Week 36 Day 2

   Our child is going to be born at home. 

   If you haven’t been able to deduce from my earlier posts, we are pursuing a home birth for our child.  My wife has 3 siblings all of whom were born at home so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when she told me that she’d like to have a home birth. 

   I’m a pretty easy going kind of guy who tends to roll with… well…. whatever.  So I thought, “Sure.  Why not?”

   Things have been great.  She found a midwife that we both love.  She regularly sees a doctor to ensure that this will remain a low-risk pregnancy.  And we live 15 minutes away from a major hospital… just in case.

   There are lots of reasons to have your birth at a hospital just as there are lots of reasons to have your birth at home.    

   Here are the reasons why we’re having a home birth:

·        Enhanced bonding from the moment of birth

·        Home environment to relax both me and the mother of our child

·        Limited exposure to everything in the hospital

·        Dim lighting

·        Privacy

·        Control

·        Mobility – for the mother

·        Wearing our own pajamas

·        Going to sleep in our own bed

·        One on one attention from the midwife – if we need it

·        No rush to cut the cord or weigh the baby (the weight is not going to change dramatically in the first two hours of life)

·        Eating what we want, when we want

  And there are probably many more that I’m not remembering right now.

  But what it comes down to is we have to make our own choices.  We weigh the pros, cons and possible consequences and make the best educated choice we can.  We will trust ourselves with this choice.  We can only ask others to trust us with this choice as well.  Everyone trusts us to not be an ass with a child.  Why is the choice of childbirth any different?