Wonderful Water Birth Video

Someone posted this birth video on the Arizona Birth Network, and I just had to share it - it is one of the most beautiful births I've seen. (And the lighting is great, so it's clearer than most homebirth videos.) What's even greater is that it is a birth center birth, so it shows that institutional births don't have to be disrespectful and full of interventions. I was definitely crying by the end of this one:

http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=-ct8MyqhC2c

I'm a complete sucker for birth videos - I cry at them all. But I'm talking about the good ones - not the ones where the mother is strapped down to every device imaginable and the baby is basically manhandled by disrespectful delivery staff. Those make me cry too - but with rage rather than joy. Birth is the most (or at least one of the most) sacred moment in a woman's life, and attendants can really make or break it.

Anyhow, this is a keeper!! It's a waterbirth, and it's really rare to see waterbirths as clearly as you can see this one. Most waterbirths you only get to see the baby as it comes out of the water, but you get the whole show with this one, and it's just great. We tried to have a waterbirth with Caleb, but didn't quite make it. But I labored the entire time in water! I just got out for the last hour. Our midwife says we'll have a better chance next time - that primips sometimes have a hard time with waterbirth, but it's totally easy for multips. I hope so! That's definitely my goal for my next baby - a waterbirth. Not to mention that water is GREAT for easing pain. When I got into the labor pool it was totally like the contractions disappeared (for a while, that is!!!!!). I don't think I could do a birth without the help of water. After all, it is called "the midwife's epidural."

Well, gotta go! Toddler typing at the same time is NOT making this easy!!