Birth without:
Needles, scalpels, sterile metal tables.
Bright lights, beeping machines, constant monitors.
Restriction of food and water, restriction of movement.
Strangers checking progress, changing shifts, unspoken time limits.
Numbness, narcotics, dullness.
Fear of failure, fear of risks, fear of something going wrong.
Birth with:
Peaceful spaces, dim lights, maybe music, maybe silence.
Encouragment to move and eat and drink.
Comfort, support, maybe water, maybe pillows, maybe walking, maybe rest.
Probably growling and moaning and roaring.
Definitely respect of natural processes, unhurried time.
Confidence in woman’s body.
Trust in God’s design.
I’m not saying all hospital births are bad experiences by any means, or that all home births are magical (I know women who’ve had wonderful hospital births and women who’ve had traumatic home births, and vice versa, of course).
Birth is hard and raw and beautiful and intense.
It’s also natural, physiological.
Normal.
Birth is not a medical event, it’s a normal human process, and, when treated like one, can be empowering and simple. Supported. Normal.
I respect the midwives who turned me down as a client when they weren’t confident in taking on a vaginal birth after 3 cesareans. For not wanting to carry doubt or fear into a space that required certainty and peace.
And I’m so grateful for the ones who were confident- who knew my body would remember. Who know (as well as I do now, after all my reading and research), that this was safe and safer than another C-section.
I’m thankful for God knowing, again, exactly where we would birth this sweet baby and for surrounding us with support and wisdom and protection, again. Thankful He made my body strong and capable.
And for precious Olive. Oh, thank You, Lord for giving us her 🩷
Jennifer Blacklock 
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