5 Tips for a Natural Home Birth

When it comes to giving birth, do you know what you’re going to do? Do you know where you want to give birth? Do you think it should be something to even plan when it comes to one of the most natural things in human life? A natural home birth can throw up many questions or be the simplest thing to do in your life as a woman, it all depends on the person.

I believe it is an important topic to discuss with women, and men, as it has become such a controversial topic and one that can lead to many painful and traumatic events without understanding one of the most natural biological events in humanity from God. It is quite simple giving birth, yet somehow over the last 100+ years, we as a human race, have complicated the process.

I have had two home births which have been beautiful, natural, simple and totally worth it for the birth of my children. I believe it is worth doing your homework to understand the normality of natural childbirth and giving birth at home.

Do animals go to the hospital to give birth? Where do birds have their babies? What about lions, monkeys and dolphins? Other beings on this planet give birth in their safe spaces, their homes, their nests, and their places of everyday life on their own or with their loved one(s) by their side. And that is what humans have done for many, many years until the modern version of hospitals somehow made it the norm to give birth in a hospital putting it in the same category as an accident, injury, illness or emergency.

It is simply birth. The most natural, normal, simple, beautiful experience of bringing a human into the other side of the world from a mother’s womb. Just like a hedgehog or a giraffe does with the mother’s young.

FYI… I am here to share the joys of a natural home birth so everything I share will be for a home birth. Just like with breastfeeding, I believe it is the way to do things as a mama. I am here to share the positive benefits of this way of doing things in life, and this is not to shun others who do things differently. This is simply my way of life, let’s keep this a loving space for the joys of creating, nurturing and raising God’s beautiful gifts.

Can you have a natural birth at home?

Yes, you can absolutely have a natural birth at home. To have a child enter the world, you do not need to go to a hospital to give birth. It is generally very minimal circumstances when a pregnant woman needs to give birth at a hospital.

There is a misconception that you have to give birth in a hospital, which is far from the truth. You can give birth anywhere really, but I would choose the comfort of my own home rather than at a football game or the supermarket, what about you? Where do you want to give birth?

What is the advantage of a home birth?

Giving birth at home is a wonderful experience and seems common sense to me. Here are a few advantages of a home birth:

• a familiar environment
• many times, women go into labour at home so it makes sense to stay where you are and go through active labour to prepare for the birth of the baby
• feel safe and at peace at home
• you can move around from one room to another at your freedom
• be surrounded by loved ones when you want and then go to a quiet space when needed
• eat when you want
• a quieter and less distracting space
• no strangers distracting the labour and/or birth
• no unnecessary interventions from nurses or doctors that cause more harm than good
• after the birth, you can go straight to bed and snuggle with the baby

How can I deliver a baby at home by myself? Can I have my baby at home without a midwife?

It is very normal and ok to give birth on your own. If you plan to have an unassisted home birth then I highly recommend doing your research and being fully confident in your ability to give birth.

Yes, you can have a baby at home without a midwife. This might be a planned unassisted free birth, or perhaps a woman does plan to have a midwife at home and gives birth before the midwife arrives or gets to the hospital. There are many occasions where women planned for a midwife but gave birth without one and had a great birth of their baby.

I gave birth to both of my children at home. With my first child, I had a natural home birth with independent midwives to support me when needed. With my second child, I had a natural home birth with a planned unassisted birth. Both were wonderful experiences and resulted in a healthy happy mummy and two healthy happy babies.

Let me make this clear, I did my homework. Mindset is a big part of this, on top of being prepared. Check out these resources to be informed if you desire to have an unassisted birth:

• The Unassisted Baby by Anita Evensen
• Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Kaplan Shanley
• Birthrights: Unassisted Birth

I am not going to dive deep into the finer details of preparing for an unassisted home birth in this blog post, that may come another day. This blog post focuses on general tips for a natural home birth, which could be a home birth with a midwife, independent midwife, doula or an unassisted birth.

5 Tips for a Natural Home Birth

When it comes to a natural home birth there are many tips I could share, but I want to keep this as simple as possible, as quite honestly, birth is simple. Let’s stop complicating the beauty of birth as it is one of the most natural and normal acts of human creation. Without it, we wouldn’t be here. Birth is simple.

Tip 1: Mindset

First and foremost, it all comes down to your mindset. The best and simplest thing you can do is to get your mind in a place of I CAN.

• I can birth my baby
• I can give birth naturally
• I can birth through my vagina
• I can have a safe birth
• I can work with my body and baby
• I can do this!

For the next couple of months focus on exactly what you want for a natural home birth. Focus on how you want the birth to be. Vision the kind of birth you want. Forget fear, worry, past experience, other’s opinions, doubts etc. This is your body, your baby, your life. Get your partner on board with your vision, and help him to understand the birth you want. Many women have successful healthy wonderful natural births after a c-section.

