As a registered nurse, Schadel had a “preconceived idea of what to expect” during pregnancy. But after her first prenatal visit with a Chicago obstetrician she was disillusioned. She began researching the options of home birth. Her biggest concern was separation of mother and baby at birth. And she shares a lot of other people’s sentiments, saying: “You’re not sick when you’re pregnant. You’re healthy.”
After careful consideration, the Schadels agreed to have their first baby at home. And, after 36 hours of labor, the couple’s son Joshua was born. “I might have ended up with a caesarean section. But, there was nothing abnormal. I just took my sweet time.”
A few years later, their second son, Seth, was delivered in the couple’s Syracuse home by the same physician who delivered her first. He no longer practices home births in the area. “I just felt like I was supposed to be there. The baby was born with my husband next to me in the same bed where it was conceived.”
The couple is expecting their third child in October, and the lay midwife will be there.
Their two sons will also be there to watch their mother give birth. Nisoaki Robinson’s daughter was born ten years ago in a traditional hospital setting. “It wasn’t really a bad experience, but she was wisked away from me when it was all over.”
Robinson is expecting her second child in November, and she doesn’t want to be separated from this child as she was with the first. That’s why she and the baby’s father, have chosen to have their baby in their home.
“It’s a more spiritual setting,” says Robinson, who’s a teacher. “The people I love and care for will be there.” Robinson attends childbirth classes called “Birth Choices”.
It’s not a recognized method. It’s a natural, normal approach to labor and delivery, tuning into the body and knowing what’s going to happen in the different stages of labor and delivery.
Unlike Lamaze, the classes teach expectant mothers to tune in to what’s happening to their bodies, rather than finding a focal point for distraction purposes.
“We don’t teach breathing techniques. We use a slow, rhythmic, abdominal breathing all the way. We try to psyche people up for the birth process. Understanding the birthing process is the ‘ultimate’ – what’s happening and why.”
Birth Choices advocates a strong support system – advising the presence of a third person at labor and delivery. And the classes are not limited to women giving birth at home. Some couples are opting for a hospital setting.
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