"Unassisted" Childbirth. Why I believe this is what is right for our child's entrance.

Let me start this off by saying this : 

I understand this can be a very controversial topic. I am not here to tell anyone what is right for their family. I am here to share my personal convictions and why my family has chosen this route. I believe every family should do their research, educate themselves, and pray prior to deciding how they feel their children should enter the world. 

That being said... After research, talking it over with my husband, and a lot of prayer, we have chosen to have a freebirth with our child due any day now.

WHAT IS AN UNASSISTED BIRTH / FREEBIRTH? 

 By my definition, an unassisted birth / free birth is laboring and birthing your child without a professional birth worker in attendance (midwife, obgyn, nurse midwife, etc) 

WHY I PREFER THE TERM FREEBIRTH?

 I prefer the term free birth because in my personal situation I will be having the ultimate physician assisting my birth, The Lord Jesus Christ. 

ISN'T THAT ILLEGAL? 

 No. Is it frowned upon by the medical community and the government? Yes. (For example - It is typically more paperwork to get a birth certificate than in a hospital birth.) 

Now let me pause and say... People choose to UC for all different reasons. Trusting their bodies, being hurt by the medical community, general reasearch, etc. Not all women choose to based on their religious beliefs.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO WHY I CHOSE TO HAVE A FREEBIRTH : 

 - A dissatisfaction with the labor / birth / post partum care of my first child.

 - Educating myself and disagreeing with many modern day American birth practices. 

 - Faith / beliefs 

I will attempt to expand on each of these things.

This may sound odd to some, but after the birth and hospital stay with my son... I knew I was missing something. There was something that was not right. I had just given birth to a human being! I should be proud, joyous, or at least some what happy. I shouldn't be annoyed with hospital staff for treating me like a freak show because my kid was born with teeth. (Yes, TWO teeth. I'll post a picture below). I shouldn't be already feeling like a failure because of pushed supplementation when I wanted so badly to breast feed. I shouldn't be hungry 90% of my hospital stay because the meals were full of food that would make my baby gassy. I shouldn't feel ashamed just because I was a teen mom. Ultimately, I shouldn't feel like labor and birth was DONE to me instead of being something I accomplished. 

I brushed all this off. I let a lot of it go because that's just the way I thought things went. Being coached. Being told how your labor and birth was going to happen. Having no say because "the doctor knows best" and "Healthy mom, healthy baby - that's all that matters, right?"

Then I started working in childcare, specifically with infants. I began to hear horror story after horror story from mommies about their labor and delivery. I started seeing infants that were directly effected by these interventions... Being a newlywed at the time, and knowing I wanted more children, I began to research...

I knew there had to be a better way. 

When I first began to research this topic I started with watching the documentary "The Business of Being Born". I thought it was great! Seeing women birth outside of a hospital environment was crazy to me, but it seemed so much better than what I had gotten. These women seemed to get what I didn't out of labor and delivery. I couldn't put my finger on it yet, but they seemed to have it. 

Shortly after this, a woman that me and my husband had Bible study with, shared with everyone that she was planning an unassisted home birth. This sparked my interest. I began researching even more. 

I found evidencebasedbirth.com and started reading all the different topics. I learned things such as the benefit of delayed cord clamping, the pros and cons of the vitamin k shot, the pros and cons of the eye ointment, the benefits of immediate skin to skin, etc. 

I then found out that we were expecting! My friend who was planning the homebirth noticed my peaked interest and added me to a natural birth mom's group on Facebook. I then began to learn so much from these women. Things like : giving birth laying on your back is the most illogical position, artificial breaking of the waters should not be the "norm", the average first time mom goes to 41+2, a "big baby" is not a real reason for an induction or a csection, etc etc etc. I was able to ask questions, find support, and recieve mainly non biased and evidence based research on many things I was questioning. 

Unfortunately, I then had a miscarriage at 7-8 weeks pregnant. I was devastated, but found so much support from the women in this natural mom's Facebook group. I learned more and more about my body through this time and found that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. These women were so supportive and helpful. I began to think "why can't I have someone like that help me birth a baby?". I began watching these beautiful videos of women having homebirths and being so peaceful and empowered. I wanted this. 

We then found out about 8 weeks after my miscarriage that I was expecting again!!

