Planning a Water Birth in Illinois Freaks Me Out, But It Shouldn’t
Back on November 18th, a little plastic stick told me that in a few months, I’m going to be a father!
Beyond the happiness, excitement, terror, anxiety, and everything in between that comes with a successful conception, my wife and I had to deal with the problem of delivering our little nugget.
According to the CDC, most people have their babies in hospitals (just under 99%), and why wouldn’t they? Hospitals house medical experts who most of us trust to solve our health concerns.
My wife and I are a little different. We’re planning to have our child outside of a hospital in birth center an hour away.
Not all of the 1.5% of people who have their babies outside of hospitals actually chose to have their babies there. Just ask my wife. Her grandmother delivered her in the car while her mom was on the way to the hospital!
That story, and a pretty persuasive documentary on Netflix, convinced us to join the tiny fraction of Americans who plan to have a natural, non-hospital child birth. I admit, it freaks me out, but it really shouldn’t.
Here’s why it freaks me out.
Natural births are rare in America. I already mentioned that less than 2% of American births happen outside of a hospital, but did I mention that it gets worse for people in Illinois?
I couldn’t help but scour some data and figure out where natural births were the most common. You might be surprised by the leaders and laggards. At the top of the list are states like Vermont (2.5% at-home births), Montana (2.3%), and Idaho (2.2%). At the bottom of the list are states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Nebraska (all with 0.3% at-home births).
Guess where Illinois ranks? Near the bottom with 0.5% of births occurring at home.
That freaks me out because, outside of two birthing centers in the entire state, at-home births are illegal in the land of Lincoln. And of course neither of those birthing centers is located in our current city (Chambana).
I’m nervous our little bundle of joy may be discriminated against by hospitals when we tell them that our child was born “dirty” (outside of a hospital).
Why it shouldn’t freak me out.
At-home births are natural. Procreation is one of the most natural things that we humans still do. I mean, we’ve literally been doing it since we got here.
I don’t know what shifted in our society that got us thinking that lab-designed, factory-manufactured products and services were better than all-natural, untampered ones, but it just doesn’t seem appropriate when giving birth.
I think there is a lot to learn and appreciate by witnessing natural birth and even death. Both of these natural life occurrences have been ushered behind closed doors so that society at-large doesn’t have to face them on a regular basis.
Maybe removing birth and death from the home has helped our society advance and I’m making something out of nothing. Or maybe removing them from our homes removes us from a deeper connection with humanity.
Who knows. Either way, all prayers and positive vibes are welcomed as we embark on this new journey in parenthood.
