Birth Stories

Home birth/ Water birth of Judah Darwin

September 26, 2008

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We are mamas and birth workers who decided to do birth differently– and bring others along with us. We are kind, fun to work with, and great at (lovingly) calling people on their bullshit. With 12 children and 20 years of midwifery between us, we’ve learned a thing or two along the way, and Indie Birth is our space to share it all with you.

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I recently made a short movie about the homebirth / waterbirth of my
son, Judah, in order to get people interested in and activated about
homebirth; please forward the link to anyone you think might be interested.

In the past year The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have made statements and passed resolutions against homebirth and, indeed, seek to outlaw homebirth. There are many places in this country where homebirth is already officially or unofficially illegal and where certified professional midwives and lay midwives are being prosecuted as felons.

It is my strong belief, based on what I have read, witnessed and personally experienced, that homebirth is a safe choice for 90% (or more) of pregnant women. In many other countries home birth is acknowledged as a safe and appropriate choice.

Women’s rights, particularly our reproductive rights are being imperiled here in this country. Access to safe, legal homebirth is part of the larger issues of reproductive rights and quality health care in this country. Many medical experts have recently published books and reports pointing out how the current state of the birthing industry is pushing us towards unsafe C-section rates and other negative outcomes for mothers and babies. We are also in danger of losing centuries of birthing wisdom and the hands-on knowledge necessary to care for mothers’ and babies’ bodies, spirits and families.

Childbirth is a feminist issue: an issue of choice, empowerment, safety, and dignity. And midwifery is a feminist issue: an issue of respect and acknowledgment for women-centered skills and expertise. As the writer Laura Stavoe Harm has said, “There’s a secret in our culture, and it’s not that birth is painful–it’s that women are strong.”

This film is, I admit, a work of propaganda, which is defined as the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. It is not my intention to judge the choices made by individual women or to imply that those who chose to birth their babies in hospitals are doing something wrong. I am committed to working to improve maternity services for all women, to keeping homebirth legal, accessible and available to those who want it and to cutting through the fear and misinformation surrounding pregnancy and birth.

Sincerely yours,

Rachel Zucker, mother, writer, doula and homebirth activist

Rachel Zucker
www.rachelzucker.net
www.womenpoetsonmentorship.com

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  1. andy says:

    Rachel – that was breath taking!! Your boys are so incredible!
    I wished that my oldest was present to see Avi Zion arrive, but both of my children slept … I love love love the pictures of your boys sitting on their stools – were they really that patient?? How amazing!
    It is so wild to hear your sounds – it sounds identical to mine… these have got to be the familiar sounds of labor!! We really are of the same species!
    Blessings to you and your beautiful family!
    andy

  2. andy says:

    Rachel – that was breath taking!! Your boys are so incredible!
    I wished that my oldest was present to see Avi Zion arrive, but both of my children slept … I love love love the pictures of your boys sitting on their stools – were they really that patient?? How amazing!
    It is so wild to hear your sounds – it sounds identical to mine… these have got to be the familiar sounds of labor!! We really are of the same species!
    Blessings to you and your beautiful family!
    andy

  3. Rachel says:

    dear andy — the boys came in around 7 am. my oldest son can be really clueless and he literally didn’t notice my midwife or doula or that i was in labor. he went to read in the other room. my middle son came in and said, “what’s happening?!” so excited. and excited to miss school (it was a wednesday)! they they went in the other room to watch tv. they’re labor buddy (the young woman in yellow) showed up around 8:45 or 9. the midwife called them in around 9:35 when i started pushing. there was one moment in labor when i thought, “hmmm, my sons and midwife and doula and my former student (their labor buddy) are all staring at my ass… that’s weird!” but then that thought flickered away and i concentrated on the baby. i’m amazed at how critical people have been, before and afterwards, that we allowed the boys to be at the birth. some real anger! people thought (and think) that they were traumatized, which they SO clearly were not! i’m so glad they were there (i didn’t know, beforehand if that would feel good time and made sure i had the option on having them in the other room). i’m glad, particularly because they are boys. my friend had a homebirth 3 months later. she also has 3 boys, spaced like mine. it was too intense for her (and them) to have them there for the birth, but they came in right afterwards and i feel like it was so powerful for them all!

