FOIM Friday (on a Saturday again, sorry!)

This week, FOIM member Bel sent me a link to an article her husband, Ven Batista, wrote about being a homebirth Dad. Bel and Ven had their second daughter in a homebirth in London. The article features 7 reasons that homebirth is great for Daddies/partners. Check it out!

Video about homebirth dads

On Mothering.com this week, I noticed there was an ad for a new film about the experience of homebirthing fathers. I can't wait to see this!

http://www.homebirthdads.com/

FOIM Friday 1 day late: Robin's birth

Every Friday, we will feature member-submitted stories and photos about their homebirth experiences. Today, we feature images from the birth of my daughter (Lauren Whitehead, FOIM clerk) last February. Labor was 21 hours, start to finish, and I was fortunate to have two doulas, a midwife and midwife's apprentice, and of course my amazing husband, Brian, in attendance. Robin was born in water in our living room around 1 am on Feb 24th. We agree that having a homebirth was the best decision we've ever made for our family. Being in the comfort of my home, without the constraints of a clinically imposed timeline or monitoring, allowed me to completely surrender to my birth experience. Although it took me a loooong time to start dilating, once my water broke labor went very quickly. I think that in a clinical setting there may have been unnecessary concern about "failure to progress" when it was just the normal, slow lead-up to transition and pushing that many first-time mothers experience during an unhindered natural birth. We loved waking up at home with our daughter the very next morning, and eating my Mom's homemade spaghetti sauce as our post-birth first meal, neither of which could have happened in a clinical birth setting. We will definitely have our future babies at home!









And a recent photo of Robin at 8 months old!

FOIM Friday!

Every Friday, we will feature member-submitted stories and photos about their homebirth experiences. This week, Janelle sent this picture of a beautiful moment following her daughter's birth and the joyous email her husband sent to friends and families.


Last night Janelle birthed our baby – Baby Ella, a genuine Georgia love angel. I’m looking at her and her mama right now. They’re gazing into one another’s eyes as Ella - Eleanor Beatrice Railey - drifts in and out of sleep. Mother and child. Ella’s swaddled, mother’s
relieved, coffee’s percolating in the next room, and our coyote, Stella, is licking her paws.
“Yesterday was a long, hard day,” Janelle just said to me, “If there were drugs (for pain) nearby, I would’ve taken them. I’m glad we were at home.” Her labor started at 3 a.m. yesterday morning and lasted 19 hours and 59 minutes. (That’s about average,
according to our midwife, Debbie, whose “performance” yesterday was masterful, motherly, improvisational, and, in a word, expert.) Time bended and flopped in on itself, though, as it is wont to do during these major life events. The clock played tricks on us, cause one
minute we’re getting up a 3 a.m., starting to stir, and phoning the midwife. Next minute I’m out in our front yard, under the stars, getting a quick breather before we head into the home stretch and Janelle’s in our bedroom, breathing deep like a soft, fierce war-woman through formidable contractions that swelled in major upsurges and reverberated throughout her
abdomen and entire body.

Janelle did fine. We both did fine. Janelle, though, was amazing. An adult life devoted largely to psycho-spiritual pursuits and yogic asana practice paid off in huge amounts yesterday. No drugs. No episiotemy. Minimal, all-natural interventions (just juice, water, food, homeopathics, one chiropractic adjustment by Dr. Randy, and the constant emotional/physical support of our two attentive doulas, Amy and Christie, who perfectly and unerringly embodied the highest ideals of that noble feminine role yesterday.). It was just the kind of birth we wanted for baby Ella – couldn’t have been better. A straight-up, non-institutional, folk-birth, a home birth - solid! Though difficult and exhausting, the
day unfolded itself just as it should have. In moments of anxiety, Janelle & I drew close. In moments of expansion and space, we laughed, told jokes, made hilarious surreal and/or inappropriate remarks, cried, felt the love, and often just rested up because a new
set of waves/contractions lay in wait. Big waves, Hawaii-style, the kind that boggle the mind when you seem them swell against the horizon. Janelle surfed these waves and we listened to Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, and Neko Case on the hi-fi. That helped. Rocking – musically or in chairs - helps. Having a midwife, doulas, and a chiropractor/brother nearby who all know
what they’re doing - and what Mama & Papa are all about – helps considerably, too…

What can I say? Before long, there was a head, a body…a baby! Ella was born at 10:16 p.m. on June 7, 2007. She’s 22 inches long, 6 lbs., 6 oz., and has Janelle’s brow, my mouth, and her own lovely blue eyes. She’s got black hair and is curious, expressive, responsive, and, by all accounts, seems to feel pretty well at home on the planet Earth, despite a long, hard
day for herself yesterday as well. (When she came out of the birth canal, her forearm was placed above her head, which made the labor slow and considerably more
difficult - hence the 19 hr. 59 min.-long labor.) She’s doing well, though. We’re all doing well.

After Ella’s birth, Janelle and I feasted on eggs, milk, cornmeal fritters, and vegetables. Ella in her mama’s arms, we spent the night fading in and out of the transom of wakefulness. It is now morning. The population of Athens, Ga. has increased by one. Soon, you’ll all be getting to know Little Ella in your own ways. Until then get on the horn and spread the word.

Thanks Janelle, Jonathan, and Ella!

FOIM in Iowa Source

Here's a great article about FOIM in Iowa Source. Check it out!

Some highlights:

Clodi-Whitehead said she and her husband interviewed four midwives before choosing to work with McCormick-Deol. “I really wanted the quality of prenatal care that midwives offered,” she said, noting that her appointments generally lasted an hour versus a typical 12-minute prenatal visit with an obstetrician. “I wanted to know who was going to be there for the birth.”

McCormick-Deol is one of two or three CNMs in Iowa who attends home births. Her calendar is booked through the year with women who want to have their babies at home.

She asserts that safety is of utmost importance. “All patients get an initial baseline of blood work done to assess health,” McCormick-Deol said. “The standard tests offered in pregnancy are available to my clients as well, but they may choose to opt out of them. As long as they’re making an informed decision and they’re aware of what the consequence might be, they’re absolutely allowed to do that.”

Clodi-Whitehead gave birth to her daughter, Robin, eight months ago and was thrilled that the experience was free of complications. She didn’t have to leave the comfort of her home, was surrounded by close friends and family and didn’t undergo any interventions. “It was exactly what I wanted,” she said. “A totally natural home birth.”