The empowering experience of Home birth

The National Maternity Strategy (2016) recommended that women should have the option of homebirth integrated into the maternity network. Although uptake is still low across Ireland, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in increased homebirth due to fears of catching the virus in hospitals and visiting restrictions on birth partners.

Many expectant mothers are still unaware that the option is available to them, and those that do can be wary as it’s not something that they’ve heard much about and may not know anyone who has opted for a home birth.

So, how have the women who have recently experienced homebirth found the experience? “Empowering”, “magical”, “beautiful”, and “safe” are just some of the descriptions used by mothers interviewed by the Irish Examiner. I’ve pulled out some of the quotes to share, but please do have a look at the full article. The link is at the bottom of the page.

“It is hard to pick out any one thing which made her homebirth perfect, between feeling so safe in her home without harsh lighting, the “beautiful” experience of getting to know her midwives and having her older son and husband there.”

“The environment you have at home is already set up for yourself, your house, your familiar surroundings, smells,” she said. “And for those of us like myself who have another small child, it means no separation.”

“I do genuinely believe it was because I felt safe, I felt supported. Nobody interrupted anything. The feeling of safety was next level.” Her husband Oisin, a performance analyst with Connacht Rugby, still expresses shock, she said, that the service is free, saying he would have paid thousands to have that experience.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-40894070.html