Chapter 2
A Labour at Home—Do We Transfer?
An Unexpected Meeting of a Doula
Whilst making my way through a lunch time crowd at the local show I heard a friendly hello and felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around to see who owned a voice that I couldn’t quite recall. ‘Emily’ stood smiling at me. Emily was a doula whom I’d met several years before in another state of Australia. She had recently moved to the town where I lived.
A doula is a person with basic training to accompany and support women and couples through birthing experiences. Particularly emotionally and with hands on support when massage, soothing words, gentle touch or hot cloths etc. are found helpful during a labour.
Doulas have also supported births unattended by a midwife or doctor as Emily did.
Emily and I had not been together as a birth circle support team before. In reality I knew little about Emily and less of her ability in support of pregnant women during birth-work care. However I did respect her passion for women’s inherent right to birth babies where and with whom they chose.
Telephone Call in the Night
Just after midnight a few weeks later Emily telephoned.
After apologies for waking me she said, ‘I’m with a woman in labour at my home. Things are not moving along like they usually do. Can you please come and see if we need to transfer to hospital?’
I felt myself hesitant to become involved and recommended transfer to hospital if labour was not unfolding well. Emily went on to explain the situation in more detail. So why did I agree to help when she pleadingly asked again?
Because I comprehend why women want to give birth where they feel safe.
Which is also why from a different point of view that many women from diverse cultures in Australia felt safest having their babies arrive within conventional systems of maternity care. Each decade of my career has shown change in social consciousness and conventional birth care. What different women wanted and what was available were sometimes far apart.
Choice of Birth Venue
During my midwifery career most women began labour at home then moved into hospital to have their baby. Very few began labour at home and admitted they’d stayed there to give birth because the felt no need or desire to move to hospital as they’d originally planned.
Few chose to give birth at home from the first thoughts of pregnancy—before conception, because they wanted what they believed was best for their baby. Others made that choice with great self-responsibility much later in pregnancy. Most wanted to give birth in a hospital or a birthing centre.
Please note that we do not recommend home birth over hospital birth. Both have their place. A small percentage of planned home birth parents did, do and will transfer to hospital care throughout pregnancy or during labour for a wide variety of reasons. This is expected.
Telling home birth stories is simply the easiest way to begin sharing life and midwifery awareness. Real life stories are a way of adding to our world’s community of common birthing knowledge for the benefit of human kind.
Unexpected Birth—Arrival Can Happen Anywhere
Many babies are born out of hospital the world over because there are no other options available. Australian women have the choice of medical know how as the routine way for babies to arrive, either in public or private systems of conventional birth care. In some cities and larger towns this does include choice of birth at home and birth in water.
Amidst the best made plans life and babies still offer surprises. Occasionally babies ‘decide’ on an out of hospital birth through the circumstance of unexpected sudden and safe arrival in nature’s own way before reaching a parent’s pre-selected place of birth.
All venues have benefits. The best place for giving birth when all factors are considered is ultimately the one where a woman can truly relax and feels safe to labour.
Why?
When a birthing woman feels safe, relaxed and unhurried, THEN, appropriate labour phase naturally produced birth chemistry can work with efficient harmony (1), (2). This gives the best opportunity for a woman’s body to bring baby down and through safely to birth in his or her own rhythm and timing…
Other Chapter 2 Subtitles: A Wise Middle Path in Birth Place Choice; How Does Baby Actually ‘Get Out’ of ‘Down There’?; Amazing Female Physiology; Improve Opportunity For Your Success; Make Having a Baby the Best Experience You Can; I Met ‘Jade’ in a Relaxed Labour Zone; Why Jade Chose to Birth Out of Hospital
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