Will I be able to give birth at home?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

This question was asked by LJ user verute in the rodi_doma community and caused a great response, the discussion went to the tops …

The expectant mother asked:

“You know, from reading the“Home Child”and the corresponding maternity communities, I got the impression that they give birth at home … well, how to put it more precisely … women who practice yoga. Diving into the ice-hole. Rock climbers. Nakrajnyak bicycles … Vegetarians are a must! In general, leading an actively correct lifestyle! Do not be offended, please, whom I have listed, I envy you a little, but: the last time I went in for sports … uh … up to grade 5 for sure. Then I always had a release due to severe myopia. In general, I am such a lazy, most ordinary woman, an active lifestyle - definitely not for me. I can't reach my toes with my hands, for example. True, there was some kind of sport - carrying a 10-kilogram baby, but now the sling-foot is hidden in a closet, I rarely wear it.

I eat completely wrong, only avoid preservatives, etc., do not eat semi-finished products. But I eat a lot of meat, and I adore everything fatty, carbohydrate and unhealthy.

Why am I all this. Can I even give birth at home ??? Did anyone like me give birth safely at home? She gave birth to her son in the hospital, lying on her back, relatively independently (without an epidural and stimulation)."

We asked the participants of the international conference "Being born in love - the right of every person"

What do you think about this?

Michelle Auden(Michel Odent), obstetrician, MD, founder of the Primal Health Research Center:

"The fact that you have already given birth well once shows that ordinary women usually give birth as easily as they fanatically follow any ideas."

Jean Tritten(Jan Tritten), Midwife, Editor-in-Chief, Midwifery Today:

“Of course you can have a baby at home! Try to eat better, and eat meat if you like. And even more so, you don't have to be a superwoman”!

Naoli Vinaver(Naolí Vinaver), professional certified midwife. For over 20 years he has been practicing the methods of traditional Mexican obstetrics and taking water births:

“If you were able to give birth in the hospital, then home birth will seem much easier to you! Every woman can give birth, not just yoga and vegetarian practitioners If you can breathe, if you can walk, if you can sit and stand, if you can laugh, if you can make love and cook for family and friends, of course you you can also give birth at home! Birth is a part of life, one of its most delightful moments, which is best shared with family and friends. It will be wonderful!

I help women in rural Mexico with childbirth. They don’t have the money or the ability to buy the products that are considered mandatory for pregnant women, and yet, they have a great labor, without complications or bleeding, and with breastfeeding after birth, everything is just fine.

Can you do it! Do not even hesitate !

Eneida Spradlin-Ramos, midwife, specialist in manual therapy, breastfeeding and natural approaches to parenting. Leads the midwife training programs of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC):

“It's so great that you were able to give birth to your baby without any stimulation or pain relievers. Even with your diet and lack of exercise, you are as healthy as many pregnant women here! You will be able to have a baby at home, especially with the help of a professional midwife. Happy childbirth!

Gail Hart, a professional certified midwife, has been delivering home and hospital births for many years:

“I always tell women that their bodies were designed and made to carry babies and give birth to them! If a woman does not suffer from serious illnesses, she is healthy enough to give birth at home. As a midwife, I can say that I have given birth to many ordinary women (like me) who do not play sports regularly, have a couple of extra pounds, and could would, of course, eat a little more vegetables and less sweets. In general, if your body is capable of raising a child, your body is capable of producing it. It doesn't matter where you decide to do it: in the hospital, at home or in the hayloft!

As Judy Metzser said, "All midwives need each other and women need all midwives."

Marina Dadasheva-Draun, midwife, specialist in oriental health-improving practices, student of the Taoist master Mantek Chia. Mom of 12 children:

“Dear Mom, you are smart! You need to have the courage to evaluate yourself, and even write about it. Many people invent, build illusions. You have already given birth to a baby without routine interventions and are doing a lot (for example, you read "Home Child", wore a baby in a sling, do not use preservatives). hip bones, twins), and now I help babies to be born in a double and triple bladder, often with entanglements, preterm or premature, sometimes with complicated heredity. And always everything starts with awareness and efficiency, and ends with the birth of wonderful babies and continues with active exercises with them and swimming.

