Many women feel most comfortable in their own space, immersed in their own familiar sights, smells and sounds. If a woman feels safe, emotionally, labor is more likely to proceed normally, cervix opening as it should, baby navigating the birth canal in a normal fashion. As mammals, when we are uncomfortable or scared, our bodies release chemicals and hormones that halt or slow labor; the more comfortable we are, the more normal the progress of labor. Many women love that they do not have to be in the car during labor. You call us and we come to you. After giving birth, you climb into your own bed with your baby and stay there. We stay with you and provide postpartum care for 4 to 6 hours, then we take everything apart and clean up and leave it as it was before we came (sometimes better!). We maintain close contact with you and see you again 24 to 48 hours following the birth of your baby. We also see you at one week, 3 weeks and 6 weeks following the birth. These visits include both mother and baby checkups.

Additional resources and references:

• North American Home Birth Study (PDF)
• Evidence-Based-Maternity-Care (PDF)
• Home Birth Annotated guide to the literature May 2011 (PDF)

Contact us for more information about the Home Birth and Water Birth services we provide