Shortly after Vanessa told me she was pregnant she let me know she wanted to do a "Home Birth." Being a guy who was probably not thinking, I replied, "Sounds great."
Then I realized that was a literal term, she wanted to have Harper at home, in our bed, or a small swimming pool in our bedroom...Huh? Like Little House on the Prarie?
I was skeptical but, Vanessa is pretty smart and given all we went through just to get this far along in her pregnancy, I was sure she was not making this decision lightly. The next step was to find a midwife, she did. was not really involved, I only cared that she was comfortable with whoever provided her care.
Our midwife Cindy was fantastic. I asked her a short time ago what her first impression of me was. I figured she would say something like, "You seemed very cautious about the whole home birth process" or "Wow!, You had a lot of questions."
What she actually replied was, "I just remember how sweet it was how you cried when you heard the heartbeat."
I did cry when I heard our little girls heartbeat. I was also full of questions. The thought of having a baby at home was pretty foreign to me and I really needed to connect the dots from, what I perceived was all the medical preparation available in a hospital, to our bedroom. I wanted to know the plan for any and every possible emergency. Cindy was very upfront, she said, "I've done this once or twice before."
She had, and she had a very thorough path to follow in order for Harer to arrive safe and sound and Vanessa to be comfortable and secure.
The home birth journey can seem like going through uncharted waters but after seeing the level of care and detail Cindy provided, it was only because I was a crew member on that ship, Cindy was Captain. If your significant other wants to have a homebirth, embrace your role as a crew member, you have an important job to do.
In order for Cindy to deliver at home, she had multiple benchmarks Vanessa and Harper had to meet. Blood tests had to show every marker in a safe range, Harper had to be healthy and positioned properly. Harper's environment in the womb had to be without complications. We had supplies to buy and checklists to complete. All of it done to ensure the best and safest possible conditions for Harper's arrival.
Having Harper at home was one of the best decisions we made. Your partner is pregnant, not sick or injured. As long as she and your baby are healthy, do everything you can to keep them out of the hospital. That said, if your midwife tells you they need medical care, put all your thoughts aside and get them the care they need.
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