Wenn du in Deutschland außerklinisch mit einer Hebamme gebären möchtest, übernimmt deine Krankenkasse die Kosten für Vor- und Nachsorge sowie die Geburt. Ein Problem ist allerdings die Rufbereitschaftspauschale, die viele Hebammen verlangen: Dies ist eine Art Kompensation für die Opportunitätskosten, also den Verlust von Einnahmen, der ihnen dadurch entsteht, dass sie sich in der Zeit rund um deinen Geburtstermin für dich „freihalten“.
Laura (in English): Sqeezing hips, please
Laura tells us how the father’s baby had a perfect idea for a beautiful home birth.
About us… my husband and I consider ourselves pretty green, spiritual, vegan, earthy, karma believers and live our „law of attraction†lifestyle the best we can.
A pregnancy without problems
First baby, first pregnancy. A little bit about my pregnancy. I had an amazing pregnancy. I did feel the fatigue and crumminess between week 6-12. No appetite and just super blah, but not actually throwing up, just once! From month 3 onward I had no real signs of pregnancy, I felt 100% myself. It was amazing!
Right until our little guy was born, I didn’t have an ache, Braxton-hick or a hint of fatigue. I gained 20lbs total. I started my pregnancy in the dark about the choice of freebirth, or even midwives at that point.
Mary: the urge to be alone
Mary tells us about her beautiful daughter being born — and how her dad went to get ear plugs to be able to sleep through the noise.
Even short before the birth started, I was still unsure of my gestation, only knowing that I was either 34 or 38 weeks, so it did not feel unrealistic to me to be having my baby in late May. Hah. Denial is a hell of a thing. I totally knew.
Yesterday I woke up with a crazy amount of energy. I spent my day shoveling seaweed in the garden, then going for a long walk on the beach with my love, then coming home and inhaling a huge lunch, immediately afterwards feeling a ferocious need to be alone and take a nap.
Elissa: how a second birth can heal a birth trauma
Elissia writes about her 2nd birth — about practical preparation and the healing powers of doing it your own way.
A little bit of a back story.
My first labor and birth was traumatic. I was in active labor for 36 hours and pushed for 7 hours. I was at a birthing center with a midwife and a „meh†partner (so, basically by myself.) It resulted in a transfer to a hospital a town away where I had an emergency c-section. „Diagnosis†was maternal exhaustion/failure to progress. I don’t remember a single thing after the transfer, didn’t see my daughter until 3 hours after she was born, my stitches tore open because the surgeon sucked, it got infected, they prescribed the wrong meds for the infection and I ended up needing a blood transfusion. Needless to say, I desperately wanted a different outcome with this birth… and I got it.
Doula vs. Hebamme? Ergänzen statt Ersetzen
Vor ein paar Wochen war Welt-Doula-Woche. Ich postete dazu auf Facebook einen „Dank an alle Doulas“. Eine entsetzte Leserin schrieb mir daraufhin zurück, dass sie es ganz schrecklich finde, dass die professionelle Geburtshilfe nun auf Doulas ohne medizinischen Hintergrund ausgelagert werde. Es sei zwar gut, dass Frauen immerhin Doulas hätten (die sie allerdings selber bezahlen müssten), aber eigentlich müssten Hebammen doch den Job übernehmen und das eigentliche Problem sei deshalb, dass der Hebammenberuf immer weiter ausgehöhlt würde.
Diese Antwort hat mich dazu gebracht, hier eine Klarstellung zu formulieren:
Doulas ersetzen nicht die Hebammen.
Rosie [in English]: harmony at home with preparation and faith
Rosie erzählt ihre Hausgeburt mit Mann, Hebamme, Doula und älterem Geschwisterkind. Sie beschreibt ihre Vorbereitung, ihren Glauben und das Wunder der ersten Minuten.-
I have found it quite difficult to write my birth story. Not because it was traumatic and I don’t want to re-live it; quite the contrary. I had a beautiful, amazing birth, and this is the reason I find it difficult to write. Because people don’t want to hear about it. It seems that, in our culture, it is fine and normal to relate negative stories of births that have not gone according to plan, but no one seems to be telling the stories of empowering, uplifting births that were what the mother was hoping and believing for.
I don’t write this to skite or because I think I am better than anyone else. I don’t write this to make anyone feel badly about their own experience. I write this because everyone has a birth story, every birth story is beautiful and unique, and mine happens to be a very positive story that I believe deserves to be told.
My Braxton Hicks contractions had been getting stronger over the last few weeks of the pregnancy — about a week before the birth I thought I was in labour for sure. I even called the midwife, filled the pool and got the camembert out to celebrate! Well the contractions stopped before bedtime. I had to buy more camembert.
Trudy (in English): Water breaking with Yehova’s Witness at the door
Our son Fox Eros freebirthed at home on 03/04/18, arriving Earthside at 8.15pm, at 40+2 weeks gestation
A Witness for the start
I was awoken to my waters leaking at 4.45am, and lay in bed for a couple of hours as they continued to trickle. I then got up and my husband took the day off work and ran some errands as I tidied around. At 11.05am they full on broke, Hollywood style! (Just as a Jehovahs Witness knocked on the door! My husband was trying his best to politely get rid of her as fast as he could as I’m stood in the hallway behind him, trousers round my ankles with fluid still pouring down and pooling all around me- 
😂)
Selbstbestimmt gebären – Subjekt statt Objekt
In diesem Beitrag beschäftige ich mich mit der Frage, wie wir es schaffen können, dass die Gebärenden Subjekte ihres Handelns sind — anders ausgedrückt: Frauen sollen selbstbestimmt gebären, mit Unterstützung, wo sinnvoll, weil sie es selber können.
Vor einiger Zeit griff Spiegel Online das Thema von Hausgeburten auf. (Den vollständigen Artikel kannst du hier nachlesen.) Der Bericht beginnt mit folgendem Untertitel:
Vorbereitung auf die Geburt – dank ihr ging alles glatt – Tina & Adrien
Tina und Adrien berichten, wie gut ihnen die Vorbereitung auf die Geburt tat.
Auf das sanfte Geburtserlebnis unseres Sohnes Luan Elias sind wir unglaublich stolz und sehr dankbar dafür. Wir würden alles nochmals genau so machen.
Wir waren in Biel im Geburtshaus. Unsere Hebamme hielt sich sehr dezent im Hintergrund — wie wir es besprochen hatten.
Den größten Teil der Geburt durften wir im Wasser erleben, kurz vor der Austrittsphase haben wir uns den neuen Umständen angepasst und unseren Sohn im Mayahocker zur Welt gebracht.