Welcome to Lua's first project. As a united family, we want to make our dream come true, and we believe that it is precisely neither unfair nor unreasonable.
We live in a society in which women are taught to give birth in the hospital. Where they tell us that this is the best option and the lowest risk. In contrast, the experience we had with our first daughter was not such, and if you want more details do not hesitate to read this post.
For that reason, after the trauma that caused the separation for five days with our little India, we decided that this time we were going to give birth at home. I say this time because with the first one we were planning to give birth at home, the problem arises when the system does not contemplate the expenses of this management and the family has to look for money where there is none (yes, we are a family of workers paying rent in Barcelona ... you can imagine).
How did we get here? With time, as a mother, I started to investigate, curiosity about what happened with India could ... So I came across the term obstetric violence, and that was when I realized that I was not the only one, nor I will be the last to suffer the calamities of a precarious health system. I do not want to label only the public ... because there is too much information from both women and professionals that guarantee that these calamities are also experienced in the private health system (even though they are more violent in this).
Then my question was transformed into something deeper ... how we have come to the omission of the most important and personal moment of the woman and her baby? This is where the interesting starts. It turns out that we, women, we used to gather together to give birth. We were tribe, we knew our bodies and their reach. All that knowledge was erased through a powerful social movement in which fear was given impulse, in this way women who possessed the necessary knowledge to empower others were erased from the map (luckily not all of them). And the current medical system was implemented. Where a pregnant woman changes from a healthy woman to a patient. Where his desires are not heard and his physique is manipulated without shame to take the creature from within. Luckily, not all professionals have the level of non-sensibility necessary to be part of this system.
This is where we find educated matrons, aware of those ancestral rituals and the most up-to-date scientific study about birth. I give thanks for their existence. And thank you for your beautiful vocation. In this way, women like me, who have suffered from a badly attended delivery in the hospital, or awake women who so wish, can give birth at home, with calm, tranquility and the feeling of comfort that brings them your home.
Get birth at home is first and foremost a decision. A decision made by the woman, and also by her family. Once you have reached this point, it is time to learn about the possibilities in your local environment.
For this the most important thing is to know how long the nearest hospital is (in case of emergencies) and choose the right team of professionals to attend the wonderful event of birth.
How to know who are the indicated ones? This decision has many variables: qualifications, experience, proximity, retribution ... For us, the crucial was the feeling. Being such an intimate moment, it is important that you feel comfortable with the people around you.
We have chosen the midwives of La Flor de la Vida, Chiara & Gaia. Friendly twins with the same vocation that have made us feel that we can from the first moment.
This project is aimed above all at relatives of the family. People who know us, who know how we are. Some already knew the history of India's arrival, others did not. It is normal, in general, these experiences usually keep them for the deepest intimacy, because they suppose too powerful feelings to be able to be expressed in a moment as magical and fragile as the arrival of your first baby.
Hence the importance of coming out of the closet. To express and seek creative solutions to the problems that afflict us. For us a second hospital birth involves a whole world (memories are activated in our brain that the same thing will happen, even if it does not end up being that way).
With this scenario we decided to act, solve from the harmony and accept with decision and courage the fact of giving birth at home. We know it will be an event that we will remember throughout our lives, so if you are part of the project, you will be a great contribution to a moment of vital importance for the family, and we will be grateful for life.
Previous experience we do not have. It is our first home birth. We have studied a lot, read, observed and channeled that it is not an easy step and that it also involves taking risks, but we are prepared. We know it will be worth it.
Contamos con el expertísimo equipo de La Flor de la Vida y sobretodo con tu apoyo financiero.
Thank you.
interesting bibliographies on the subject:
Oxytocin, Kerstin Uvnas Moberg.
Childbirth and the Future of Homo Sapiens, Michel Odent.