Jump to Local Homebirth
Midwives
Jump to Local Homebirth
Stories
I
am a strong supporter of homebirths. I have read an
enormous amount of info on the subject as well as talked
to many homebirthers, midwives and doulas who've
participated in hundreds & hundreds of homebirths.
Because of this, I have come to feel that homebirth is
as safe as, if not safer than (this is the source of
much debate), a hospital birth.
However, I am NOT saying that everyone
should birth at home. What I am saying is
that homebirth in general is safe...(despite what some
medical professionals will tell you)...that women have
been having babies at home since the beginning of
time...that our bodies are designed to do this...and
that with the right help & circumstances, those who
desire to do so should be able to have happy, healthy
birth experiences at home. Of course there are plenty of
people who have good experiences giving birth in the
hospital...but not everyone is happy with all that is
entailed with a hospital birth. And for those who feel
this way, homebirths are luckily becoming more and more
common.
That said, I had a very sad outcome with my homebirth. I
wasn't ready for homebirth with our daughter, which,
unfortunately turned into an
experience that was everything I didn't want (many
factors as to why this happened)...so for our next
birth, we did all the research and preparation to have
the kind of birth we wanted, at home. Sadly, this birth
ended with our son being born dead. No amount of
resuscitation worked...by the midwives or the paramedics
that arrived within a few short minutes (and quickly
whisked him away to the hospital)... nothing worked. He
just couldn't be resuscitated. I do not blame this on
being home...we don't know why he died. And regardless,
death can happen at birth no matter where the baby is
born. We were one of the unlucky to have this happen to
us, at home. It could have also happened had we been at
the hospital...we just don't know what happened...Anyway
I am still a strong supporter of homebirth and I know
many many people who've had happy homebirth stories.
Ours
was our midwife's first tragedy. In over 30yrs of
hundreds and hundreds of homebirths, she's only had this
one death. Unfortunately it was us. But I don't want
anyone to be scared by our story...because every other
story I know had a happy outcome...and I know A LOT of
stories!
I
have a lot of local friends who have shared their
homebirth stories with me to share here with you (yes,
there are homebirths happening in this area every
month!) If this is something new to you...you should
know that there's a very large community of homebirthing
families right here in the Fresno area. I know of at
least 10-15 just in my immediate circle of friends...and
I know there are many many more. and I'd like to share
these stories here with you, as well as information on
the safety of homebirth, for those of you who might be
interested in the possibility.
My
biggest reason for wanting to do this page on homebirths
is to let those of you who may have thought about it
have a resource to go to for good
information...particularly local information. As of
right now I know of 4 local midwives who do homebirths
right here in the Fresno area all the time:
Marilyn Steinberg:
Certified Nurse Midwife & Pediatric Nurse
Practitioner
Creekside Women's Healthcare
P.O.
Box 685, Coarsegold, 93614
559-683-4456 (Mondays & Thursdays only)
**Practicing since 1988**
Jacque (pronounced "Jackie") Moschella:
Direct Entry Midwife & Doula
559-312-6586
Email:
brthcircle@cs.com
**Practicing since 1973**
Detrah
Hele, LM
I am a licensed midwife,
labor assistant, and lactation counselor. It is my
desire to promote the normalcy of birth and to
support the birthing woman in the way and birth
setting she feels is best for her and her baby. I
will travel to cities in and around the Valley for
prenatal, birth, and postpartum care.
Home phone: (559)
221-7579
Cell phone: (559)
285-5343
For
those out there searching for an alternative to the
medical interventions and sterile hospital birth
experiences...check
out the homebirth links page.
And
for local inspiration...here's just a few local
homebirth stories...there's literally HUNDREDS more,
just locally! I'm just starting to gather them!
Local Homebirth Stories
|
Mark P's story:
We had our daughters at home back in 1982 and
1988, respectively. Our son was born in 1984 at
The Birthing Center, a pioneer out-of-hospital
home-like facility, which was located on
Olive Ave. near the
Tower District. With much sadness, The Birthing
Center closed in 1985. All kids appear to be
“normal”, although the jury is still out on our
Republican son at UC Berkeley (an admitted
oxymoron). I have never experienced a hospital
birth, other than visiting friends and relatives
having babies there. I am so glad we never had
to deal with the sterile environment. Home
birth is not for everybody. First meet the
criteria for low/no risk pregnancy. Educate
yourself; knowledge is a good thing! Home is
good.
Mark P. is a local
dad that wanted to share. |
|
Marisa's
Story--Marisa was a local
stay-at-home mom of 2 when this story
happened...She is no longer local. This is the
story of her second homebirth. |
Errin's
story
Errin is a local
stay-at-home mother of 4. This is the story of
her 3rd birth. |
Sara
B's story
Sara is a former local stay-at-home
mother of 2. This story is her first birth! Sara
is also the daughter of a former local homebirth
midwife, Anni Rodriguez, is a trained doula,
(she was my doula for Maeven's birth) and is a
midwife apprentice. |
Sarah
E's story
Sarah is a local stay-at-home-mother of 3. This
is the story of her 2nd child's homebirth
locally. |
Cristi's story
Cristi is a local working mom of 2. This is the
story of her 2nd child's birth locally...her 1st
child was delivered by c-section without labor,
her 2nd was born at home in a birthing tub. Go
Cristi! |
Janell's story
Janell is a stay-at-home mother
of 2, this is the story of her first birth. |
Renee's story
Renee is a work-at-home mother of
5, La Leche League Leader, homeschooler, and
co-owner (with her husband) of the online store
Waldorf Treasures. This is her 4th
child's birth story. Her 5th was also born at
home. |
Liz's story
Liz is a work-at-home mother of 2
daughters. This is her younger child's birth
story. |
Corey's story
Corey is a stay-at-home mother of
2 who recently moved here from L.A., where she
had her first child at home...Corey has since moved
to Monterey after a couple years in Fresno. |
Jennifer's story
Jennifer is a stay-at-home mother
of 2. This is her older child's birth story.
|
More stories
to come!!!!!!!!!
And if you are
a local with a homebirth story to share...please
email me!!
|