    others have commented that they sounded just like that, too! i love the videos of those quiet births (or the ones that just have music) but i really wanted to let people hear these sounds because i think they are so common!

    thanks for watching and blessings to your family as well.
    rachel

  4. Rachel says:

    dear andy — the boys came in around 7 am. my oldest son can be really clueless and he literally didn’t notice my midwife or doula or that i was in labor. he went to read in the other room. my middle son came in and said, “what’s happening?!” so excited. and excited to miss school (it was a wednesday)! they they went in the other room to watch tv. they’re labor buddy (the young woman in yellow) showed up around 8:45 or 9. the midwife called them in around 9:35 when i started pushing. there was one moment in labor when i thought, “hmmm, my sons and midwife and doula and my former student (their labor buddy) are all staring at my ass… that’s weird!” but then that thought flickered away and i concentrated on the baby. i’m amazed at how critical people have been, before and afterwards, that we allowed the boys to be at the birth. some real anger! people thought (and think) that they were traumatized, which they SO clearly were not! i’m so glad they were there (i didn’t know, beforehand if that would feel good time and made sure i had the option on having them in the other room). i’m glad, particularly because they are boys. my friend had a homebirth 3 months later. she also has 3 boys, spaced like mine. it was too intense for her (and them) to have them there for the birth, but they came in right afterwards and i feel like it was so powerful for them all!

    others have commented that they sounded just like that, too! i love the videos of those quiet births (or the ones that just have music) but i really wanted to let people hear these sounds because i think they are so common!

    thanks for watching and blessings to your family as well.
    rachel

  5. Sarah McLean says:

    Dear Rachel,

    Well you have left me in tears – you have such beautiful family and three gorgeous boys! I live in Sydney and am a student midwife and belong to a group called Homebirth Access Sydney. It is very discourgaing to hear that some states in the US are outlawing homebirth – it is such a sad outcome to such a medicalised society – in Australia we have very low rates of homebirth as well and we are lobbying the government to introduce more public health models of midwifery which include the homebirth option. So far there is one sydney hospital with a publicly funded homebirth program but as you can imagine there are very narrow guidelines about who can birth in that program. I had my second baby in London on the public health system (NHS) at home with a community midwife and it was lovely. I am now expecting my third and have hired an independant midwife to do my homebirth which is actually better (even though I have to pay) as I chose her and she will be my primary carer throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatally. Anyway enough of my rambling – I just wanted to say I loved your video and cant wait to meet my own baby!

    Sarahxoxo

  6. Sarah McLean says:

    Dear Rachel,

    Well you have left me in tears – you have such beautiful family and three gorgeous boys! I live in Sydney and am a student midwife and belong to a group called Homebirth Access Sydney. It is very discourgaing to hear that some states in the US are outlawing homebirth – it is such a sad outcome to such a medicalised society – in Australia we have very low rates of homebirth as well and we are lobbying the government to introduce more public health models of midwifery which include the homebirth option. So far there is one sydney hospital with a publicly funded homebirth program but as you can imagine there are very narrow guidelines about who can birth in that program. I had my second baby in London on the public health system (NHS) at home with a community midwife and it was lovely. I am now expecting my third and have hired an independant midwife to do my homebirth which is actually better (even though I have to pay) as I chose her and she will be my primary carer throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatally. Anyway enough of my rambling – I just wanted to say I loved your video and cant wait to meet my own baby!

    Sarahxoxo

  7. Rozalind says:

    Really touching video 🙂 I plan on possibly becoming a doula I’m a certified massage therapist now with my AAS degree. I just graduated in December. I’m due at the end of next month. I’m so excited for my home birth.

    Namaste,
    -Rozalind

  8. Rozalind says:

    Really touching video 🙂 I plan on possibly becoming a doula I’m a certified massage therapist now with my AAS degree. I just graduated in December. I’m due at the end of next month. I’m so excited for my home birth.

    Namaste,
    -Rozalind

  9. Michelle says:

    You're brave and an inspiration. We have our first birth planned at home this March. Thank you for sharing!

  10. Kat says:

    Another book I’d like to add to that is Birthing from Within! I used a lot of the pain coping techniques from that book that helped me deal with the contractions. Here’s a video of my homebirth if you’d like to see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQM6k69A_IM

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