My Home Birth Team

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My Home Birth Team

Stages - Birth

Written by Greta Blau

Tuesday, 14 October 2008

A birthing team is important in any childbirth setting, but a home birth affords more flexibility regarding the number of people who can be there and the role each person is allowed take on. These are the people who were essential to me when I had my son at home.

1. My husband -- He was there when I went into labor and assessed when to call the doula and midwives. He was there pretty much every moment from beginning to end and witnessed our son emerging into the world. Of course, the midwives admonished him for saying, "Oh my God!" when my son's head was most of the way out—they were worried he would freak me out. My husband ordered Indian food for all when the birthing was over. Not recommended just after giving birth!

2. My mom -- She came in the day I went into labor. My mom was there for support and to get anything the midwives and doula needed. She also helped fill the birthing pool up with my father. They had a little argument about whether the water was hot enough. Tip to people at a birth who are not the mother in labor: no fighting! The most important thing my mom did was cut my new son’s cord.

3. My stepfather -- He just came in to drop my mom off but mymother convinced him to stay. He was involved in the labor pool altercation.They did a great job filling that pool, but as it turned out, it was TOO hot,so I got out after 10 minutes. Also, my stepfather couldn’t take the gutteralsounds of pain I was making, so he went downstairs in our apartment building toplay pool. When he came back, he had a new grandson!

4. The doula -- She was also our birthing teacher at RealBirth in New York City where we were living at the time. I knewshe was the one for us when she was encouraging about home births, which it turns out she also had with her son. Bonu helped me by rubbing my back, forcing me to stay hydrated, helping me voice my pain without ruining my throat, telling myparents to pipe down over there with the water argument, helping my husband figure out how he could be helpful, and just loving my son the moment he came out.

I would highly recommend hiring a doula whether you have a home birth, hospital birth, or birthing center birth. She also came the day after my son's birth to help me with nursing and getting him to sleep by dancing with him.

5. The midwives -- These two ladies, Martine and Karen, clicked with us the first day we met them at our consultation. The doula called the midwives when I was closer to having the baby. She called Karen when I was kneeling on the couch backwards, hanging onto the back of the couch and groaning after being hard labor for about 4 hours. Apparently, Karen said to Bonu, “She sounds ready.” When Karen got there, she checked the heartbeat and then found that I was fully dilated and ready to go! Martine also got there just as my son was coming out.

The midwives were more concerned with the medical aspects of the birth and when my son came out, they were a bit worried because he was not moving around a lot. They kind of half massaged and half tapped his back and then they were satisfied with his coloring and movement. They did the APGAR testing, tied off his cord, showed me how to get him to latch onto the nipple (along with Bonu’s help), and joined in on the celebratory Indian feast.

I would not have replaced one person on my birthing team and I’m so glad that each one of them was there.