Homebirth slideshow, the birth of Ella Grace

The home waterbirth of our daughter Ella Grace born September 12, 2010 at 2:49 pm and weighing 10 pounds 6 ounces. We believe strongly in the rights of women to choose their birth environment and to be empowered by their birth. Ella was born into her parents hands surrounded by her siblings and friends who love her.

We had a rare birth complication (present in less than 1% of births) called a should dystocia where the baby's head delivers but the shoulders become stuck on the mothers pubic bone. We used Ina May Gaskin's maneuver (hands and knees positioning) to free the shoulder and get her born. While this complication can be frightening we were able to resolve it with relative ease by position change.