Long Beach Mothers Go All Natural
When labor strikes, the home, not the hospital, is the place to be.
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For some pregnant Long Beach mothers, the first signs of labor don't sound an alarm to grab an already-packed suitcase and head for the nearest hospital.
Instead, they call their midwife, set up a birthing tub, play some relaxing music and let nature handle the rest.
"When you do a home birth with a midwife, it’s all about you," said Jenna DeRosa, who had two of her four children at home.
It isn’t that she had traumatic experiences with her first two births that have since kept her from the hospital. Rather, she said, home birth is all about the comfort of the mother and the baby. Everything is done on the mother's schedule instead of the staff's.
"You don't feel like you've been turned into a medical procedure,” she said.
DeRosa's last child, who was born four months ago, was delivered by Lynbrook-based midwife Susan Brockmann.
Brockmann is one of a handful of women who work together as Gaia Midwifery.
"I think for most of the women who birth at home, it's the desire to keep things as natural as possible," said Brockmann, who has delivered babies as a certified professional midwife for more than 10 years.
Midwives, whether as certified professionals or certified nurses, monitor the mother and her baby throughout her pregnancy, perform the delivery and provide postnatal care.
On the day of delivery, midwives come prepared with oxygen tanks and certain medications in case of an emergency. Brockmann said that about 96 percent of her hospital transfers are due to the mother being unable to withstand the pain of delivery.
"Any sign that a baby is starting to struggle, we’re out of there," Brockmann said, adding that all of Giai's midwives have privileges at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. "It's very rare that we have a true emergency at home."
Heather Tricola’s view on birth changed after she became pregnant with her son, Sebastian. Prior to her pregnancy, she decided that when the time came she’d schedule a cesarean section. When her friend asked her if she would go natural, she began researching home birth and was swayed.
After a labor lasting 24 hours, Tricola gave birth in a birthing tub in the middle of her Long Beach home.
“Once I got in the water, I was not leaving,” she said. “That water was so soothing.”
For all these mothers, despite their happy outcomes, the news of a home birth wasn’t always received well by their friends and family.
“Be quiet to friends and family until you know for sure,” said Julia Schilling, who had two of her three children at home. “There’s no problem with lying to people.”
Not only has Schilling’s family come to embrace the idea of her unconventional birth plan, her sister even became a midwife.
“It’s been a real 360,” said Schilling, who became a labor doula, or a woman who helps the mother during labor.
The Long Beach mothers all advise any woman considering a home birth to speak to do their research, speak to many others who have done it and surround themselves with a positive, supportive community.
“Find people that support decision and cheer you on and make you feel that you can do it,” DeRosa said.
Brendan
1:29 pm on Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Ariella has her mind shoved somewhere dark and damp again.
"Giai"? It's Gaia. Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion, which is probably the inspiration for the name of the business you plugged. (The name is a bit overly dramatic, but could be perceived as clever by someone who thinks of their feat of becoming a parent as something so insanely important they simply can't stop themselves from turning it into an event that's "all about them".)
Ariella, if you need proof that you screwed up the spelling, again, click on the link you provided to http://www.gaiamidwives.com/.
Don't tell me it was a typo, you spelled it wrong several times in your article. I'm not surprised that you managed to bone up the mythological reference, that sort of thing is probably over your head.
Love,
One Of The Uncultured, Ignorant Conservatives You Can't Stand
Ariella Monti
12:41 pm on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Dear Brendan,
I'm sorry about the error. You're right that it is incorrect and that was an oversight on my part. Sometimes these things do happen, especially when balancing multiple stories, jobs and responsibilities at once. It happens to all reporters. We all make mistakes. But, the fact of the matter that it is incorrect and it is a mistake that I should have caught while proofing my work. I will let my editor know so that he can make these changes.
Next time you find a typo in my work, please email me directly, using the link above, so that I can make the change. Because, as this site works, I don't get any notification when someone comments. So, if you leave a comment, unless I come back to check the article, I don't know there was a problem and that problem doesn't get fixed. As much as I love reading the feedback on my work, sometimes I am just too busy to filter through all of it.
Thank you for reading and for all of your amazingly kind words. I really do enjoy reading them.
