08/13/2025
Want to know what I hear at a hospital birth vs. home birth?
"What should I do now?"
I almost never hear that at a home birth. I hear it at nearly every single hospital birth. Why? I have some theories.
At the hospital, we have been conditioned to listen and obey. Women are told where (and usually when) to lie down. When she can and can't go to the bathroom (UGH! REALY??) Not to mention all the IV tubes and monitor wires strapped here and there. Laboring women are given directions in the hospital and the expectation is that they will follow. Yes, my job as a doula is to protect that space, but once words have been said, comments made, I can't magically remove them from a woman's mind. I fight an uphill battle at times...
At home, women move more freely. Midwives don't tell laboring women where they should labor, how to move, when to use the restroom. Women laboring at home have an environment conducive to "listening to their bodies." They naturally rock, sway, walk, moan. They just do it!
The only exception that I have seen so far is when baby needs a little extra help navigating the pelvis, then the birth team gently guides the woman to positions that will facilitate birth. But this happens much more rarely and only after clear signs that baby and mama need more help than usual.
A new client recently asked me if the difference between hospital birth and home birth was really that drastic. I answered a resounding, "A thousand percent YES!!"
