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My wife and I attempted to have both of our children, now four and one and a half, at home in the water. We received excellent care from midwives and really loved our relationship with them.

We had to transport to the hospital both times, and both our children were born via C-section at OHSU. The complications that led to the need to transport in both cases were uncommon and unrelated -- just bad luck.

In both cases our midwives were excellent in clearly telling us when the time had come to go to the hospital and staying with us through the entire process of transporting, delivery, and recovery.

The care we received from the doctors and nurses at OHSU was also excellent, and saved the lives of both mother and baby in both cases.

The interactions between the two teams -- midwives and hospital -- were professional, if not full of love and mutual admiration.

We still wish we had been able to deliver our children at home; should we get pregnant again, we will try to have the third baby at home, and we remain strong supporters of home birth for healthy moms and babies. Our care and the depth of the relationship we got to have with them was amazing. We would recommend our midwives and a home birth to anyone who is contemplating it.

That doesn't mean we don't appreciate and understand that hospital birthing is also the necessary option in some situations, are we will always be grateful that that option was available to us when we needed it. We will always be thankful for the skill and dedication of the doctors and nurses who delivered our babies, even though we wish we hadn't needed it.

It's sad and distressing to see the animosity between the two communities. Home birth with a trained midwife should be the standard of care for all healthy mothers and babies, and doctors and policy makers should respect and encourage it. At the same time, we need doctors and hospitals to care for mothers and babies whose birth experience becomes a medical problem, and the home birth community needs to respect and acknowledge their vital role too.

Thanks to everyone who helped us bring our beautiful children into the world.

--JT

posted 4 years ago
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