[...] fog of burning sage and into the clean-aired living rooms of Brooklyn apartment dwellers. It also influenced more than one woman to go the at-home route for [...]

“I have never been the least bit interested in Giselle Bundchen, ever, ever, ever … until now.” Madeline,I couldn’t agree more.

“I’ve got two homebirths behind me (including one waterbirth, which, for the record, aren’t such a big deal).” Madeline, I couldn’t agree less! My waterbirth was just incredible. Three years on and I still get a rush thinking about it. For me, it was a truly transformative experience.

You’re right, VoR, I wasn’t trying to downplay the birth, water or no. But often, the stories and discussions get fixated on the waterbirth aspect. The big, big deal is that: she gave birth outside the hospital! Who cares if it was in a tub, it was a high profile homebirth. And for those who would like families to have more legal and affordable options when it comes to birth, someone like my girl Gi giving birth in her apartment — tub or otherwise — is the big, big deal.

I have been a strong supporter of homebirth in my life. I made the choice to have an attended, natural, unmedicated waterbirth. It was beautiful. However, my baby had several rare life-threatening complications that my extremely experienced midwife did not recognize that needed immediate treatment. After two days he went downhill, and we brought him to the hospital, within moments of the pediatrician seeing him, she recognized two of the multiple problems. My child has lasting neurological issues from the delay in diagnosis and treatment.
I will plan to have another unmedicated birth with no hesitation. I would never ever consider giving birth away from immediate access to a pediatrician again. I’m so conflicted because I, like many of you, was a vocal supporter of homebirth for so long. I would definitely have rather had a c-section or ANY other discomfort than put my son through all the trauma, tests and treatments he has had to endure. Any comfort I benefited from at home was not worth it for me.
I hope more woman stand up for more unmedicated births without intervention in a hospital’s birth center when possible.
Birth is not pathological but the stakes are life and death.
I don’t mean to start a fight, I just noticed that when I started telling my homebirth horror story, I started hearing lots of other poor outcome stories. I truly wish I would have heard them when making my decision. It seems that no one wants to ‘scare the pregnant lady’ so lots of these stories were censored while I was pregnant.
Frankly, I’m just writing as I sit here feeding my sleeping little one through his feeding tube because I am still processing the PTSD..
It’s just, I have seen both sides of the coin and have landed on the flipside.