Home Birth in Austin, TX
What is a Home Birth?
Home birth is ideally a planned natural labor in a client’s home with trained midwives assisting the family in safely bringing their new baby earthside.
Why Do Some People Choose Planned Home Births?
Often families choose home birth to avoid the unnecessary interventions that a planned hospital birth brings. Home birth offers greater freedom in labor - freedom to move, to eat if hungry, drink if thirsty. Interventions in labor are discussed and decisions are made with full informed consent.
How Do I Prepare for a Home Birth?
Get your home ready
If you are preparing to bring a baby into your life you've already done most of the work! Your home must be relatively clean and feel safe for natural labor. AMS midwives will guide you in creating the space you need to deliver. You can get a headstart on all of the preparations you'll need to make in our home birth checklist.
Choose well-qualified health care professionals
AMS licensed midwives and certified nurse midwives are qualified to attend to you prenatally and for your birth. They are also professionally trained to deliver postpartum and newborn support for six weeks after delivery! Choosing home birth with us means more than just care for the big day, our midwives help you adjust to what comes after as well.
Create a childbirth plan
If you choose an AMS midwife attended home birth, rest assured that most items you'd expect to see on a childbirth plan are included as a matter of course. For example, freedom of movement in labor, low lighting, a space the way you want it, immediate skin to skin contact between mom and baby, delayed cord clamping, and respect for the sacred postpartum space are all part of our care. Any specific desires and wishes you may have can also be inquired about during the course of your pregnancy.
Prepare to go to a hospital, if necessary
Sometimes a planned home birth becomes too high risk to be completed at home. We use a risk assessment tool that we'll share with you to explain what this means by the time you're in labor. If you need to go to the hospital, we will take you there and ensure that you have the support you need. Writing a birth plan for possible transport to the hospital is recommended.
Frequently Asked Questions: Home Birth
Can I just give birth at home?
It is not recommended that you give birth at home without a licensed practitioner guiding you. This pathway can lead to terrible outcomes as there is no one monitoring the mother or baby for possible risk factors that can develop during labor.
Who should not have a home birth?
Certain medical conditions can create higher risks for pregnant people during a home birth. Preexisting high blood pressure, blood clotting disorders, diabetes, heart conditions, and other medical issues are contraindicated for home or birth center birth.
