I am beyond excited to announce Bring Birth Home TV!

The story:

Last week I was approached by fellow birth advocate, Gena Kirby of Progressive Parenting (she’s way cool. I’ve been on her radio show twice – listen to Bring Birth Home on Progressive Parenting Radio).

She asked me to co-host a new TV show with her.

And here’s the cherry on top: I could call the show whatever I wanted to.

I could call the show whatever I wanted to? 

Yes.

Well golly! I’d like to call it Bring Birth Home TV thank you very much! <wide grin>

And so, in the snap of a finger, BBH  TV was born. Yay!

Bring Birth Home TV will air LIVE every Wednesday night from 9:30-10:00 pm EST, beginning next Wednesday, 2-8-12

I will be discussing pregnancy, home birth
preparation, how to find a midwife, relaxation techniques during labor, laboring at home, and much more!

We will interview the experts – midwives, doulas, and…YOU!

BBH TV will be a weekly event hosted live Vokle. You can participate with their chat feature and ask us questions, as well as use Twitter. Membership is free.

So, who wants to be a guest on my show?

You need to have a webcam and headset with a speaker. 

In this interview with Joe Valley of Empowered Papa, we discuss the need for support and empowerment for fathers.

Joe realized how much fathers need a guide through pregnancy during childbirth class with his wife Andrea. They were expecting their first child and planning a home birth.

The class was obviously geared toward mothers. Joe didn’t feel like he, or the other dads, really fit in.

So he decided to do something about it.

Empowered Papa is the result of Joe’s hard work.

Listen to our conversation below:

Find and LIKE Empowered Papa on Facebook right now (after you’re done listening that is).

Birthing a child is an intimate and sacred experience that is a reflection of the love making that conceived the child. Doesn’t it make sense to have that experience in a familiar and safe environment?

For those of us that decide to bring birth home, we take responsibility for the grand entry of our children into this world by involving ourselves with every aspect of birth that might otherwise have been handled by someone else in a medical setting.

More and more homebirth dads are choosing to get involved with many aspects of birth because it makes sense to them and their definition of family. Furthermore, moms are asking for their support.

It made sense to me to get involved in the birth of my son. Also, my wife wanted me to be involved. Who else knew her better than me? Who was there more than anyone else throughout the whole pregnancy time? The benefit of my involvement was that I had increased bonding with my wife and my son, and I count his birth as the most transformative event of my life.

Here are 19 ways dads can positively get involved with the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum time.

PREGNANCY

• Say, “I am a dad.” Say it everyday
• Attend a childbirth education course
• Attend a breastfeeding class
• Ask other dads about their personal experience with birth
• Research birth options with partner
• Watch natural birth videos
• Be present for the sessions with midwife
• Ask compelling questions about birth such as “How can I positively influence the birthing time?”
• Participate in deciding who will be present at the birth

BIRTHING TIME

• Prepare the birth pool if mama wants one
• Organize the supplies requested by midwife
• Believe the process works, a woman’s body knows, a midwife is competent, and the water is safe and effective
• Watch, wait and let the process unfold

POSTPARTUM TIME

• Say, “I am postpartum care-giver.” Say it everyday
• Prepare healthy, hot meals [warm food helps new mama recover faster]
• Provide hot water bottles for mama if the weather is cold
• Be the organizer for houseguests and the duration and frequency of their stay
• Provide assistance in baby’s breastfeeding latch
• Help organize the assistance from family and friends to get all of the household chores done

Joe is an accidental birth junkie since supporting his wife, Andrea, in the homebirth of their son, Sacha. His work as a psychotherapist coincides with his new venture of Empowered Papa where he offers classes, coaching, and ongoing support through his blog. Joe is passionate about fixed gear bikes, running, yoga, and organic foods. He has devoted himself to a heart-centered practice.

“Home birth is actually pretty safe, Mom. And plus, the hospital is right around the corner from where we live.”

Sound familiar? I know I’m not the first home birther to use this line on family or friends.

As the loved one of someone who is birthing at home, the idea of a hospital being close by is a comforting fact. And as someone who is planning on giving birth at home, it’s a great point to use when introducing the topic.

When I first began planning my home birth, and telling select family members of those plans, I almost always mentioned the close proximity of our local hospital.

