• Last updated 4/17/13 by Melanie Mayo

By Megan Leary   Out of all of my hippie ways, I surprisingly get the fewest inquiries as to why I decided to birth from home.  My theory is that people have already decided that homebirth is a bad thing and do not want to broach the topic in order to avoid awkwardness.  However, if you are one of these people I want you, most of all, to ask me about my decision.  If you have a hard time understanding why a mother might choose to homebirth, it is likely you are drawing conclusions about birthing at home from assumptions that are simply not true.    The most... read more

• Last updated 2/24/13 by HWBMama

By Megan Leary     A year and a half ago, I was 42 weeks pregnant with my first and I was walking around 9 centimeters dilated.  So, it should come as no surprise that when labor finally did come it only lasted three hours from the first contraction to meeting my darling girl.  I didn’t get to experience or put to use the knowledge I had acquired on how to manage a long and laborious labor.  This is not to say that I didn’t have any pain.  My labor came hard and fast and I had grueling all back labor for the totality of the three hours.  However, my preparations... read more

• Last updated 2/13/13 by Melanie Mayo

    Sometimes it seems that everybody wants something for nothing. Free advice all over the internet just there for the taking.  Free information.  Free samples, free printers, free encyclopedias and even religions.  I hate to rain on the parade, but I don't think there is a such thing as something for nothing.  Sadly, on this one point, my hubby just might be right- "You get what you pay for." The recent reports of that gal Jessica Simpson and her elective c-section to "avoid" labor pain (this isn't about JS so please don't comment about her.  Hold... read more

• Last updated 1/9/13 by SKValenzuela

By S.K. Valenzuela   I was teaching a baby care class the other week and we were discussing soothing strategies for newborns. I was taking them through a scenario and asked for a mom volunteer to demonstrate. I began, "Let's pretend your baby is crying in her bassinet. What's the first thing you would do to calm her?" The mom picked up her baby as the class echoed the suggestion. "Okay, excellent," I said. "Now let's say she doesn't stop crying. Can you think of something to try next?"   And then the most wonderful thing happened.   This mom sat there,... read more

• Last updated 1/14/13 by Marcy Axness

Michael Stark, Jackie Chang, Jan Tritten, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Sarah Buckley, Peggy O'Mara, Sara Wickham, Lesley Page   A panel of some of the world's leading experts on birth shared the stage at the close of last month's Mid-Pacific Conference on Birth and Primal Health. Their assignment? Offer a vision of birth in 4012.   Here sitting at one table were such folks as Peggy O'Mara, Sarah Buckley, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Michel Odent and other heavy-hitters in the birth world -- including the president of the Royal College of Midwives, Lesley Page, and Michael... read more

• Last updated 11/28/12 by Melanie Mayo

  (Contributed by Sarah Clark)   Failure to progress.   Oft named as a reason for cesarean. Oft mentioned to the supine mom in the hospital as she is encouraged to get her epidural and "relax". By the naysayers in the natural birth community, it is often renamed, Failure to be Patient or just, "Doc must leave to make his golf game."    Whatever it means to you, the term failure to progress is both powerful, disturbing, and strongly indicates not just lack of ability but complete and utter physical failure on the part of the mother. Personally, I would... read more

• Last updated 11/15/12 by Melanie Mayo

  The first book I ever read about pregnancy, birth, and babies was Ina May Gaskin's Spiritual Midwifery.  I wasn't interested in becoming a midwife, and this was several years before I even thought of becoming a mother, but it looked interesting so I picked it up.  It rocked my world.  I had never thought of birth in such earthy terms; I had never considered mother-directed birth, and I definitely hadn't thought that birth could be pleasant or even pain-free!  I feel so fortunate to have discovered this book, discovered this whole world of thinking differently about... read more

• Last updated 11/13/12 by SKValenzuela

By Shannon Valenzuela   For better or worse, Lamaze has long had an association in people's minds with breathing -- the "ha-hee" patterned breathing in particular.  The Lamaze method is so much more than this, of course, and breathing strategies are just one of the coping tools taught in a typical Lamaze class.  But, as I always stress to my students, labor coping strategies aren't just for labor, they're for life.  And even though learning to breathe deeply is just one skill among many, it is by far my favorite -- and along with informed decision-making, I think... read more

• Last updated 10/30/12 by Melanie Mayo

  By Kelley Powell   Today I’m proud to feature guest blogger Bert Powell, a.k.a. my dad. Normally my dad writes about motorcycle travel, but today he’s venturing off the highway and onto the rugged scenic route that is homebirth. In the span of only a generation, men’s role in childbirth has done a complete about face. As my dad tells below, he went from watching me be born on a closed circuit monitor in the hospital to being actively involved in the home births of 5 of his grandchildren (his other 3 grandchildren were born in the hospital). Here is his unique... read more

• Last updated 10/29/12 by Sarah Clark

Written by Mothering contributor Sarah Clark.   I know there is a lot of this mentality out there: "I'm OK.  You're OK.  There are no wrong choices, just choices.  Do what works for you." You are going to hate me, but that just isn't how my mind works.  I have a more black and white view of the world.  I know, so old fashioned, I still believe in right and wrong.  This isn't to say that I think I am better than somebody because I think I did the right thing and I think they did the wrong thing.  Quite the contrary.  I am fully aware of the FACT that I do... read more