I was thrilled! I had learned so much and knew that this time around things would be different. I was going to labor and deliver my child. I was not going to allow it to be something that was done TO me. I knew I did not want to be induced with pitocin again. I knew I did not want to deliver lying on my back, confined to a bed. I knew I didn't want the cord clamped for over 10 minutes. I knew I wanted the placenta to come on its own. I knew I did not want eye cream. I knew I wanted an oral vitamin K given instead of the shot. I knew I did not want my baby bathed. I knew I did not want my child given the hep B shot immediately after birth. I did not want my child leaving my side. Most importantly, I did not want to be treated like a number and I did not want to spend my entire labor and delivery arguing for these things that I have a right to. 

We started looking into area birth centers as this seemed like a better choice for me, and found out we were looking at about $4500 for a birth center birth and about $3000 to $3500 for a homebirth assisted by a midwife. I was devastated once again because that just didn't seem to be an option for us. 

That's where my third reason comes in...

In our home, we believe in Christ. We believe that God sent His son to die for us. To redeem us from the curse. To bring us out from under the Old Testament laws and into a new covenant of grace, covering us and cleansing us by the blood of Jesus. 

We believe that this redemption from the curse, this bloodshed, included payment for sickness and death. 

We believe that because we are saved and we have been given a new man, Jesus Christ, who lives in us... we have been given the fullness of Him and access to all that includes.

We believe in the healing power of Jesus Christ. We believe that our faith should be placed in Him, not in doctors, medicine, etc. 

What is "the curse"? 

 The curse is was the consequence for sin coming into the world. It can be found in Genesis 3. One of the curses the woman (Eve) was given was "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children;" The curse also includes sickness and death. (Deuteronomy 28:22) All of man was then subject to the curse, unless they were obeying the commands of the Lord.

How do we get out of it? 

 Redemption from the curse comes through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus took on the curse on the cross for all of us. 

- "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")"  - Galatians 3:13 NKJV

- "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." - Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV 

- "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." - Romans 8:2 NKJV 

- "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 NKJV

By taking on the curse, and redeeming us from the law of sin and death... He also paid for our healing. 

- "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you WERE healed." - 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV 

- "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

- "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies." - Psalm 103:2-4 NKJV

How do we receive this? Faith in Christ Jesus 

- "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through FAITH." - Galatians 3:14 NKJV

- "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 NKJV

I believe because I put my faith in Jesus Christ, I have been healed of all sickness and infirmities. I have seen the manifestation of this in my own life. In the beginning of 2013 I was diagnosed with Celiac disease (an incurable autoimmune disease controlled only by a life long gluten free diet). The Lord healed me of this early 2014. I eat whatever I want and have no troubles. I have also seen it in healing of little things (headaches, fevers, colds). When my son gets hurt... the first thing he does is ask mommy or daddy to pray for Jesus to heal it. 

I believe because I put my faith in Christ, I am redeemed from the curse of pain and sorrow in childbirth. 

I also believe that the Lord is my provider. He provides jobs, money, food, a home, etc etc etc.

Having said all of this... When we saw the cost of a birth center/midwife (and with our stance on healing, medicine, doctors, etc and knowing that would not be honored in a hospital) we began to pray. I asked the Lord for a clear answer. To either provide the funds to hire a midwife or to show me how HE wanted me to do this. I received my answer through two dreams, confirmation from my husband, and a total peace from the Lord. 

I felt that what the Lord desires from me specifically is to trust Him with the birth of His child. To put my faith in completely in Him. To have a freebirth.

When met with worry, I prayed for the Lord to bring someone into my life whom I could ask questions, turn to for advice on how these things work. He provided that. Through this Facebook group I mentioned above, I made a friend named Chelsea. I am so thankful for the Lord placing her in my path. She has been such an encouragment and an over all fountain of knowledge.  

Here in the very near future (I am 40 weeks and 3 days as I write this) we will be having Jacob Israel Morrison at home. As a freebirth. 

I have had 4 dreams of peaceful, quick deliveries. The Lord has given me peace. Over the course of my pregnancy, when I have been faced with worry or anxiety, I have given it to Him and He has been faithful. 

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." - 2 Timothy 2:13 NKJV 

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" - 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13 NKJV

"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." - Psalm 34:4 NKJV 

"That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" - 1 Corinthians 2:5 NKJV 

"For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us." - Romans 8:18 NKJV

"Therefore we do not loose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction which is for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV 

And lastly I will leave you with one of my favorite scriptures.... 

"I will lift my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall not either slumber nor sleep." - Psalm 121:1-4 NKJV