Julie's Story  "I never thought I would end up having a home birth. I used to believe labor was unbearably painful and dangerous, and it wasn’t anything I could do without the use of drugs and a team of doctors. But I started to get informed about what doctors actually do during labor and the side effects of the pain killers they give women and I started to worry. I discussed the way I wanted my labor to go with my doctor and how I wanted to try to do it more naturally and avoid things like episiotomy and c-section and other things they consider routine but I thought most of the time wasn’t really necessary. I also wanted to be able to eat and drink and change positions during labor if I wanted to. But to my surprise and dismay, my doctor’s attitude toward me changed. He became very pushy and aggressive as to what he felt my labor should be like. He would not even negotiate some things with me. Like waiting for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating before he cut it. He told me to, “just trust him” and treated me like a child who didn’t know anything. His attitude put me under a lot of stress and really concerned me.
As my due date neared I started researching home births on the internet and became convinced this was the better way to go. I was blessed to find a really good midwife who would work with me even though I was so far along ( I was nine months by then) and also had financial issues. My midwife, Claudine Crews, was extremely helpful and supportive. What a difference! When before I would spend a couple of hours at the doctor’s office, most if not all of that time was spent in the waiting room. The doctor would come in for maybe ten minutes at the most and ask how I was then rush off. But if I spent 2 hours with my midwife, I actually spent 2 hours with her, not waiting in the lobby. She answered every question I had and treated me with respect. She had so much information to give me and my husband. Information that really helped us to get better prepared for the birth and to address our fears. But most of all I felt that she really was on my side and not against me or my decision’s for my baby’s birth and was there to help make it a reality. That was something I had not felt before with my doctor. Before my baby’s birth, I had a false alarm where I called my midwife who came over and helped me for a few hours with walking around and just waiting patiently for the birth to begin. I felt very guilty when it did not begin but she assured me it was o.k. and those things happen. She went far beyond what I ever thought or imagined a midwife did in her professionalism and care of me. The night I actually went into labor I called my midwife and she came immediately as did her assistant and my doula. I had decided on a water birth so everyone went to work filling the pool we had set up. I did have pain but it wasn’t as unbearable as I had previously feared. I knew it was something I could do having been told countless times by my midwife that birth is natural and normal and women were designed to give birth. I knew I could do it because I had a supportive team there to help me and encourage me. My labor lasted about 4 hours and when the baby came she had the cord wrapped around her neck.. After removing the cord (unwrapping it from the neck), the baby was placed on top of me but she wasn’t responding. Immediately the midwife took her and gave her 2 quick breaths to get her to breathe. Then she started screaming and we were all very relieved and happy. During all that, the cord was not cut and I now believe that had a lot to do with keeping the baby safe and protected during the time she was unresponsive. I know in the hospital they would have done the same as the midwife except they would have immediately cut the cord and taken her over to a table to do it. Who knows if cutting the cord during that time would have compromised her? I believe it might have. As for me, I hemorrhaged some but my midwife knew just what to do. She stopped the hemorrhage and gave me some oxygen. I know neither the baby nor I could have received better care in the hospital. On the contrary, I would have risked not having my birth wishes honored or respected and my baby put in a room apart from me. That is why I know that having my baby at home was the best decision I could have made. Now I am blessed by having a beautiful, healthy baby girl and by having had a more natural birth experience for her. I believe God led us to our midwife, who turned out to be the best person to help us achieve that." ~ Julie, Ruben, and Isabella © Words From Andrea..... "All of our four children have been born at home with a midwife. We enjoyed four very different, but wonderful, water births in the peace of our own home. We began our journey naive to homebirth but began to research the possibility when we became pregnant with our first child. We loved the idea of having our baby in the atmosphere we were most comfortable in, our home. We loved the idea of trusting the process of birth. So, the journey began and we could not imagine doing it any other way. We highly regard the wisdom our midwife gave and the walking out together of this beautiful process called birth! Birthing at home gave us the opportunity to create an intimate environment and invite in my female friends or family members to experience the miracle with us. It has been a life changing journey for our entire family." Chris and Andrea C.
San Antonio, TX
© "Dear Claudine, We want to thank you so much for all you did for us during my pregnancy and Hope's delivery. We appreciate your care and concern and the many hours you labored with us - especially after getting no sleep the night before! We are so grateful for having your help. May the Lord bless you, Scott, Laurie, Cody, Heather, Nathan, and Hope" © Dear Claudine,  Thanks so much for your dedication and all you have done for me and Gregory. Love, Nancy M. and Gregory Claudine Crews LM, CPM Licensed and Certified Professional Midwife Home Birth Specialist | 
