A mother in the United States made the decision to give birth to her daughter at home. This event finally happened after much planning, and it was a wonderful experience for the entire small family. Certain birth decisions are more creative than others. Rebecca, a mother of two living in the United States, decided to let her 3-year-old daughter Hunter attend her home birth. She wanted to give her daughter and her new son, Rory, a special family memory that they would never forget.
Pregnant with a little boy, she and her husband decided that the delivery would not take place in the ᴍᴀᴛᴇʀɴɪᴛʏ ᴡᴀʀᴅ, but at home, in the company of their daughter. Assisted by their doula (a person who accompanies a couple morally and practically during pregnancy and after), as well as by a birth photographer, it was on the sofa in her living room that Rebecca gave birth.
She told the online magazine CafeMom: “Having my daughter at my birth was one of the reasons I wanted to do it at home,” she explained. “I wanted Hunter to be as involved or not involved as she wanted to be and I didn’t want to have to be away from her.” This is also the reason she decided to give birth in the living room instead of having a water birth.
As she began to get into ʟᴀʙᴏʀ, her husband went and brought 3-year-old Hunter into the room. According to her birth photographer and doula, Nicole Lachey, the little girl was reserved at first but became more involved in the process. “She would gently stroke her mom and tell her she was doing a great job and she kept exclaiming how excited she was to meet ‘her baby,’” she said. “When Rory started to crown, the midwife invited Hunter over to be the first to touch her baby brother. Hunter gladly reached over and put her finger on his head and said ‘it’s squishy.’”
While some do not share this conception of childbirth, Rebecca justifies her choice by saying that by involving her daughter in all aspects of the birth of her little brother, allowed her to develop very strong ties with him. Just after he came into the world, she was able to have skin-to-skin contact with him, further reinforcing the intensity of this moment.
Then comes a question: How could such a young child react so well to an event that has caught the eye of so many adults? The present birth photographer explained that Rebecca talked a lot with Hunter about things she would see or hear during the birth so that she wouldn’t be surprised or sᴄᴀʀᴇᴅ. Thanks to all that preparation, even when his mother screamed, Hunter didn’t look away for a second.
To all those who would like to live such an experience with their children, Nicole adds that “the best thing to do to prepare them is to show them birth videos, to talk about all the aspects of childbirth, and above all to present them with this from a positive angle. Birth is the most normal part of life; share it with your children and teach them from the beginning that birth is nothing to ꜰᴇᴀʀ. Birth is strength.”
Hunter was able to cheer and support her mother without batting an eye. What do you think of including a toddler during your ʟᴀʙᴏʀ?