It was literally 10 minutes from our front door.

Their heads nodded in approval saying, “Oh, that’s good.” And, “Just in case.”

I’ll admit it – I liked being that close to a hospital for my first. It was after all, not just my first home birth, but my first birth ever. I didn’t know what to expect.

But as my due date neared, I began to rely less and less on the hospital.

My faith in birth outgrew the need to remind myself of my safety net. I stopped talking about it.

Our first child was born at home, and the entire event was beautiful. Hard work, but beautiful.

When I became pregnant with my second child, I knew right away that I’d be planning another home birth.

I called my midwife and doula, (my dream time) to let them know I’d be needing their services once again.

With this home birth however, one thing would be distinctly different: we had moved to a new home a half hour outside of town. No longer 10 minutes away from the hospital.

I thought long and hard about the possibility of giving birth at home if I lived in the country.

This wasn’t the easiest conclusion to come to.

Heck, I’m human. And I think “what-ifs” are a common part of our nature. We have to think through many different scenarios!

Ultimately, the answer I came to was yes.

Yes, I would give birth at home even if I lived far away from a hospital.

When it came down to it, I wanted to give birth at home to my children more than I was willing to sacrifice where I lived for a what-if possibility. That’s just not a way I want to live!

I wouldn’t give up my desire for home birth, nor would I give up my desire to live in the quiet countryside.

I believe in myself, my body, my team, and above all else, I believe in birth.

Does living in the country make life more dangerous? No.

Does home birth make birth more dangerous? No.

So I birthed at home a second time and it was gorgeous. And I didn’t think twice about being 30 minutes away from the hospital. I could have been two hours away. It wouldn’t have made a bit of difference to me.

p.s. this is not my home. Beautiful though!

Question:

I am pregnant and planning a home birth and would like to hire a doula, but don’t have much extra money for the extra expense. Should I forgo hiring a doula and rely on the support of my midwife and husband? Or should I try to find a doula who will work with me financially?

Answer: 

I see a few different ways to about discovering an answer to this question.

First of all, I’d like to make it known that I absolutely see the benefits of having a doula present at a home birth. A doula provides emotional and physical support to laboring women that is unmatched. She has been trained to do so. I personally wouldn’t birth without my “dream team,” doula and midwife combo.

That being said, a doula’s support is definitely not always necessary for every woman who chooses to give birth at home (although I strongly recommend hiring a doula for hospital births!). Home birth can be a wonderfully intimate experience shared with the laboring mother and her partner, with their midwife on hand as needed.

My advice in 3 steps:

#1: Consult with your midwife and talk with her about what kind of support she commonly provides. Talk to her about your ideal birth. What kind of support are you looking for? Hands on or hands off? Some of this you might not know until you’re in labor. That’s okay. Just speak openly.

#2: If after you speak with your midwife you should still feel dissatisfied, and long for another support person, begin interviewing doulas. Explain your situation to them. Some doulas are very interested in attending home births, those who barter or may take split payments. You never know until you ask.

#3: Perhaps you’re not exactly sure why you want to hire a doula in the first place, you’re just under the impression that you’re going to want a lot of support during the uncharted territory of a first home birth. That is a very natural feeling to have! Try creating a doula pro and con list. What are the reasons you’d like a doula there with you? Why might you not want a doula? Envision your ideal birth.

In the end, I have all the faith that your birth experience will be everything it is meant to be.

Of the several important factors that inspired me to give birth at home, newborn care was right at the top of my list.

When I imagined giving birth at a hospital, I didn’t think of laying in a hospital bed. I didn’t think of nurses coming in and out of the room, what midwife would be on call or the bright florescent lighting overhead.

I thought about the moment of my child’s birth. I visualized it. And I didn’t like what I imagined.

A stranger’s hands holding my baby, quickly wiping her body with rough hospital towels, suctioning out her nose and mouth, all the while her arms flailing, reaching for me – for my warmth; my familiar body.

Birthing at home extinguished this fear.

I was calmed with the idea of newborn care at home.

Since I would discuss newborn care with my midwife in advance, she would know that I’d prefer my baby to be placed on my chest immediately after birth.

She would let the blood from my placenta continue to pulse through the cord into my baby until it was done before clamping and cutting the cord.

