The U.S. has the worst maternal and fetal death rates in the developed world. We are on par with some third world countries. Obviously, the way we do birth in this country needs to be completely reassessed. To quote The Business of Being Born, "Hospitals are businesses. They want those beds filled and emptied. They don't want women hanging around ( Read more... )

The birth of Emma Margaret, in photos. There's uh, only one labor photo cause...well...my labor went a little faster than anyone thought. LOL!

I think it goes without saying these are not work safe. Nothing super graphic, but yes, photos of the actual birth are under the cut.

All photos by Kaleem Joy of One Heart Midwifery.

( birth photos )

I was going along with my business as usual yesterday afternoon, having absolutely zero clue I was about to go into labor. The contractions picked up at 4pm like they always do, and I really didn't think anything of them until around 7. They started to really hurt. It wasn't like, "omg I'm gonna die!" pain but it was enough to take my breath away ( Read more... )

I just saw the most amazing movie, The Business of Being Born. I really loved it ( Read more... )