My mothers in labor (and their friends) reason like this - if all these women with difficult pregnancies were able, then we, too, will prepare and do it! In Russia, especially in Moscow, it is easier to give birth at home, there are many experienced parents and midwives and the energy is right here.

For 6 years my family lived in Vermont and I sometimes had to (which was not typical in Russia) persuade mothers who were not at all athletic to change their lifestyle and for the health of their children (as a rule, there were already unhealthy children in the family, with whom my husband and son were engaged in rehabilitation practitioners in the pool) to give birth at home. And we did it in America, and in Canada, and in Australia, and in England. A Russian woman has a more mobile mentality, probably because life is less comfortable. My rather large experience suggests that Russian women give birth better than anyone else, because they know how to work.

And the most important dreams of mothers all over the world are the health and joyful childhood of children. That is why you can change habits and reconsider values, and even a month before giving birth, pull yourself together and get ready. Optimism to you, dear compatriot and wonderful childbirth!

Natalia Kotlar, midwife, psychologist, teacher, has been preparing pregnant couples for soft natural childbirth for more than 17 years. Mom of 5 children. Took part in the birth of more than 700 water children:

“If you really want to, you can fly to the stars. There would be a desire. So: preparation courses for childbirth (3 months), special gymnastics for pregnant women (taking into account laziness, requiring special attention of the instructor), swimming in the pool in a group for expectant mothers, psychological preparation for such an important event. You want the childbirth to go as well as possible for you, and most importantly, for the baby to be born easily and be healthy”!?

Anna Titova, midwife. Graduated from Rostov Medical University (faculty of higher nursing), now she is retraining as a midwife (in June she will receive a diploma):

“Just the other day I had a primipara, which is somewhat similar to the heroine of the letter. I was very happy when the guys told me that they wanted to give birth solo. But they did not have very good waters and they called me. Honestly, I do not like overweight women in childbirth. And it's not even about sports. It's just that he's overweight not only outside, but also inside. And sometimes this is an additional obstacle for the passage of the kid. Our birth ended well, although we had to make a lot of effort. You need to earn a good childbirth: prepare physically, psychologically, spiritually. We eat in order to live, not the other way around. Gluttony is considered one of the main sins. I myself sometimes eat meat, I love sweets, but in everything you need to know when to stop. The heroine certainly has every chance to give birth at home, because she has already been able to give birth to a baby without intervention.

I wish the woman to change her diet, which will be beneficial not only for her health, but also for all family members."

Julia Shelepina, psychologist, specialist in natural childbirth, co-founder of the "Birth" organization, mother of 5 children of which four were born at home:

“An interesting position … I'd like to ask the girl a counter question: why do you need this at all?

In principle, you can give birth at home - before, everyone gave birth and did not think about it. Now there is a choice … It's not about the lifestyle and not the food system and (oh, horror!) Not even rock climbing. Home birth is like a conscious need when you simply cannot do otherwise. You can't imagine … If this is so, then it will work out. If for the sake of curiosity - I don't know - is it worth it? This is not bungee jumping or parachuting, not diving in the Red Sea, This is not for the adrenaline rush! And this is not a catalog service. It will change your whole life.

In fact - if someone wants to give birth at home - he just does it and does not ask for advice or permission. He just does everything. In 15 years of work in this field, I have not given birth to any rock climber, not a single parachutist, etc. (And including me …) It's just that women are not very athletic and not fixated on the right lifestyle. Except perhaps one or two …

Olga Verba, doctor, 11 years of yoga practice experience. She studied Buddhist and Hindu Vedic scriptures and practices, while always remaining a fan of the Slavic spiritual heritage. Mom of two children born at home. Currently, she is a teacher of perinatal yoga at the Prana Yoga Center, and a host of Maternal Yoga seminars:

Good day!

After reading the letter, I conclude that you are quite a hardy woman - carrying a 10-kilogram baby is not a joke:). I myself gave birth to two at home, but I am not capable of this, it was not easy for me to even carry five kilograms in a sling.