And she wouldn’t try to take away my baby. Or invade our space to suction her if not necessary.

My midwife, as we discussed and I envisioned, would sit back in awe of birth and respect our sacred bonding time together in the magical hour after birth. She’d clean up and begin to prepare for my placenta to come, record her stats, get out the measuring tape, the scale, and reminisce the birth with me.

I knew my idea of newborn care would be more directly aligned with her routine practice, which put me at ease. Rather than asking for her to allow the cord to finish pulsing, she would automatically follow suite.

Exceptional Newborn Care at Home

What makes newborn care at home so outstanding?

The midwifery model of care is built upon evidence based practices relating to the health and emotional well being of mom and baby.

Listed below are the specific aspects of newborn care that are commonly practiced at a home birth.

Immediate skin-to-skin contact. 

My midwife and I shared the belief that a newborn should have immediate skin-to-skin contact with mom for at least the first hour of life for the purposes of bonding, regulating newborn’s heart rate and temperature, and the most natural way to initiate breastfeeding.

Studies show newborn’s stress levels double when placed alone immediately after birth.

And listen to this amazing health fact: when an infant suckles at mother’s breast, there are 19 gastrointestinal hormones released, stimulating growth and nutrient absorption.

A mother releases large quantities of oxytocin when immediately placed skin-to-skin with baby, increasing bonding and contracting the uterine muscles which prevents bleeding. I loved feeling the rush of that love-hormone!

During this time, a home birth midwife checks the vitals of both mom and baby.

Delayed cord clamping.

First of all, allowing blood to continue pumping from the placenta into baby does no harm to mom or baby. So why interrupt it? Not only does it do no harm, the blood in the umbilical cord is full of amazing T-cells, which have cancer fighting properties (this is why cord blood banking has become so popular).

Umbilical blood is designed to enter the child at birth. Look at the situation the way nature intended, before the use of modern medicine/instruments: blood would continue pulsating through the cord before the cord could be cut, perhaps even to the extend of drying first in order to be cut (think ancient civilizations – they could have chewed, sawed with rough stones or even burnt the cord to separate it from mother and child).

Your midwife can leave the cord to continue pulsing until it finishes, and in the meantime, clean, help mom birth the placenta, facilitate/encourage breastfeeding, and record stats of the birth.

First bath.

It is common procedure for newborns to be washed with soap when born in hospitals. This is not medically necessary for the new baby, but protocol usually requires that newborns are washed before touched by hospital staff or the staff must keep gloves on at all times.

Since baby doesn’t need to be washed, it doesn’t normally happen at a home birth. Maybe spot-cleaned, say if there is some meconium, (baby’s first bowl movement) on the baby. Otherwise, vernix, (a waxy coating that helps facilitate baby through the birth canal) is moisturizing and can be rubbed in the skin. Your baby is not dirty.

Weighing & measuring.

When it comes time to weigh and measure baby, (again, approximately an hour after birth) these things can be done an arms length away from mom. Baby does not need to be taken across the room to a scale underneath a heat lamp.

Other medical procedures may include but are not limited to: eye ointment, vitamin k and a newborn screening test. Discuss with your midwife which of these she can perform, and when a third party is needed.

Midwife stays for 4-6 hours after the birth and returns approximately 24 after that.

Midwives leave the home after mom has gotten cleaned up, fed and the family is ready to take over from there for the day. She will return the following day, approximately 24 hours after the birth.

During that visit, she will check over the baby again, take baby’s temperature, your blood pressure, and ask questions about how you’re feeling – if you are able to get enough rest and have support. She will document everything on your chart and schedule another meeting anywhere from 4-7 days from that time (or as needed).

I received the exact kind of newborn care that I desired after both of my home births.

My babies were placed on my chest, warmed between my skin and blankets, snug under their newborn hats. The cord continued to pulse until it finished, and neither of my babies were poked or prodded. After the first few initial cries, they were quiet and content through the process of weighing, measurement and footprints on their home birth certificates.

I am so grateful for the way newborns are cared for after a home birth.

It is not just the exact moment of birth that matters so much, (to both mom and baby) but also those first moments and hours that makes for a peaceful introduction into this world from the womb.

Do you find newborn care at home to be exceptional? Fill in the blank in the comments below, “I think newborn care at home is exceptional because ___________.”