Erik's mom and dad were not the most confident about their parenting potential when I met them. They are a lovely couple, who, after many years together, were chosen by wee Erik to carry him around for nine months and 18 years. Mom and Dad wanted a gentle birth, preferably a natural one, and planned to have their baby at Scripps Mercy in Hillcrest.

Erik was born after a goodly long labor, with some incredible love and tenderness, laughter and many choices including not skating through the hallways at Scripps Mercy. We had brilliant, kind nurses, and a good doctor who encouraged the nurses to stick to Mom's birth plan. Mom was radiant. Dad cried. So did Erik, before he wailed for the breast.

Now they're doing really well, much better than they expected, and my favorite part was that after Erik was born, Mom kept saying: "He's SO CUTE! He's SO cute!" She was really surprised, I think.

Each family is different. AJ's mom and dad came to me wanting a natural birth, and wanting their 2 older sons to be there. Mom was disappointed to discover, then, that the hospital where she was planning to birth didn't allow children. For this and many other reasons (nutritional support, the use of water in labor, freedom of movement, and safety), Mom and Dad felt they would gain more support for what they wanted from a homebirth midwife. (Midwives actually have better stats than docs when it comes to natural births and safety. Read More...) So, Mom and Dad decided to seek a homebirth midwife. The midwife they chose, Andrea Myer, was great with their two sons. Mom had an incredible, truly heroic natural birth of nearly 24 hours of strong, intense labor, and Dad was truly impressed with her when he saw what she could do. That is the power of a good birth: it transforms relationships and makes families stronger. I was really blessed to be a part of their birth.