Watch It

Here's a fantastic 2-part video by a midwife in CA. Take a look and tell me what you think in a comment perhaps.

Part One http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7DrP4-po5U   Part Two http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvONLKYfaIA

I really love hearing such positivity about birth. These people obviously experienced something wonderful.

I love my clients, and their little ones.

This happy visitor loves coming to my house for prenatals, his mom says he sometimes asks to go to Bri's. Probably because I feed him and have trains and noisemakers.

I LOVE doing prenatals for N, she has a brood of eager assistants.

We all sit around to find out where the baby's bum is and to hear the heart beat.

Of course, they want to hear their babies' hearts as well.

Sometimes it's confusing that there are baby hearts in bellies and regular hearts elsewhere.

Not in America

Guys, look at this commercial from Spain.

Precipitous

I met this lovely family in dire straits. Close to her due date and with her first labor lasting only a few hours, G and I didn't have much time to get to know each other, but our trust was built quickly. She called one night just after midnight with something like gas pains and I rushed right over, luckily I live close by.

Just over an hour after she called me, her baby was born in the bathtub without water (a shower had been running previously) and this little boy woke to his new baby brother.

Welcome Mitchell Scott

Updates

2009 has been REALLY busy so far, full of babies and new moms. I'm trying to get caught up bit by bit so expect some new posts straggling in.

From Beginning, to End

I have come full-circle with my very first client. It was a beautiful and rewarding experience caring for her and her baby, and I'm sad to say goodbye. 

I met S and her family last summer. As a third time home-birther, she taught me many things about beginning my new practice, and she was the perfect client. She was healthy and strong, took good care of herself, and her baby grew perfectly. When it came time for our home visit, she even had John and I over for dinner. I loved getting to know S and her family, and I was honored to be their midwife, to nurture her as she nurtured me. Congratulations on your new little one.

Welcome baby Benjamin!

Midwives in Utah

Yesterday was the Christmas party for all Utah midwives and their assistants. I drove down with Cathy, my favorite midwife, and we visited some of our pregnant moms before joining the other 'baby catchers' in Pleasant Grove.

It was wonderful to be with a loving community of women. We had potluck brunch and told our favorite or most notable birth stories of the past year. I learned some new things and feel such a connection to all those great midwives who have come before me, those who have made my path a little easier. I can sense that these women genuinely care about the mothers we serve, and my respect for them continues to increase.

Utah has a rich heritage of midwifery from the early days of the state, and we have always had legal homebirth thanks to those pioneer midwives. Our current legislation-savvy midwives work very hard to keep it this way so that parents have rights and options for where they give birth and who can attend them. It's important to keep it this way so we all get the best care possible (everyone knows monopolies are bad for quality).