05/11/2025
What if I told you there were two hospitals, one that has a 5% cesarean rate and the other a 31% rate? The hospital with the lower rate is less than 5 minutes away. It also has the comfiest bed, there's no pressure of what you eat/drink, you can light candles, labor AND birth in a tub, your other children can attend, there's no visitor limit, you have control over the AC.. No one has to insert their fingers in you and you don't have to be a certain number dilated to receive care, you're not met with 20+ questions through contractions, no drugs or medication dangling in your face or pressure to labor faster, you're free to leave without needing documentation, you can have as much privacy as you want, no new faces/strangers (especially ones inserting their fingers), no one there with Hero Syndrome, you know exactly who is going to be there. The other hospital.. it all depends on who is working at the time of arrival. Both hospitals have the same rate of maternal and newborn outcomes. What would you pick?
Say the one further away takes insurance (full coverage), and the closer one only offers payment plans or a sliding scale. Which one?
Me? I'd pick the payment plans. Why? Because birth is a transformation and it deserves more than what insurance can afford. Now, what if I told you the closer facility was actually your home? Would you stay?
There's evidence. There's testimonials of women. I won't stand for the narrative that homebirth is dangerous for a healthy low risk mom (and situationally, some who are considered "high risk"). There are ALWAYS exceptions to birth. Birth inherently has risk. Birth trauma doesn't discriminate. However, more women are wanting low interventions, unmedicated, powerful or peaceful births, births that feel like home while also having access to necessary care if an emergency arises, genuine support around choice and autonomy, they want to feel safe and cared for. Women want space to feel heard- not to be told to "be quiet", feel grounded- not touched out, be undisturbed- not overanalyzed.
We need guidance into surrender, not fear into submission.
Women don't need to feel broken when it comes to birth. The language used is full of fear mongering and coercion, and we're conditioned to believe it's not possible for us because of A, B, and C. We hear horror stories from loved ones, other moms, the media, and are conditioned to believe that we aren't wise or smart enough to take radical responsibility and direction for our decisions over our bodies and babies. And I'm telling you now, if you are birthing in the hospital as a test run to "see if you can do it unmedicated in the hospital first", I can assure you, it is not the same.
Again, there are ALWAYS exceptions that don't discriminate on birth location or low/high risk- and homebirth is not for everyone, but if it is FEAR that is preventing you from birthing the way you want, I invite you to look up true evidence of exactly what you fear (no, not Tik Tok please) and schedule a consultation with a local homebirth midwife (it's usually free). Express those fears that you have- ask the 'what if' questions. Ask about payment plans or sliding scales or trades or if they have any flexibility. You might be surprised with what you find out.
I honor that full coverage is helpful. I also believe that birth holds so much more value than just a healthy baby and healthy mom. If insurance doesn't cover the care that supports your values or autonomy, that says something. Birth is NOT a business. But if it has to be, consider a flexible payment plan as an investment for your birth experience. Your birth care and team is worth resourcing well.
As a homebirther myself, those 'what ifs' are still there even with intention, working through fears, and trying to make the financial aspect work, but that is a part of taking radical responsibility over your birth rather than handing it over. Taking control of how we birth, how we honor our bodies is the most revolutionary thing a woman can do.
Make decisions based on LOVE and TRUST, not fear.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmwh.12172
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2742137/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19720688/
From one of the biggest homebirth studies done.
