a newborn days after giving birth.
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When talking about home birth, a lot of people want to only talk about the dangers and risks-- yes, birth comes with unknowns and risks regardless of where you birth, and hiring a skilled and trained provider is important (check out my FAQ here)-- but people neglect to talk about the true benefits of low-risk women staying home and giving birth with a home birth midwife. Of course health and safety of MotherBaby is essential. But there is much more that matters in a labor and birth than only a healthy mother and healthy baby.
