Ep 148: Hurricanes and Homebirths: The Calm After the Storm

What do you do when your birth suddenly feels as though it’s swirling in chaos?  How do you keep calm and remain focused? This week we’re speaking with Holly, who weathered a Category 4 Hurricane just as she was about to give birth.  Talk about an unexpected turn of events.  I can’t wait for you to hear the incredible mindset that Holly brought to her experience, and the twist at the end of this story

Episode Roundup

1. I wanted to bring up the safety idea.  Holly decided with her fourth baby that she would feel SAFER at home than in the hospital.  Isn’t it so interesting— the mainstream narrative is that hospital automatically = safety is just not ringing true for many of us anymore, and we are feeling more safety and a chance at an intervention free birth away from the hospital.  Choosing midwives gives many women a stronger sense of safety, and that’s because of my second point…
2. Midwifery and homebirth are relational.  This isn’t a fast food experience.  It’s a dine in, take off your coat and stay a while event.  We spend our prenatal months getting to know one another on a deeper level, allowing friendship and trust to blossom.  We aren’t patients, we’re clients and friends.
3. Holly felt like she was being set up for a potentially very traumatic birth, but she knew she had to block out the fear.  Fear is like a mental roadblock.  “If I let the fear take over, I’m not going to be able to do this and it’s going to be traumatic for everyone.”  So instead she got into the mindset of, “I’m going to do this and it’s going to be so great.”  Mindset is the key to your birth, my friends.  It all comes back to mindset.  No, we can’t control the events- from how our labor sensations will feel all the way to the weather outside- it’s out of our hands.  But what we can focus on prenatally and learn to wield with confidence, is our mindset. Just like Holly.

Mentioned:

Happy Homebirth Candles

Resources:

Free Homebirth Mythbusters

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