Dear Sacred Mama,
The choice to welcome your baby at home is a powerful one and I am glad you are here. It’s a choice that speaks to a deep trust in your body, in your baby, and in the process of birth itself. At Sacred Birth Midwifery our role is to be the guardian of that process, to hold the space for you, and to walk beside you with skill, heart, and unwavering belief in your strength.
This guide is a place to gather all the knowledge and wisdom for helping you decide if home birth is right for you. Let it be a source of comfort and confidence as you prepare your heart and home for one of the most sacred initiations and journeys of your life.
Part 1: Does a Home Birth Feel Right for You?
This is the most important question, and it’s one only you can answer. My job is to provide the information that you can use while listening to your own intuition. We know that for a healthy, low-risk pregnancy, that home birth is and can be a safe and beautiful option. The families I’ve worked with choose it for many reasons:
- The Comfort of Your Own Home: There is a magic to laboring in your own space—sinking into your own bed and being surrounded only by the things and people you love and choose to be there. Home offers privacy, it is where you feel safe and undisturbed, this allows for the hormones of labor to flow more easily and work their natural magic.
- You Are in Charge: At home, you are the central figure. You decide who is with you, what you eat, how you move, and what feels right for your body. Every decision is a conversation, and a collaboration between you, your family and your chosen care team.
- The Gentle, Uninterrupted Flow: Healthy low-risk birth is not a medical event; it’s a normal physiological process. At home, we protect that process from unnecessary interruptions and interventions, allowing it to unfold at its own pace.
- Individualized Care, You know Your Provider: With home birth you get to choose and hire the care provider you want to work with and know that they will be the one at your birth. You know you are not just another number, but get to talk directly to your care provider for any questions, instead of calling a hot line or talking to nurses you’ve never met.
During our prenatal visits, we will continue to ensure that you and your baby remain healthy and low-risk, making you a safe and appropriate candidate for a home birth.
Part 2: Building Your Circle of Trust
The energy you bring into your birth space matters. The people you choose to be there are the keepers of that energy.
- Our Relationship (You and Me, Your Midwife): The heart of home birth is the relationship we build together over these many months. It is a bond built on trust, respect, and shared decision-making. You will know, without a doubt, that the person who arrives at your door in labor knows you, trusts you, and is there to support you completely.
- Inviting a Doula: You might also consider inviting a doula into your circle. While I am there for you first, I am also focused on the health and safety of you and your baby, a doula is there solely for your emotional comfort—and added therapeutic support. Regardless of what is happening, she is able to offer continuous hands-on support, encouragement, and a calming presence.
- Your Partner’s Role: Your partner’s love and support are irreplaceable. We will talk a lot about their role as holding the charge in the room. A good childbirth class can also be a wonderful way for them to learn concrete tools, so they feel confident and prepared to be your rock on the big day.
Part 3: Preparing Your Home and Your Heart
Now we get to the fun part: creating your birth sanctuary. This is about preparing your physical space, but even more, it’s about preparing your mind.
Curating Your Birth Space:
Birth is a ceremony. Think about what makes you feel calm and connected to something higher than yourself. We want to appeal to all your senses.
- For Your Eyes: Dim the lights. String up some fairy lights or set out flameless candles. Cover any clocks.
- For Your Ears: Create a playlist of music that moves you, whether it’s calming and meditative or powerful and uplifting.
- For Your Nose: A diffuser with a scent like lavender can be lovely.
- For Your Touch: Have soft blankets, your favorite robe, and a birth ball ready. The warmth of a shower or a deep birth pool can be the most incredible comfort measure of all.
Empowering Your Mind with Affirmations:
Labor is as much a mental journey as a physical one. The body knows what to do, but the mind gets in the way. The stories we tell ourselves matter. Affirmations are a way to reframe your story and remind the mind of the truth rather than fears.
- Find birth affirmations that truly resonate with you. Write them on cards and place them where you will see them.
- Say them to yourself every day. Let the words sink in until you believe them in your bones.
- Here are a few I love:
- “My body knows how to birth my baby.”