Tip 2: Get Educated

Here are a few resources to help you:

• Check out this post: 40 Positive Birth Affirmations & Bible Verses for a Calm Pregnancy and Natural Birth
• Books: Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery, both by Ina May Gaskin, Orgasmic Birth by Elizabeth Davis
• Watch LOTS and LOTS of positive natural home births on YouTube:
  • Ellen Fisher
  • Hannah McNeely
• Audio birth affirmations:
  • Listen to these every day, or at least a few times a week
  • Birth affirmations

The key is to fill your mind with positive thoughts about natural home birth, believe that you can do it and be confident in yourself.

Tip 3: Nourish Your Body

To be prepared for birth it is good to prepare your body. It starts way before getting pregnant, learn to nourish your body before having babies so that your body can thrive and you have healthy fundamentals already a natural part of your life.

Then when pregnant, continue to nourish your body for you and your growing baby. Don’t start being healthy because you’re pregnant, learn to honour your body before pregnancy. However, if you didn’t have a healthy lifestyle before pregnancy, then it’s not too late to start when pregnant.

Nourish your body at all stages of your life. It is a gift from God, it is your life.

To help with labour and birth, it is good to be well nourished so that your body can feel at its best as it does a mega job of birthing your baby which requires tremendous strength, energy and endurance.

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Here are solid basics for nourishing your body:

1. Vegan nutrition: eat plant-based wholesome whole foods. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, carbohydrates such as potatoes, oats and rice, healthy fats such as avocado, olives and peanut butter, and plant protein such as lentils and chickpeas.
2. Hydration: drink water throughout the day, approximately 2 litres. Check out: How much water should I drink?
3. Rest: Oh mama, honour your body and rest. Learn to listen to the rhythm of your body and rest every day, especially when pregnant. Have a nap, put your feet up, and take the day at a steady pace, and yes you can do this even as a homeschooling mum.
4. Move gently: Go at a steady pace. D your daily tasks at a gentle pace, be kind to yourself. You may need to do less tasks each day. Treat your body with honour and respect.
5. Listen to your body and honour its needs: Are you hungry? Eat. Are you tired? Rest. Are you cranky? Are you bloated? Are you full of energy? Tune in to what your body is saying. Listening within and tuning in to your intuition will help in all walks of life, and giving birth is one of those great moments that will reward you for honouring your body. This point is one of the greatest factors in giving birth to your baby. Your intuition plays a huge part in trusting your body to birth a baby.

Tip 4: Calm Environment

One of the best things you can do for a natural home birth is to create a calm environment. Get into the habit of creating peaceful moments, even if you’re already a mum with children running around. Life is loud, messy and chaotic as a parent, so start learning how to manage the noise now, it will help tremendously for all stages of motherhood.

Here are a few helpful tips for creating a calm environment for a natural home birth:

1. Create a calm space at home. This is possible, whether you already have children or not. Communicate to other family members what you are doing so they understand and set the intention clearly. In preparation for labour listen to calming music and birth affirmations. Surround yourself with things that calm you. Create a space that feels relaxing to you and you feel safe.
2. Set the right tone. In line with the above, set the tone for the type of birth you want. It might, and probably won’t, get exactly as you plan, however, preparation can help to create the type of natural home birth you desire. Which room do you want to labour and birth in? Where do you want other family members to be? What will help you to relax and be your full self?
3. Get others on board. Whoever lives at home with you get them on board to understand the birth experience you’re creating. Share what you want and how you would like them to be a part of the labour and birth. Whether this is a 2 year old, 8 year old, teenager or your husband, help them to understand your vision and desires to create a birthing experience that takes into account the whole family whilst honouring your needs to give birth peacefully and safely.

Tip 5: Have support

Be sure to have people who support your desire to have a natural home birth. Whether you are planning to have a midwife or an unassisted freebirth, it is wise to have people supporting you. This could be support in preparation for the birth, during the birth, or after the birth, it helps to have at least one other person you can lean on.

You want people who understand your desired birth. Positive uplifting people, those who will listen without judgement, those who “get it” even if they wouldn’t choose the same kind of birth, or those who have done the same kind of birth.

You want to feel at peace when sharing your intimate desires for a natural home birth. This is a sacred beautiful time for you and your baby so choose wisely in who you bring into your birth plans. Those soul-sucking negative thinkers won’t be a wise choice when you want to tune in to your divine maternal intuition.

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The Last Thing to Know About a Natural Home Birth

You can do anything you set your mind to, and with the beautiful God-given gift of creating a child, you are capable of having a natural home birth if that is what you desire and is the safest best option for you and your family.

Just know this beautiful mama, our bodies were designed to give birth. It is no accident that we create and carry babies in our wombs, have contractions, a vagina that expands during labour, and a baby that wants to push through that vagina to come out into the world.

Your body is a divine gift from God and it’s a true blessing to let our bodies and babies work in harmony together. Even more beautiful when we do so in the comfort of our homes where we are safe and loved. Amen.

If you want help with building your mindset during pregnancy, check out the Ultimate Gratitude Journal. It is filled with ideas to help you set a good attitude which certainly helps towards creating a positive natural home birth.

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