[Sadie Anne Johnson]

Hi, I'm new here and am pretty desperate to find a midwife for a home birth. I'm due Nov 10. I was seeing one until my due date was changed. She has no openings for November. Unfortunately, I'm having a horrible time trying to find a midwife that does home births. This is incredibly frustrating. Hospitals are no use to find information as they just don't understand. I have an OB that has two midwives on his team but neither of them do home births. If there is a local midwife here or if anyone knows of a good one, please, please, please let me know.

 

[carrieb26]

Hi,

There are CNMs in the Peoria area who attend homebirths - Brande Ruskusky and Amie Hernandez.
There's a CNM in the Bloomington/Normal area who also attends homebirths - Laura Lawson

To my knowledge those are the only legal homebirth practices in central or southern IL. There are underground midwives, but you won't find many people willing to put their names out on the internet or in forums. There are several facebook groups that could be resources for you, although you may need to meet with other homebirth parents in person in order for them to know if you're legit or not before they share a name. Check out Illinois Friends of Midwives

What part of central IL are you in?

 

[Sadie Anne Johnson]

Hi,

There are CNMs in the Peoria area who attend homebirths - Brande Ruskusky and Amie Hernandez.
There's a CNM in the Bloomington/Normal area who also attends homebirths - Laura Lawson

To my knowledge those are the only legal homebirth practices in central or southern IL. There are underground midwives, but you won't find many people willing to put their names out on the internet or in forums. There are several facebook groups that could be resources for you, although you may need to meet with other homebirth parents in person in order for them to know if you're legit or not before they share a name. Check out Illinois Friends of Midwives

What part of central IL are you in?

I was seeing Brande, but because my due date was changed she is not available for that month. Amie and Laura are also full. I'm in Lincoln. I was hoping there would be someone in Springfield or somewhere south of here. Otherwise there's Chicago and I'm not sure how far south anyone from up there travel. I have searched online and called several people and talked to midwives on Facebook but I'm either getting the ones that I've already contacted, midwives that don't do home births, or places in Chicago. I don't know anyone that has done a home birth, because around here, it's hospital births only it seems.

 

[carrieb26]

I was seeing Brande, but because my due date was changed she is not available for that month. Amie and Laura are also full. I'm in Lincoln. I was hoping there would be someone in Springfield or somewhere south of here. Otherwise there's Chicago and I'm not sure how far south anyone from up there travel. I have searched online and called several people and talked to midwives on Facebook but I'm either getting the ones that I've already contacted, midwives that don't do home births, or places in Chicago. I don't know anyone that has done a home birth, because around here, it's hospital births only it seems.

If you are willing to have an underground midwife, that seems to be your only option. The legal midwives in Chicago won't travel to central Illinois.
I don't personally know any underground midwives in Central Illinois, but I know they are there. You won't find them by searching the internet or forums. Their names are closely guarded, because they could be prosecuted for attending home births. Midwives in Illinois have been prosecuted, so it's not a an imaginary threat. It's very real, and moms who home birth protect the names of their midwives, because they want them to be around for themselves, or their friends for the next baby. Unfortunately it seems like there aren't any other people here on MDC who are willing/able to respond to help you connect to local options. My only suggestion is to find Illinois Friends of Midwives on facebook, and then see if you can get some local connections from there. It could be that you'll need to meet with some other homebirth moms in person, before they'll share the names/numbers of midwives. It could be that you'll have to give your contact information to be passed on to the midwife. Not sure. It sucks that there is practically a secret handshake just to find a midwife, a midwife who would be legal if you went to Wisonsin, Indiana, or Missouri, or any one of 30 other states.

 

[Sadie Anne Johnson]

If you are willing to have an underground midwife, that seems to be your only option. The legal midwives in Chicago won't travel to central Illinois.
I don't personally know any underground midwives in Central Illinois, but I know they are there. You won't find them by searching the internet or forums. Their names are closely guarded, because they could be prosecuted for attending home births. Midwives in Illinois have been prosecuted, so it's not a an imaginary threat. It's very real, and moms who home birth protect the names of their midwives, because they want them to be around for themselves, or their friends for the next baby. Unfortunately it seems like there aren't any other people here on MDC who are willing/able to respond to help you connect to local options. My only suggestion is to find Illinois Friends of Midwives on facebook, and then see if you can get some local connections from there. It could be that you'll need to meet with some other homebirth moms in person, before they'll share the names/numbers of midwives. It could be that you'll have to give your contact information to be passed on to the midwife. Not sure. It sucks that there is practically a secret handshake just to find a midwife, a midwife who would be legal if you went to Wisonsin, Indiana, or Missouri, or any one of 30 other states.

Yeah looks like I need to make some friends. This whole thing is ridiculous. I'm looking at traveling outside of the state just to give birth. I'd rather do it unassisted if it's this impossible. This whole thing is just really infuriating and the more I hit these road blocks the angrier I'm getting. Illinois is ridiculous. We're close enough to Indianapolis that that's not an impossible option but no one should have to travel out of state to have a "home birth." That's not really a home birth.