The Miracle of Homebirth
by Jan Tritten

© 2010 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Editor's Note: This editorial originally appeared in Midwifery Today, Issue 93, Spring 2010.]

Homebirth is the gold standard, God’s standard, the highest standard of Birth possible. The uplifting feeling a mom gets, having birthed in her own power, is unlike anything else in the world. There is incredible joy and love possible following God’s design for birth as He created it. But it seems humans want to interfere, to tamper with the spirit involved in this natural process. Sometimes the interruption is due to ignorance, but sometimes it is caused by more sinister motives. Either way, the result is the same: mothers and babies walking around with scars that will not heal. This is the most powerful time of their lives. This sets the tone for mothering. It sets the bond between mother and baby—emotionally, spiritually and physically. It is so important that there are no words powerful enough to describe it.

The importance of uninterrupted birth is, scientifically, just beginning to be discovered. Michel Odent and others have written about the irreplaceable first hour after birth. This is the time when the love hormone oxytocin is highest, and meant for the mother and baby to meet and set the foundation of their lives together. It is irreplaceable, and even we midwives are often busy getting in the way. Unless there is an emergency, this time belongs to the mother and baby. We need to learn to safeguard this hour for motherbaby and not just talk about it.

I know from firsthand experience the power of homebirth unimpeded by intervention or meddling. I know from experience the guilt and sadness caused by a traumatic hospital birth and I know these feelings last a lifetime. Nothing can ever give back to me the experience of birthing my first child. Nothing can take away the hurt, or the guilt or the pain. I became a midwife after my second baby was born at home because I wanted to help every mother possible have a chance for the greatest and most powerful beginning. I wanted every mother to avoid the grief and anguish I suffer constantly over that supposedly “normal” first birth.

Homebirth stories are almost always stories of joy, highs, power and love. I remember when I was a girl there was a movie, The Greatest Show on Earth, which reminds me of what each woman’s birth is to her: The greatest story ever told. Even if a birth ends in a necessary cesarean, if the mother felt respected and her input was honored, it often becomes a good story. Elective cesarean steals the mother’s story. But most cesareans are not truly elective. You can’t elect if you’re lacking vital information. In the 24 years that I’ve been sitting at my desk at Midwifery Today, reading through thousands of birth stories, I have heard some good accounts of hospital births. Most often, however, hospital birth stories are stories of horror, trauma and broken trust. Sometimes they are stories of torture. This should not be! As I said in my last editorial, birth is a human rights issue, and we need to take a stand against the practices and interventions that put mother and baby at risk.

It is often in the name of safety that women are railroaded out of their homes and into the hospitals. It is a touted but true cliché that the first intervention takes place when a mother steps outside of her own home for birth. Only homebirth has been proven safe. Did anyone study the safety of hospital birth before this huge experiment with mothers’ and babies’ lives began? No. Homebirth safety examples are the norm in countries such as the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand, where homebirth is accepted as having good outcomes. The real, unbiased research and evidence favors homebirth as the safest choice. For more examples, read “Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives” by Kenneth C. Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss online at www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416, or check out Marjorie Tew’s studies from the UK.

I am tired of hearing that homebirth is “as safe” as hospital birth. I hope not. Hospital birth is generally not safe. Though there are some hospital settings that try to protect birth, in fact, it is usually very dangerous. It is not the building but the people who are dangerous. They interfere, encourage drugs, perform interventions that are not evidence-based such as fetal monitoring, lithotomy position, inductions, augmentations and cesareans, and promote a culture of fear.

I get Google alerts on homebirth and midwifery and one came today on how Bulgaria and Australia are trying to outlaw homebirth, the safest mode of having a baby. Bulgaria, being under the old Soviet system of fear, control and ignorance, is one thing—they are just emerging from their oppressors. But Australia is supposed to be a “first-world” country. They are treating homebirth mothers and midwives like they treated the Aboriginal Australians. Why? All mothers deserve their miracle. It is their birth.

We need to protect motherbaby and their God-given right to birth in love and joy. This is not yet possible in most hospitals. “First do no harm” is supposed to be the guiding phrase for doctors and needs to be for midwives as well.

Being able to birth in the comfort of your home, where you are boss, is an important choice that should be offered to every normal, pregnant woman. The choice of a midwife may be the second most important decision in a mother’s life. Deciding who to have with you at your homebirth is second only to the choice of having a homebirth. The choice of practitioners often indicates how birth will go. Having non-interventive midwives and doulas is critical. But you’ll also want practitioners who are skilled and vigilant. With well-chosen practitioners, the joy and empowerment of birth is potentially available to all moms. Let the miracle of homebirth spread over the whole world and remember, birth is a human rights issue.

Each one teach one,

Jan Tritten Jan Tritten is the founder and editor-in-chief of Midwifery Today magazine and a midwife who was in active practice from 1977–1989. She became a midwife in 1977 after the powerful homebirth of one of her daughters. Her mission is to make loving midwifery care the norm for birthing women and their babies throughout the world. Meet Jan at our conferences around the world! [ PHOTO BY ANDREA NOLL ]   >  Editorials   Click here to read some of Jan’s Midwifery Today editorials.   >  Curriculum Vitae   1947 Born in Los Angeles, California. 1965 Graduated from Placer High School in Auburn, California. 1966 Trained for one year as a psychiatric technician. Courses included basic nursing, pharmacology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, psychology. 1966–1971 Worked at DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California as a psychiatric technician. 1968 Graduated from Sierra College with an Associate of Arts degree. 1970 Graduated with honors from Sacramento State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science. 1971 Earned Lifetime California teaching credential with fifth-year program from Sacramento State College. 1972 First daughter born in a hospital. It changed my life forever. It was an unsatisfactory birth experience, but I had a wonderful postpartum experience with 2-1/2 years of breastfeeding. 1976 Second daughter born. She was born at home with a doctor who talked me into a homebirth. The difference between the two births sent me on a path to do something to help women have positive birth experiences. 1976 Began training as a midwife. Because I was raising young children and running a business, and because there were no CNM schools in my area, becoming a CNM was not within my reach. 1977 Began attending births with the Birth Co-op in Eugene while organizing courses in our community taught by CNMs, physicians, nutritionists, etc. 1978 Began a midwifery practice, New Life Care, with a partner, Chris Howard, and apprentice Monika Dunsmore. 1979 Son born at home. 1980 Did a one-year program with Marion Toepke McLean, CNM. Four of us completed the program, which was modeled after CNM curriculum at that time. She took a year off from her practice to teach us and to go to our births with us. 1982 First group of midwives certified by the Oregon Midwives Council. Our board was composed of CNMs and physicians. 1986 Slowed down practice and started Midwifery Today magazine.

I have joined MySpace and Facebook in an effort to connect with other birth change agents. My goal is to change birth practices around the world. I am also blogging more regularly for the same purpose. I invite you to read my blog (which is also pulled into my Facebook page), comment on it and link to it from your Web site or blog. Let's become "friends" on these sites!

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