- “My baby knows how to be born”
- “My contractions cannot be bigger than me, they are me.”
- “I soften, I open, I release.”
- “My body and my Baby are safe”
- “I am surrounded by love and support.”
Part 4: Gathering Your Comforts – The Supply List
Please don’t see this as a stressful to-do list. This is a brief overview of some of the items to expect for home birth, the full list will be provided during prenatal visit. I will bring all the medical equipment.
For Your Birth Space:
- Some old, dark-colored towels and bed sheets that you don’t mind getting dirty (although we’ll do laundry don’t use your favorite most expensive linen!) and a waterproof mattress cover to protect your bed.
- If you’re planning a water birth, we’ll have the pool, but you will gather liner and hose to use, where to purchase this will be disclosed during your visit.
- A bowl for the placenta and some trash bags for easy cleanup.
For Your Comfort and Nourishment:
- Comfortable, loose clothing (or you may want to wear nothing at all!).
- Lip balm is a must!
- Easy-to-eat snacks to keep your energy up: honey sticks, coconut water, fruit, or bone broth.
- Don’t forget snacks for your partner and your team!
For After the Birth:
- Maternity pads and comfortable underwear.
- Your peri bottle for rinsing.
- Soft receiving blankets, diapers, and a few simple sleepers for your sweet baby.
Part 5: The Journey of Labor – Working With Your Body
This is the moment you have been preparing for. When labor begins, the key is to surrender. Trust the rhythm of your body and lean on the team you have gathered around you.
The Beautiful, Natural Flow of Labor:
- Early Labor: This is the exciting slow beginning. Your job is to rest, eat, hydrate, and mostly ignore it. Watch a movie, take a nap. Conserve your energy.
- Active Labor: When your contractions (or surges) require your full focus, this is the heart of labor. It’s time to call me. This is when you will find your rhythm—in the sway of your hips, in the depth of your breath, in the low sounds you make.
- Transition: This is the most intense, but also the shortest, part of the journey. It’s the moment right before you meet your baby. If you feel a sudden urge to quit, know this is normal, and it is a sign of your power and that your baby is almost here.
- Birthing Your Baby: Your body will give you the urge to push. You will listen to it. I will support you in following your body’s instincts to find the positions that are right for you, as you breathe your baby down and into your arms.
Your Toolbox of Comfort:
You have so many tools to help you through the intensity.
- The Water: A warm shower or the deep immersion of a birth pool is a game-changer. It can feel like a natural epidural.
- Movement: Rock, sway, dance, lean. Let your body move as it wants to.
- Touch: The firm pressure of your partner’s hands on your lower back can be a lifesaver.
- And most importantly: The trust you have built in yourself and the inner knowing that you CAN and WILL do this.
Part 6: After Your Baby Arrives – The Sacred Returning
The moments after the birth are just as sacred as the birth itself. At home, we protect this time fiercely. You have just given birth and are now returning back into your body, into yourself, not the same, rebirthed, a Mother. You will also birth your placenta during this time, which is as sacred as the birth of your baby.
- The Golden Hour: Your baby will be placed directly on your chest, skin-to-skin. The world can wait. This is a time for you to gaze at your baby, for them to feel your heartbeat, and for the first feed to happen when they are ready. All my checks on you and the baby can happen right there with you.
- Your Recovery: I will not leave until you are both stable, you’ve had something to eat, and you are cleaned up and comfortably tucked into your own bed. We will go over everything you need to know for these first few hours.
- The “Lying-In”: The best part of a home birth is that you are already home. Your only job is to rest, eat, and snuggle your baby. Let others care for you. This is your time to heal and fall in love. You get to enjoy the first 40 days in your home, undisturbed and bonding, where I am coming to you for all your visits until the final 6 week visit where you will return back to my office.
This is your birth. It will be an initiation into your power, your motherhood and a story that is uniquely yours. It is my greatest honor to serve you, walk this journey beside you and be a humble piece in your birth space that stands in witness to your sacred unfolding and welcoming earthside of your baby and newest yourself. There is no higher honor than serving women and birth, thank you.
With all my love,
Your Sacred Birth Midwife