• How many weeks gestation is okay to go before inducing labor is advised?
• Which supplements and interventions are evidence-based?
• Which positions/manuevers will help to put my baby into optimal LOA position?
• What alternatives do I have to the glucose test?
• Where can I get a birth pool and which model is best?
• How many centimeteres dilated am I?
• Which position should I push in to make it easiest?
• How can I get my baby to sleep so I don’t become vulnerable to PPD?

All of these questions – the questions that get asked over and over again in the birth groups I’m a member of or admin on Facebook (and off Facebook) – are good questions. I’m glad we talk about these things and that mothers get to make informed decisions about every aspect of the process of pregnancy and birth. These conversations matter and the fact that they are WELCOME conversations in the context of the midwifery model of care is the reason that I – and an ever-growing number of women – would choose it any day over the obstetric model.

And, we’ve also sold birth short if we stop here.

See, those frequently asked questions are so much about… Mechanics. Strategies. Clinical measurements. Practicalities. Technical considerations.

There’s a huge gaping hole, and it’s present sometimes even in midwifery care. As midwives face increasing pressure to meet state-mandated protocols and clinical standards, “defensive charting”, quickly growing numbers of clients, and legal considerations, the time and energy left over for the less tangible but equally important aspects of birth gets crowded out.

But here’s the truth…

You are more than a body. Birth is more than a physiological event.

If birth were only about nailing all the technical/mechanical details, it would mean lots of babies could be born really smoothly to particularly fastidious and diligent mothers. But we’d be missing HER. And the BABY.

When was the last time your care provider asked you…

• How is your heart?
• What’s going on in your marriage?
• How are you nourishing yourself with pleasure?
• In what ways are you’re experiencing God as you act as a life-bringer?
• What you’re scared of as you stand in the liminal space you now find yourself in?
• How do you undestand the purpose and meaning of giving birth and its implications for your identity as a woman?
• What do you sense your baby is telling you? What does he/she need?
• Do you hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit through your intuition? Where does She lead you?

When was the last time you asked YOURSELF those questions?

This is deep, hard and holy, magnificent and multifaceted work, having babies.

It will call upon every part of you – mind, spirit, heart, and of course, body – and leave no part of you unchanged. And this is true whether or not you acknowledge it and intentionally engage with it.

But it will be so much richer if you DO.

We can partner with the catalyst for change that pregnancy is — this is God’s gift to us women! — and harness it for remarkable expansion and transformation.

That’s not for the faint of heart nor for those who want to stay in the shallows.

But it’s available to you. You can dive into these deep waters surrendered because The One who invited you is trustworthy and good. And there are treasures to be uncovered here.

If you are game for it, something more than mechanics awaits you here, sister. Come on in, the water’s fine. 😉

THIS is the cornerstone of my work/services. As a wanna-be spiritual director, an enneagram 4, a trained counselor and… myself!… this the special gift I bring to the table. I want to help women choose home birth because it’s safe and respectful and enjoyable and mother-centric. But then after they’ve made that first resolution, I am here to take their hand and pull them into a safe space where they can explore the deep waters. I am here for transformational home birth. (AND the technical, practical, nitty gritty stuff, too).

If that sounds good to you, visit this page.