When you change the way you view birth, the way you birth will change.
Congratulations! You’re most likely here because you’re trying to conceive, pregnant, wanting to plan or prepare for a home birth, or at the very least, become more educated on the option.
There’s a few steps you should take to help prepare you for a home birth, which I’ll explain a little further down.
First things first…
Why plan a home birth?
Women planning a home birth may do so for a number of reasons, often out of a desire to avoid medical interventions and the hospital atmosphere.
Studies have shown that mothers who choose to home birth have much lower rates of interventions in labor, including labor induction, regional analgesia, electronic fetal heart rate monitoring, episiotomy, operative vaginal delivery, and cesarean delivery.
While some interventions are necessary for the safety and health of the mother or baby, many are overused, lacking scientific evidence of benefit, and even carry their own risks.
Women who planned a home birth had fewer episiotomies, pitocin for labor augmentation, and epidurals.
Planned home births also are also associated with fewer vaginal, perineal, and third-degree or fourth-degree lacerations and less maternal infectious morbidity.
Most importantly, the babies are born healthy and safe in the comfort of their own home, with only a mere 1% of them requiring transfer to the hospital after birth, most for non-urgent conditions.
Now, lets dive into how to best prepare for home birth.
These are things that I personally did to achieve the homebirth of my dreams.
1. Read homebirth books
One of the best ways I prepared for my own home birth was by educating myself and reading books on home births.
Not only did I read many amazing positive birth stories, but I also learned a lot about my own body as well as pregnancy and birth.
A few of my favorite birth books include:
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
Spiritual Midwifery (by Ina May Gaskin)
Childbirth Without Fear
Birth Without Fear (by January Harshe)
The Unassisted Baby
Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood and Trusting Yourself and Your Body
The Fourth Trimester
2. Watch homebirth videos (this is great for including other children, too)
I highly suggest watching other women’s homebirth videos, as they’re extremely empowering when you’re pregnant and anticipating your own home birth experience.
They’re especially awesome to watch if you’re choosing to include your other children in your home birth.
By watching videos, it’ll show them what to expect, and even ways to help and be included in the beautiful process of labor and birth.
It also makes it less scary for them and normalizes the whole experience, as it should be.
3. Listen to birth podcasts
Yes, there are podcasts based all around birth! And not only do they depict the reality of homebirth vs. hospital birth, but you’ll also hear a tons of other mamas experiences with their home births. And trust me, you do not want to miss some of these crazy stories!
Some of my favorite birth podcasts include:
AutonomyMommy, and
Happy Homebirth.
4. Research/interview midwives and/or doulas
If you’re planning on using a midwife and/or doula, then first you should find some in your area and interview them. Find one that aligns with your views and birth plan. Although when hiring a midwife, keep in mind you’ll most likely be paying out of pocket (but look into if your insurance will pay you back, because some do).
You can find a midwife near you here.
And you can find a doula near you here.
The main difference between a midwife and a doula is:
Midwives provide medical care for you during pregnancy, birth, and the immediate postpartum period.
Doulas provide you and your family with emotional, informational, and physical support during pregnancy, birth and the immediate postpartum period.
But, there’s so many other differences between the two so use your own judgement on if you want one or the other, or both. (Normally, midwives aren’t used in free births, but sometimes doulas are.)
5. Keep in mind that you’ll most likely have to payout of pocket
While most people see one the upsides of birthing in a hospital to include insurance paying for most, if not all, of their delivery expenses (which, trust me, are insane in a hospital in the United States), women who choose to homebirth should expect to pay everything out of pocket.
As of now, 33 states cover birth center deliveries and only 21 states cover home births in their Medicaid program.
If you find out your insurance doesn’t cover home birth, be prepared for the out of pocket costs ranging anywhere from $3,000 to $9,000.
Some midwives may give cash discounts, offer payment plans, and the ability to use FSA/HSA.
Most midwives charge a flat rate—where that $3,000 to $9,000 range comes in.
The flat fee typically covers all prenatal, birth, postpartum, and newborn care; it does not include labs, ultrasounds, or birth supplies.
Your midwife will bring all the medical equipment necessary for monitoring you and your baby’s vital signs: a fetal Doppler used to listen to the baby’s heartbeat, stethoscope, and blood pressure cuff. They also carry things such as a portable oxygen tank, IV supplies, emergency medications for bleeding, local anesthetic, and suturing supplies.
But before you go paying everything out of pocket, be sure to ask your health insurance company about home birth coverage, just in case.
Here’s a great example templet of what to say when you call your insurance company: Calling your insurance company worksheet
6. Don’t allow outside sources to cloud your judgement
This one is important because once family or friends learn you’re planning a homebirth, or even thinking about a homebirth, they start to voice all of their concerns, negativity, and overall bad energy. Stand your ground and don’t let them sway your birth plans.
You can simply provide them with research and videos showing the true positives of home births.
7. Manifest your labor from the very beginning
This is a huge one. Probably one of the most important points of this whole post.
From the very beginning of even when you’re trying to conceive, visualize what you want your entire pregnancy and labor to look like.
Do this every day. Write it down even in a journal if you’d prefer.
But, try to picture everything from where you want to labor, who you want there with you, the ambiance you want to be set (lighting, music, etc.) and make sure you voice this visualization to everyone who will be involved.
Your entire thought process from the very beginning of your pregnancy will play a really big role in your labor process.
“A shortcut to manifesting your desires is to see what you want as absolute fact.”
More resources for homebirths:
The Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project homebirth study
American Pregnancy Association
