One of my first introductions to home birth was the documentary The Business of Being Born. One of my roommates from college recommended it when I told her we were looking in to birth options. She had her son in a typical hospital and was less than thrilled with the experience. She felt like a patient being treated for a medical condition. Her birth plans seemed to be irrelevant once she went in to labor. “Next time,” she said, “I will do things differently.” And then she strongly recommended I watch this doc. My husband and I watched together and were convinced home birth was going to be our choice.

In the spirit of paying it forward, I strongly recommend you see it as well.

You can watch it instantly on Netflix Instant Viewing, if you have a membership, or Amazon Video on Demand.

A year ago I was pregnant with my first baby and began my home birth odyssey. Interestingly, it was my husband who first suggested home birth. He had several friends who had trained as midwives years earlier. As a single guy he’d gotten it in his head that home birth was “the way to go”. His encouragement led me to investigate.  My research lead me to Leah Marinelli, who became our midwife and friend.

On this site I will share links and research from experts, midwives, organizations, and parents like us. Come back often to check for new material. And call Leah anytime to consult about your specific questions and desires.

In the meantime, take these three bits of advice with you:

1. Home birth is SAFE.
When we first started telling friends and family that we were planning a homebirth, we got a lot of raised eyebrows. “Is that safe?” “Aren’t you putting your baby’s life at risk?” Some people thought we were selfishly choosing a homebirth for some trendy reason. Some suspected it was because we couldn’t afford “regular” medicine. All of that was far from the truth. Statistically, homebirth is just as safe as hospital birth, when attended by qualified midwives or doctors.

There is much more to be said on the subject of safety, and soon you’ll find more than enough resources and links here at nymidwife.com. For the time being, here is some of what the World Health Organization has to say about the safety of home birth versus hospital birth: “it has never been scientifically proven that the hospital is a safer place than home for a woman who has had an uncomplicated pregnancy to have her baby. Studies of planned home births in developed countries with women who have had uncomplicated pregnancies have shown sickness and death rates for mother and baby equal to or better than hospital birth statistics for women with uncomplicated pregnancies.”

Or consider this quote from Dr. David Stewart, “Every study published shows midwives to be safer than doctors. Every study. No exceptions. If your physician disagrees with this, challenge him or her to produce the data that supports otherwise. They won’t be able to do it. Such data does not and never did exist. In a nutshell, that is the strength of the case for midwifery. It is unanimous.”

2. Home birth is more common than you might expect.
Over 90% of the world’s population were born at home. Hospital birth is a relatively recent development. Most people assume its for safety that we give birth in hospitals; in reality its because ever since the automobile made local travel easy, it made more economic sense to perform deliveries in one central location where one physician could attend many at once. Outside of North America, home birth is a widely accepted way to deliver healthy babies.

3. Home birth is a statistically less painful, and emotionally more intimate start to your child’s life outside the womb.
Studies comparing womens’ perceived pain levels showed a significantly less painful experience at home. Most likely this is due to the comfort of familiar surroundings and ability to move about freely. In one study both husbands and wives were asked to rate the experience, the overwhelming conclusion was that home birth was more pleasant and less painful.

Hospital birth tends to treat mother and baby as patients in need of medical care. Home birth allows mother and baby to complete a natural human process in a simple, healthy way.