Back in the birth world

I've been busy! First I had my precious baby Audrey's 1 year old birthday party. That took a week of intense preparation because I went crazy. She is worth the celebration. We went on vacation to Vancouver and had a fantastic time. Then, sadly, my husband's grandpa died so we were involved with the funeral for a few days.


Now I'm back in the swing of normal life. I've been pretty busy with doula stuff--meeting clients and doing visits. Hopefully I'll have a couple births in the next few weeks.

I did go to a birth before my vacation that was just wonderful. It was with some great CNMs and a couple who prepared very well. They had a beautiful waterbirth. It was what I would call a "pure birth". Mom wasn't hooked up to anything--no IVs, (not even a hep-lock), no monitors, no drugs, no nothin'! Mom got to have her baby right away and bond. I was with my doula trainer, so there were two doulas and it was shift change so there were also two midwives! I wish every woman could have a birth like this. Mom was supported and encouraged by caregivers instead of machines!

It sounds like it should be so simple. But sadly, it is very rare, at least in this area of the country, to go into a hospital and not to be hooked up to something. Also, this particular practice, while wanting to be VBAC friendly, currently has lost their back up for VBACs. They are working on getting it back, but even then they will only do VBA1Cs, so I would not be able to deliver with them. It is the only hospital in the area that has alternative birthing rooms (there are no independent birth centers in Illinois), but I'm not allowed in them to birth because I'm a VBAC. It's too bad because I just learned that this hospital is where my husband was born at, and where his dad was born at, and where his Granpda (the one who just passed away) was born at. How cool would that be to have four generations of Henriksons born there? Seeing how birth is done with these midwives makes the other hospitals and practitioners look barbaric. That sounds extreme, but really, I don't know how else to describe poking women with needles, attaching them to machines then leaving them, and cutting them open either abdominally or vaginally to birth their babies.

Here's the link to the midwives.