How we ended up staying for Home Birth
Home birth story: I was on an extended work trip that lasted just over 4 months during the middle of the pregnancy. Fortunately, Gina and Adeline were able to visit during the holidays, and prior to the last month gone, my work allowed an extended layover at home while enroute.
I was lucky enough to escape traveling during initial lockdowns in both Europe and the United States, but when I finally returned home for good at the beginning of April the COVID-19 lockdown had already been in effect for almost a month.
Among some of the significant measures implemented at that time were limits to non-hospital staff support personnel during births. Gina and I had talked about home birth and birthing center options in the past, but outside of a hey, “that would be a cool experience,” we had never made any significant plan to go that route.
One of the obvious factors of hospital over home birth to me was cost. Our insurance covers 100% of hospital births, while we didn’t even think that the home birth was an insurance option and would have likely been out $5,000. Was the money worth not driving to the hospital? It ended up being so much more than just not having to drive; the entire experience was incredibly different from our hospital birth with our daughter.
In the end Gina and I did not want to compromise our birth plan. One of the key components of our plan was to have the support people there that we wanted and not to have to choose. Well I hope there wouldn’t have been a choice, because I definitely didn’t want to miss the birth… However, with the restrictions of COVID-19, my provider was able to get a referral approved for a home birth midwife and we were on our way.
*Home Birth*
I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t have reservations or fears about doing a home birth. I kept running through emergency plans in my head, thinking about how fast I would be driving to get to the nearest hospital if something went south during the birth. What if something happens? Will I be able to get to the hospital in time? Ultimately, we were both able to quell the anxiety. Gina was not high risk, and the hospital was not that far away.
Choosing a home birth can be a difficult decision, especially when it comes to safety and preparation. Gina’s Childbirth Education Course provides you and your partner with the tools and knowledge you need to have a safe and fulfilling home birth experience.
Gina and other expert instructors will guide you through every aspect of the birthing process, including emergency planning, so that you can approach your birth with confidence and peace of mind.
Her course will also help you and your partner understand your roles during labor, provide techniques for pain management and relaxation, and help you prepare for unexpected situations. I felt so much more prepared after watching her videos.
By enrolling in her course, you and your partner can feel empowered and prepared for the birth of your dreams, whether it’s at home or in a hospital.
Don’t miss this opportunity to make your home birth experience one of the most incredible moments of your life. Join now!
If you are wondering whether to choose home birth or not, I will say that home birth has its perks. To name a few:
If you choose home birth, you don’t have to drive anywhere, unless you were already out, but then you’re just heading home.
1. You can eat your own food. This was a big perk of home birth. Starting a week or so out from Eoghan’s due date Gina gave me this revolving list of foods, drinks, and snacks to keep stocked around the house. Admittedly, we probably didn’t get around to all of these while she was in labor, but it was nice having options.
2. The environment is yours to personalize. Yeah of course it’s your own house, but if your wife is like mine, she might want to completely redecorate the bedroom or wherever she intends on laboring the most. If that’s the case, home birth is the option for you. Gina had a pretty solid birth shrine set up on our dresser in the bedroom which I feel promoted her mood and energy. That would have been difficult to replicate in a hospital.
3. Our family and friends could come and go. Not saying that we had a large crowd over for home birth, but one of our friends catered a spread, another took pictures, another gave Gina a massage. I could go on, but you probably get the point. These were only achievable with home birth.
4. One of my biggest positives as a father was the fact that I didn’t have to fight for a view during the last part of labor. I’ll discuss in detail the differences between my hospital and home birth experiences in this regard later, but the hospital for me felt like standing on the outside of a high school fight where everyone forms a circle around the two kids going at it so the fight doesn’t get broken up. That’s how I felt at the hospital with all of the extra medical personnel who rushed in at the last minute to watch the birth. The home birth was just us. I got to catch my son which gave me a feeling that I can’t even begin to describe.
5. At the end of the day and Home Birth, we were able to go to sleep in our own bed. The midwife and her assistant went home. It was just our family in peace and quiet. No worries about getting woken up every two hours for random checks or screens. No sleeping on uncomfortable hospital cots or beds. No sticking a newborn in a car seat and stressing out about the drive home after getting discharged. No mandatory lectures about not shaking your baby to death.
Being an active part of our home birth meant so much to me as a birth partner. I provided the primary support throughout the entire home birth to Gina; I was the one who was actively next to her side as she worked hard to bring our son into the world. She looked to me as her support and yelled for me if I walked away to grab her something and she needed me. I witnessed her birth our son into my hands and brought him to her chest in such pride of her efforts.
I’m not sure if we could have had the same experience in birth at the hospital, but I can say I felt so much more prepared and ready to support her after watching her online childbirth education courses, and having her coach me through comfort techniques the weeks prior to our son’s birth.