If you follow us on Instagram, you know Mondays are for birth stories. We share a snippet of our favorite births, from our perspective as midwives. The grit, the challenge, the beauty and the triumph all have their place in birth. Hearing (or reading) stories about homebirth is an important way for mothers to process their own experience, and for pregnant women to learn about all the many aspects of physiological birth for themselves.
Today we compile the top 3 most popular homebirth stories shared on our Instagram over the past couple years. If you love birth stories, these are bound to resonate with your mama heart. Enjoy!
Homebirth Story 1: My Instincts are Trustworthy
“I trust my body,” she stated ever so simply across from me in the exam room. I looked over my laptop at her and paused my mental gymnastics. At her 16 week appointment we had been going back and forth on the most accurate due date for her, with so many clinical pieces giving her vastly different dating possibilities.
“I trust your body too,” I submitted and we decided to go with the date that came from her conception charting since it was the only piece of information that only belonged to her. We laughed about why we call it a “guess date” and I reminded her that babies always come “on-time.”
Towards the end of her pregnancy she remembered, “I guess we don’t really know when she is going to get here.” I replied, “Oh mama, we never really know- but she will let us know when it’s time!” She nodded as I reminded us both that we could trust her body.
At 38 weeks she called in the middle of the afternoon. “I don’t know what is happening exactly but I have a lot a low cramps today and they are starting to get kinda intense. I thought I had more time, so maybe this isn’t it yet?” I reminded us both that we could trust her body.
2 hours later, she was pushing in her birth tub. “Oh my gosh, my body is doing the pushing for me,” she grunted while catching her breath. “I don’t know if I should be pushing already, she seems so high to me.” She looked over at me questioningly and I reminded us both that we could trust her body.
6 minutes later, with her crying baby in her arms, she scooped and poured warm water over her head while gazing into her daughter’s round face. “Can you believe it?!” She said to no one in particular. “Here you are my love, as perfect as can be.”
She looked up at me and caught me with tears in my own eyes, a witness to the fruit of trust, the power of belief and the joy of surrendering to the process. We shared a huge smile between us as I whispered “I trust your body.”
Homebirth Story 2: The Truest Kind of Love
I walked into the dark and unusually quiet house to find this fifth time mom pacing calmly in her bedroom. Dim lamplight glowed behind her to accentuate the outline of her swollen abdomen. She breathed deeply to embrace a new contraction before noticing my arrival.
Pausing in the doorway with my giant bag at my feet, I smiled to myself with the relief of knowing this baby wasn’t going come before we had the chance to arrive. We had made it this time.
She rubbed her belly with a final deep breath and opened her eyes to see me grinning ear to ear. “Oh hello.” She said simply and explained where she was at in her labor.
“It’s officially a birthday, mama! What a great day to have a babyI” I shared with true enthusiasm and joy.
“I am not really that excited. For what comes before that, I mean.” Spoken like a real pro, there was no romanticizing the hard work ahead. I prayed a quick blessing over her and the unfolding labor as she lost herself in the the next contraction.
An hour later, after her deep breaths turned to moans and then small grunts she explained, “I know I can push and be done but it’s going to hurt and I want to wait for a couple more contractions.”
I hid my smile and soothed, “You’ll know when it’s time.” And suddenly, like the final sprint across the finish line, there was a splash, a groan, a head popping out and a crying baby tumbled onto the bed in between her wet and shaking legs.
Minutes later, dried and tucked into a postpartum nest her realness continued. “I don’t know how anyone enjoys that. I’m so glad it’s over.”
I want to say so many things about how easy she made it look, how smooth the labor went, how gracefully and expertly she and birthed- but know that is not the validation that is needed. “It was the most sacrificial love you could show. Well done.”
And that’s the good design of motherhood- a complete emptying of self prepares the way for a complete filling and mighty overflow of the deepest, truest kind of love.
Homebirth Story 3: Healing in Birth
As a victorious and exhausted mom snuggled her 3 hour old baby in bed, commenting on that addicting new baby smell, I slowly began gathering items to perform the newborn exam. A sling, scale, tape measure, stethoscope, one by one I gathered tools to help us check out this sweet new life.
We were in no rush to perform our exam, but mom and dad couldn’t wait to find out the stats on their newest family member. “Where do you take him to do that?” she asked with a soft voice, eyes down and nose nuzzled in his neck.
“Right here,” we replied as we patted the piece of bed right next to her.
She looked at her husband and her eyes welled. “You don’t have to fight for him,” she said. “I know,” he said, returning the tears.
The trauma from their previous birth experience was coming to the surface and something powerful happened. She was simply unafraid to feel it and process it in the safety of her home, with people who know and love her. To feel her feelings knowing she would be held, supported, heard, loved. Profound. Simple. Different.
We slowly performed as much of the newborn exam as we could with baby on his mom’s chest, going at mom’s pace and answering her questions, oohing and aahing over her precious newborn with all the awe and reverence this baby deserved.
As we went to weigh him, dad proudly walked his son over to the sling and weighed his own son. Tears in his eyes, he proudly announced,
“My amazing wife just birthed our 8 pound 10 ounce baby son!”
As baby and mom reunited she smiled at her new son, “I’m so proud of you, of us. Thank you for healing my heart.”
Interested in Processing or Writing Your Own Birth Story?
Our Birth Story Writing Prompt is the perfect tool to organize the events of that special day, reframe some of the harder aspects of your story, and embrace the strength and love present on your birthing day. It's a free download, click below for instant access.
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