Previous experience of childbirth without epidurals and stimulation is also a very telling illustration of your overall health.

Are you really a little jealous of all of the above? Do you want to give birth at home? Really want?

Who will stop you then:))?

Seriously now.

"Actively correct lifestyle" is a very loose concept, everyone has their own measure in this, you yourself understand, right?

You ask if someone like you gave birth at home and safely. Many friends of mine gave birth at home, I know whole communities of such mothers. I see that very many of them began to take special care of their health already in connection with pregnancy, and after leaving it perfectly and preparing for childbirth, they safely gave birth at home.

A planned or already onset pregnancy can be a great reason to do yoga / swimming / hardening / adjusting the diet. This happens in most women who deliberately want to give birth at home, without any violence against themselves, it is quite natural, even dads are enthusiastically involved in this generally healthy mode of life.

Although, of course, it is better to do some kind of "fizukha" before conception.

If you want to give birth at home, then you should know that it is far from being as risky and dangerous as it seems at the first time, and at the same time, childbirth in the hospital may not be as safe as it seems at first glance. If you deliberately choose childbirth at home - just prepare for it, and then even with myopia you can give birth on your own, without cesarean."

Veronica Matvienok, an instructor of preparation for natural childbirth, Nizhnevartovsk:

“Children often come to us with a proposal for something new. Here we live, we live, and suddenly, he, a guest, a messenger, anyone, but will live with us. For a long time. Moreover, with a commanding potential. And she starts pulling my mother somewhere. It's great! Mommy asks questions, looks for something and makes new discoveries. And daddies suddenly respond to the call. At least repairs are already a tradition in pregnancy. What a pregnancy, no renovation in the apartment. Well, for some, general cleaning, from child to child, is also not bad. And someone changes apartments, too, beauty.

Let's get ready for childbirth, effectively live the pregnancy, well, for the result - a happy birth of a baby. And everything will be, elastic muscles, a good supple body, relaxation, mood, kindness in the soul. You don't have to sit on the twine, and you don't have to do yoga. But doing something is more interesting than nothing. You open for yourself some doors, you look, and there are still others, what is behind them? You open it again. So before giving birth. Looking around, OGO! How much we have passed, how many interesting things we have seen, and what is amazing, in ourselves.

Well, if you want to give birth at home, out of habit to do nothing, then what's the point? You have to work at home, give birth. In a maternity hospital anyway is better. There they will take responsibility for you, they will degenerate everything for you, separate it, sew it up, if necessary, control it and tell you when you can go.

By the way, before the maternity hospitals, everyone gave birth at home, and no one did yoga, and that, strangely, almost everyone succeeded."

Maria Malyarskaya, home midwife:

Great. Today, home birth has really become an attribute of the “natural way of life”, ie. mom does yoga, eats genetically unmodified products from the ecovillage, reels two children around herself, whom she breastfeeds before school, dives into the ice hole of a pregnant woman and naturally she cannot afford to lower the bar, betray an idea and give birth in any way, except in nature without any help.

But in addition to such a real community, there are other women who lead a "normal" urban lifestyle, who do not require adrenaline for the consciousness of a well-lived life, but who want to invest in their children and do something for them themselves - not with the help of obstetricians, pediatricians, but by ourselves. To participate in the act of creation ourselves, to share both responsibility and joy, to become mothers themselves, to live their motherhood on their own and, if possible, there is very little to share it with.

It is more difficult for these women because they do not have the support of the natural community, because they communicate with traditional medicine, because they are influenced by the opinions of their husbands, mothers and girlfriends, because they do not know anything and they are afraid. And if, despite all this, they still decide to give life to their child themselves, they do it very responsibly, prepare for independent childbirth, go to courses, learn to give birth, read books, change their worldview. And someone succeeds. Someone joins the first group. And someone remains in the familiar circle for now. The main thing is that in childbirth a woman is in a place where she is calmer and safer. Nothing else matters.

There is always the possibility of the next pregnancy and another little man who will teach mom something else, and she can change her ideas and lifestyle.

If you go to courses and learn to give birth, then your myopia will not hurt, especially since you have already given birth to one in much more extreme conditions."