Hey y'all, I know a lot of you have your babies already, and some of you have had homebirths. I'm inviting a good number of family to my birth, and many of them have never been to a birth at all, let alone a home birth. So I'm writing this email to them with guidelines of what they can expect and what DH and I are expecting of them. This is what I've come up with so far, if anyone has any feedback please let me know!
Everyone receiving this email has been invited to our homebirth. You are very dear to us and we hope that you will be able to attend. The birth of our child is a monumental event, and one that we wish to be incredibly special and meaningful for everyone. Many of you have never attended a birth before, not to mention a home birth. In order to assure that the birth goes as smoothly as possible, we wished to offer some guidelines for everyone, both so you understand what is going to happen, and so that there is no confusion during the process that might interfere with our child’s transition from life in the womb to life outside of it.
What do y'all think, anything I'm missing?
Everyone receiving this email has been invited to our homebirth. You are very dear to us and we hope that you will be able to attend. The birth of our child is a monumental event, and one that we wish to be incredibly special and meaningful for everyone. Many of you have never attended a birth before, not to mention a home birth. In order to assure that the birth goes as smoothly as possible, we wished to offer some guidelines for everyone, both so you understand what is going to happen, and so that there is no confusion during the process that might interfere with our child’s transition from life in the womb to life outside of it.
- Wash your hands. Wash them when you come in the first time, and wash them at least every two hours after that. If you eat, use the restroom, touch your eyes, mouth, or nose, you should wash your hands.
- You all know each other for the most part, but you don’t know our midwives and they don’t know you. For that reason, we’re asking everyone who will be at our birth to wear a nametag with your actual name on it. It will save time and embarassment if the midwives need to speak to you or if you need to speak to them.
- Our Midwives are Rebecca, Megan, and Emily. They have been working with us for the last six months to help us assure the health of our baby. They have individual and combined experience with birth that far surpasses that of anyone else in attendance at our birth, and will be carefully monitoring ayla and the baby to make sure that everything is going smoothly. Next to ayla, they are IN CHARGE. They know what is happening better than you do, and may not have the time to explain it to you. Please follow their direction without complaint or argument. You may ask them questions, but if they say they can’t answer at that time you need to drop it. There will be time for questions later.
- If you want to be in the birth room, you may be asked to do something. Some things you may be asked to do include fetching things (compresses, food, drink), removing trash, or changing the music, but you may also be asked to get involved directly in the birth, by providing comfort to ayla in the form of food, drink, or a warm or cold cloth, or by helping ayla stay in the position she’s chosen to give birth in. If you aren’t comfortable with that, think hard about whether you want to be in the birth room.
- You may also ask what you can do to help, and that is perfectly acceptable. Keep in mind that what needs to be done might not be what you want to be doing.
- At any time you may also be asked to leave the birth room. This may be because ayla is having a hard time focusing, or ayla and DH wish to be alone, or for any other reason. If you are asked to leave, you may miss the birth. Before you decide to come to our home for our birth, you need to come to terms with the fact that you may not be present for the actual event. It will happen when and how it needs to happen.
- There will be food in the fridge, downstairs in the freezer, and in the cabinets. If you’re hungry, eat. If you want to get takeout, feel free, but go and get it yourself, since we haven’t discovered anyone who will deliver to our house. Make sure if you get food that you first ask the midwives if they want any, and also whether or not the smell will bother ayla. Some food may be confined to the basement.
- The basement has a bathroom, a DVD player, and an Xbox. It also has a washer and dryer. You may use any of these. The computers are off-limits without specific permission.
- If you see a chore that may need doing, please feel free to do it. We are certainly not going to have time for it after the birth. ayla will endeavor to make a list of things that need doing around the house, but there will be obvious things as well. Even wiping down the counters can be a huge help.
What do y'all think, anything I'm missing?
I mean, everyone will want to hold the baby and might forget you need your space with baby and DH and with the nursing. That they'll each get their turn when you feel ready?
