Almost 22 years ago my daughter came into the world. Intentionally and, I must say, with an attitude of self-direction and sovereignty, I chose homebirth.
I chose homebirth not just for the end game, the “birthing experience.”
I chose it because I considered it my biological birthright to decide where and how I would bring that baby into this world. I chose homebirth because I trusted in the collective biology of women as gestators, incubators and birthers of the next generation. I chose to have a homebirth because of the women and couples I’d read about in Sheila Kitzinger’s books.
I wanted that experience and in order to have it, I needed to be outside of the march of physicians in hospitals and in commune with a person who understood pregnancy and childbirth and supported the myriad reasons a woman would chose this path.
Trudie De Keijzer was that person.
At the time, she practiced in and around Sydney, Australia. Her office was in her home, a place I found eclectic and inviting. A bit older than me, her demeanor was calm, a stark contrast to my usual energy and ebullience - and much needed. For all my bravado, I was at the beginning of the most important journey of my life and was not wont to go it alone. I had my fears and I needed skilled strength.
I liked Trudie immediately.
There is much to say. Indeed, many women hold dear the narrative of her children’s birth(s). For me it is the first chapter of one of the greatest stories of my life. But recounting the hours and hour of Hannah’s birth is not necessary here. Certainly it would be on-topic but then the over-arching message of “why” would get lost in the details.
And it is the answers to the question, “why homebirth,” that are important. That a person even wonders, “why,” speaks volumes about the misinformation surrounding pregnancy and birth and the lack of choice or lack of awareness of choice we have in determining the path of a monumental beginning in our lives.
And so, in retrospect, the over-arching narrative of Hannah’s Birth is of a woman who made a conscious decision, with knowledge and feeling, to bring into this world, as far as possible on her own terms, a baby, at home, with the help of a skilled, caring midwife so that the beginning of the most important story was not lost or stolen and authored mindfully.
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