Letter From the Editor, Issue #31

Thirty years ago, we had our first of six children. It was an unattended home birth. The word “unattended” wasn’t even in the birthing vocabulary yet. I can’t tell you how many times I got asked, “Home birth? Did that happen by accident?” The most common reaction when I answered “no” was a look of shock.

Tom and I consciously chose home birth because we did not think of birth as a disease, but rather a normal, natural process to be respected and honored. Having had three major surgeries by the time I was 6 years old, I knew all too well the hospital experience, and it didn’t seem conducive to birth.

The next three children we had were at home and unattended as well. We didn’t have midwives for the first two, because we didn’t know of any in the area. For the next two we tried to have midwives but they didn’t make it to the births. For our last two, we did hire midwives, and their presence and assistance was wonderful and appreciated.