Yesterday one of my very dear clients came for her postpartum visit. Her baby was 6 months old already, and this was the first time I was seeing her since her 2 week postpartum visit! She is a busy mama, now having 3 babies! When we first met, she was in her 5th month of pregnancy, seeing midwives in a clinic setting, not far from her home. With each prenatal visit she had there, she felt more and more disempowered by her experience with them. She wanted to have this baby in her home, have this experience be private; unlike her previous births, with nurses and residents, surrounding her. She is a woman of strong faith in her religion, but at times, not believing in her own strength as a woman and a mother. Throughout the remainder of her pregnancy I watched her grow; physically and emotionally. The night she went into labor, she was unsure whether she was really in labor, but called. “I hate to bother you ( said with every call, which always put a smile on my face, because she was never a bother to me!) but I think maybe something is happening?” We kept in touch over the next few hours, with her always saying, I’m fine here, you don’t need to come yet. At some point, as I lay in the darkness, with F on my mind, something in me said to get up and go to her, NOW! I always listen to that voice! When I arrived, she was very close to having her baby. She brought her baby into the world with such amazing strength and beauty. She was in awe that she could do it, that she did it, and that amazement and strength and awe will be with her for the rest of her life…..
Seeing her yesterday, she is a bit different. She hold her head a bit higher, believes in herself a bit more. This is what a home birth is about, for me. Seeing this transformation, not only in the birth process, but the after. Seeing women empowered by the amazing work they did in bringing their children into the world. We need give more women the opportunity to see what they are truly capable and made to do.
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