1 hr 49 min
Episode 30 with Erin from Kindervale, moving out bush and shifting from hospital to homebirth with a private midwife. The Rural Births Podcast
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- Parenting
Prior to moving to a rural bushland area, outside of Braidwood, Erin lived in Canberra. Her first baby was born in Canberra, at the hospital. She shares her journey moving through the system during this first pregnancy and how this experience and her transition to rural life contributed to her decision to pursue homebirth for her future rural births.
In her first pregnancy Erin did the Calmbirth course. She held a belief that reducing fear was an important thing for birthing women, based on pre-pregnancy engagement with Ina Mae through her TED talk ‘Reducing fear of birth in U.S. culture: Ina May Gaskin at TEDxSacramento’. Both Erin and her partner found the Calmbirth course an empowering tool to take forward into birth.
Erin did have some bleeding later in her first pregnancy and in early labour. She shares how she communicated with her care provider from home and how she moved in labour with this unexpected change. She was told, after passing a large clot, that they were going to have to move to caesarean. She shares the struggles of being asked to give ‘informed’ consent mid labour. After moving through all these augmentation discussions and moving within a situation that appeared emergent, Erin’s baby was crowning in theatre and he was born vaginally. Erin moved through a lot of potential change in a short period of time.
Between Erin’s first and second pregnancy she moved ‘bush’ to Kindervale. Whilst only being ‘an hour’ from Canberra the roads are quite remote, narrow and contain a lot of wildlife. Erin’s decision to homebirth wasn’t instantaneous. Deciding to home birth for her future pregnancies was partially about seeking continuity of care, recognising they live remotely and the benefits of having your care provider come to you. In her second pregnancy she knew the value of ‘Continuity of Care’ and made a point of seeking this form of care. However, continuity of care provider doesn’t resolve all the concerns or issues that arise for rural birthing women. Erin was still acutely aware that her first child was born in just over 2 hours, that the conditions of the ‘bush’ roads were appalling (and definitely not where you want to find yourself for a roadside birth) and the centre midwife’s answer was for Erin to ‘pack a kit’. Which isn’t all together wrong, third trimester rural women often have towels and other things in the back of their car but it isn’t an answer that makes rural birthing women feel seen, heard or supported. So, Erin strongly considered ‘Homebirthing’. Homebirthing wasn’t a new idea either, it had been growing since Erin was pregnant with her first. She connected with a midwife online and, feeling supported by the stats on the Homebirth Australia website, officially switched to home birth around 30 weeks. The face of care, in the home, really transforms a lot for rural birthing women. Suddenly we go from being isolated to having that sense of community extend. Rural women are not strangers to birth on the land. It is happening all around, the stock and wildlife. It is a natural part of life that resonates and homebirth is an offering that absolutely belongs in rural communities.
Ina Mae’s TED talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9LO1Vb54yk
Care Midwifery:
https://caremidwifery.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/caremidwifery
Prior to moving to a rural bushland area, outside of Braidwood, Erin lived in Canberra. Her first baby was born in Canberra, at the hospital. She shares her journey moving through the system during this first pregnancy and how this experience and her transition to rural life contributed to her decision to pursue homebirth for her future rural births.
In her first pregnancy Erin did the Calmbirth course. She held a belief that reducing fear was an important thing for birthing women, based on pre-pregnancy engagement with Ina Mae through her TED talk ‘Reducing fear of birth in U.S. culture: Ina May Gaskin at TEDxSacramento’. Both Erin and her partner found the Calmbirth course an empowering tool to take forward into birth.
Erin did have some bleeding later in her first pregnancy and in early labour. She shares how she communicated with her care provider from home and how she moved in labour with this unexpected change. She was told, after passing a large clot, that they were going to have to move to caesarean. She shares the struggles of being asked to give ‘informed’ consent mid labour. After moving through all these augmentation discussions and moving within a situation that appeared emergent, Erin’s baby was crowning in theatre and he was born vaginally. Erin moved through a lot of potential change in a short period of time.
Between Erin’s first and second pregnancy she moved ‘bush’ to Kindervale. Whilst only being ‘an hour’ from Canberra the roads are quite remote, narrow and contain a lot of wildlife. Erin’s decision to homebirth wasn’t instantaneous. Deciding to home birth for her future pregnancies was partially about seeking continuity of care, recognising they live remotely and the benefits of having your care provider come to you. In her second pregnancy she knew the value of ‘Continuity of Care’ and made a point of seeking this form of care. However, continuity of care provider doesn’t resolve all the concerns or issues that arise for rural birthing women. Erin was still acutely aware that her first child was born in just over 2 hours, that the conditions of the ‘bush’ roads were appalling (and definitely not where you want to find yourself for a roadside birth) and the centre midwife’s answer was for Erin to ‘pack a kit’. Which isn’t all together wrong, third trimester rural women often have towels and other things in the back of their car but it isn’t an answer that makes rural birthing women feel seen, heard or supported. So, Erin strongly considered ‘Homebirthing’. Homebirthing wasn’t a new idea either, it had been growing since Erin was pregnant with her first. She connected with a midwife online and, feeling supported by the stats on the Homebirth Australia website, officially switched to home birth around 30 weeks. The face of care, in the home, really transforms a lot for rural birthing women. Suddenly we go from being isolated to having that sense of community extend. Rural women are not strangers to birth on the land. It is happening all around, the stock and wildlife. It is a natural part of life that resonates and homebirth is an offering that absolutely belongs in rural communities.
Ina Mae’s TED talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9LO1Vb54yk
Care Midwifery:
https://caremidwifery.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/caremidwifery
1 hr 49 min