Have a wonderful day,
Ariella
Ted David
9:17 am on Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Is your lack of civility part of your politics too? Or is it just that you can purvey your nasty streak here anonymously that makes you feel so much better about yourself?
Brendan
10:04 am on Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Ted, I just took a look through your posts on Patch and I noticed that you're prone to "correcting" others and making use of sarcasm in your posts. So I turn your question back to you. As for me, my lack of civility is just part of my personality. By the way, that's an awesome receding hairline you've got going there.
Misty
1:58 pm on Wednesday, July 27, 2011
I have given birth to 3 children. Each delivery was different. Fortunately, I never encountered any medical problems. I had quick deliveries and the pain was tolerable. With 2 of my children, I had no drugs at all. However, with all that is available in a hospital should a problem arise, I would never consider delivering at home. I think the whole peace-sign, hippy, beatnik, natural crap is just a show.
Bob Binder a.k.a. "Vitaman"
7:19 am on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Misty...Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater now. Because what you call "whole peace-sign, hippy, beatnik, natural crap" which originated in the 60's because of the draconian birth delivery practices in hospitals, hospital birth has been transformed into what it is today, with birthing rooms, coaches, husband present during delivery etc. While hospitals can are prepared to deal with emergencies, our countries birth mortality rate is 37th in the world; behind almost every European country. For some reason dollars and high-tech doesn't seem to translate into safer births. Why? I don't know; but there is definitely room for improvement.
Shlomo_Jackson
3:29 pm on Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Does anyone know if this will be covered under ObamaCare?
Martin Lilly
10:35 am on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Amen, Bob!
Alicia
1:48 pm on Thursday, July 28, 2011
Let's not forget that women have been giving birth for hundreds of years in their homes without drugs and without interventions. It is not some showy hippie move, women want to be in control of this NATURAL process and not be bullied into conforming with policies and hospital schedules. Many highly educated women chose to give birth in their homes including doctors and nurses. Excellent article typo and all! Dearest Brendan- Get a life.
Deborah
3:35 pm on Friday, July 29, 2011
When I was pregnant with my first child, I dutifully went to the OB/GYN just as one would expect and did what I was told. I went down that road until about 37 weeks, when the doctor started telling me about monitors, wires in the baby’s head, suddenly claiming my "uterus was too androidinal to deliver naturally" and that “as a first time mom I was high risk”. Fear, fear, fear, being programmed into my young mind!
Anguished, I then shared my reservations with my friend's mother (a nurse) who urged me to see a local midwife, and I am so grateful for that. My androidinal pelvis had three beautiful home birthed babies: all weighing over nine pounds. My point? I trusted that doctor, and she nearly scared me into thinking I couldn't birth my babies. I would wager this happens everyday.
There is nothing wrong with being armed with information, kindness, love and support, and this is what a midwife provides. I don't know what or why anyone would minimize their work, nor try to take away from the parents' choice of wanting to enjoy the birth process-by labeling it with negativity.
Thank you for the article.
Brendan
3:58 pm on Friday, July 29, 2011
Deborah, did you consider that perhaps a second medical opinion would have yielded the same results that the midwife provided? Or was one doctor's opinion enough to frighten you away from every available OB/GYN in the world? And if so, do you think that is sane?
paul.d.spellman
10:34 pm on Friday, July 29, 2011
Brendan,
Not only are you Uncultured AND Ignorant, you are behind the times. What she should have done is posted this as the question of the day on the Patch.
"What would you do if you chose to gave birth in your house and due to the congestion in the West End or the cars quadrupled parked in front of the Allegra the ambulance was not able to get to my house when an emergency arose?"
Bob Binder a.k.a. "Vitaman"
5:47 pm on Friday, July 29, 2011
Brendan. Why are you so inflammatory in your remarks. The reality is that at 37 weeks it would be very difficult to walk into an OBGYN and have them pick her up as a patient let alone going to "every available OB/GYN in the world" with birthing window so close...and possibly would have considered her high risk because of the previous doctor's opinion. Either way she was headed for a C-section. She was guided to another option, and she chose it. She is happy and at peace with it.
Brendan
9:05 am on Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The remarks are only inflammatory if you're reading into them that way, Bob. They're questions. That's all.