Our understanding of anatomy, modern medicine, the mechanics of childbirth, and technology have significantly increased, causing more and more women to explore the idea of a home birth. As the curiosity in home birth grows, the number of studies and statistical data will continue to grow and give us a greater understanding of the risks and benefits. Read "Home Birth to help increase your understanding as you move toward an informed decision.

QUESTION

My partner wants a hospital birth complete with an OB/GYN. My preference is a home birth with a midwife but I was willing to compromise on using a birth center. He's not budging.

What are some ways that I can help him move away from this sterile birth experience to one that I'm more comfortable with other than just telling him "I'm not doing it!" and creating another war?

I get that is how his sisters and friends' wives delivered but this is MY birth experience, too!
Dani

More women are exploring the idea of home birthing with trained midwives or nurse-midwives for low-risk, healthy, normal pregnancies. Read "Home Birth" to learn more.

When you are deciding where to have your baby, you'll probably be choosing from different places such as a birthing center, a hospital, or a home birth service. Here's what you should expect, and ask for, in your birth experience.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
I'm trying to get a few "second opinions" on my situation. I just found out the intense pain I'm having is from vaginal varicose veins. I've been complaining that everything feels like it is just going to "fall out" but everyone passed it off to hemorrhoids (even though I had no discomfort associated with that) and now my whole vaginal area is swollen and the pain is getting worse each day, especially now that I'm 7 months pregnant. I'm using Prep. H cream, putting my feet up, exercising, etc. and still each new day is worse than before.

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant. I have read about preconception and pregnancy but my question has to do with birthing choices. When I was born my mother used a midwife at home and when my husband was born he had a doctor in a hospital. Which do you think is better? I like the idea of a home birth but when my mother-in-law was having my husband, he got stuck coming out. Is that possibly a genetic thing? He had very big shoulders! Could that possibly happen to us?

As our understanding of anatomy, modern medicine, the mechanics of childbirth, and technology have significantly increased, more and more women are exploring the idea of a home birth with trained midwives or nurse-midwives for low-risk, healthy, normal pregnancies. This article will help increase your understanding as you move toward an informed decision.