I cannot begin Bella’s birth story without first mentioning the birth of her big brother, Adam. You see the plan was for Bella to be born via home birth after cesarean section (HBAC). Adam was born in August of 2010 via c-section after a 3 day long induction due to high blood pressure at 39 weeks. The labor was said…
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Reflections of Ben’s Birth {Hospital Birth}
After shedding so many tears, I have been stewing over whether or not to open up my heart and share my honest and reflective thoughts about Ben’s birth. One night, after reading some powerful stories about women who successfully had a VBAC or HBAC (vaginal/home birth after cesarean) I nursed my baby, and then crawled into bed weeping in my…
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Hospital Birth Center Water Tub and Floor Mat for Squatting {Birth in Photos}
At 4:59 Saturday morning I had the privilege of witnessing one bad-ass woman give birth to a gorgeous baby girl. Stephanie is one of my best friends and I love her and her family so much. She asked me to be present at the birth of her third little girl and I couldn’t have been more excited. She had an…
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A Healing HypnoBirth {Natural Hospital VBAC In Australia}
The pregnancy My birthing journey started long before my labour. In fact, it started before my pregnancy. My first daughter, ‘Moosh’, was born via emergency cesarean after a long labour and traumatic set of circumstances. My grandfather (who I lived with for 15 years) passed away three days before my ‘due’ date, and surges started almost instantly. Six hours later my membranes…
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A Healing Home Birth
I had a traumatic hospital birth with my son Isaac, so before I even got pregnant again, my husband Chad and I had decided we wanted a home birth for our next child. Miriam’s birth was amazing and perfect. I could not have asked for a better experience and feel so blessed to have had the birth I did. What…
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Breech Homebirth
* If your baby is breech, please discuss possible complications and options with your care provider.* I had recently moved to the bay area, which meant I had to find a new midwife. With full support from my husband I chose a home birth. We were unsure of when exactly I conceived, so I had two due dates, two weeks…
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The Moment of Birth
Most women have never seen birth…until their own. We talk about how it may feel, what we may go through and our experiences. We even share stories and birth pictures. But what does birth really look like? What are our amazing bodies capable of? Growing a person with no detail forgotten to the moment of when our child is ready…
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Patiently Waiting in Labor & Using a Sling to Help Gravity {Birth After Loss}
I had the privilege of being at my best friend’s birth of her 5th child and the 2nd daughter she had hoped for. Her midwives were also my midwives and have become dear friends. It was amazing to be on the other side of labor with them as we supported my friend. Her midwives have been with her through 5…
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Home Birth Surrounded by Support
These beautiful pictures were taken by Melissa Taylor Photography. So much support around this mom and baby! She says, “The photos are of a doula, Naomi of Embracing Labor (embracinglabor.com). This was her third baby after two hospital births, and she wanted as much support as possible. She invited people who would be interested in seeing a homebirth, and some…