QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
HOME BIRTH

Is home birth really as safe as birth at a hospital?
For most women with low-risk pregnancies, birth outside the hospital is as safe as—or safer than—hospital birth. The medical attitude of expecting trouble during birth, and the hospital policies that support this attitude, prevent women from giving birth easily and safely in the typical hospital. Routine medical interventions used at hospitals interfere with the natural process of birth and present unnecessary risks that can harm you and your baby. Home is where most women feel safest and comfortable. At home, there are no routine restrictions placed on a laboring woman, which make labor and birth more difficult. At home, you can choose your own caregivers, family and friends to support you, wear your own clothes, sleep in your own bed and eat your own food. Additionally, at home, there are no hospital-borne germs to endanger the health of you and your baby.

Is home birth as safe as birth at a birthing center?
 Home birth with a skilled midwife is just as safe as birth at a birthing center.  In a home birth, the midwife brings the same equipment and personnel as are present at a birthing center.  Although a birthing center offers a home like atmosphere, it is not the woman's home.  Home is where most women feel safest and comfortable.

Does a birth center offer anything different than a home birth?  Many birth centers are homes that have been converted to be used for midwifery care and birth. Otero Birth brings the same equipment and personnel to the privacy of your home, that are present at a birthing center.  We leave your home after the birth as clean as it was before the birth. You can have everything you'd expect at a birthing center, including a water birth, in the comfort of your own home. 

What happens during an emergency at a home birth?
Midwives are qualified to manage both simple and serious complications that may arise during a birth. They can administer oxygen and medications, start IV fluids, repair tears and perform CPR. Midwives also are trained to know when to transfer a woman to a hospital to handle an emergency situation.

How do I know if home birth is the right choice for me?
The choice of home birth is one that you and your midwife should make together after evaluating your overall health, obstetric history, nutritional status, home environment and social support. Once you have done that, it’s a matter of trusting yourself to know what is right for you and your baby.

 I love the idea of midwifery care but I’m not sure I’m ready for a home birth — do I have other options? Absolutely, and you’re not alone in feeling that way. Many women are drawn to the midwifery model of care — the time, the attention, the relationship, the preparation — but for a variety of reasons choose to birth in a hospital with a doctor. That’s a completely valid choice, and it doesn’t mean you have to give up the kind of support a midwife provides.

This is exactly why I created Loving My Pregnancy. Through my pregnancy coaching work, I bring the same depth of care and expertise I offer my midwifery clients to women who are birthing in a hospital setting. We work together to make sure you truly understand what’s happening in your body, know your options and your rights, have a real birth plan your care team will take seriously, and feel confident and prepared rather than just along for the ride.

A lot of women who see an OB get maybe eight or nine minutes at each appointment. Coaching creates the space that a busy doctor’s office simply can’t — to ask every question, work through every fear, and go into your birth feeling genuinely ready.

You get to birth where you feel safest. I help make sure you feel supported, informed, and cared for every step of the way, wherever that is.

Learn more at LovingMyPregnancy.com.