{"id":4286,"date":"2015-12-18T11:50:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T18:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nebulous-oyster.flywheelsites.com\/?p=4286"},"modified":"2021-04-05T19:40:23","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T02:40:23","slug":"why-this-alaska-mom-wanted-to-have-her-baby-in-a-lake-and-what-she-did-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennifermargulis.net\/why-this-alaska-mom-wanted-to-have-her-baby-in-a-lake-and-what-she-did-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"Why This Alaska Mom Wanted to Have her Baby in a Lake (And What She Did Instead)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why

Audrey Bird and her husband Peter\u00a0choose an outdoor birth with their third baby. Photo courtesy of Audrey Bird.<\/p><\/div>\n

Audrey Bird and her husband Peter homestead in central Alaska, 150 miles from the nearest road.\u00a0To get to their house, she explains when I interview her by phone (after the Skype connection cut out), you fly from Fairbanks. And then you take an hour-long boat ride across Lake Minchumina.<\/p>\n

When Audrey, who is 26, got pregnant for the third time, she knew she would give birth at home.\u00a0A trained midwife herself, she had her first baby in the hospital. She had her second at home.<\/p>\n

For baby #3 she felt completely confident about giving birth at home, even though she’d had a pretty heavy post-partum hemorrhage after her second birth.<\/p>\n

Her husband Peter, who was trained in emergency childbirth through the sheriff\u2019s department, handled the bleeding like a pro, Audrey says.<\/p>\n

But Audrey didn\u2019t just want a home birth.\u00a0She wanted to have an outdoor birth. <\/strong>Into the waters of Lake Minchumina.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend most of our time outside in the summer time, because it\u2019s just beautiful,\u201d she explains.\u00a0\u201cWhy not have her in the environment that she\u2019s going to grow up and be in and play in every day?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mother Nature changes their plans for an outdoor birth<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Two days before Audrey gave birth, however, Mother Nature put a dent in the family’s plans to have an outdoor birth:\u00a0A torrential summer downpour filled Lake Minchumina with water and debris.<\/p>\n

\"Lake

Lake Minchumina filled with debris after a torrential summer rainstorm. Photo courtesy of Audrey Bird.<\/p><\/div>\n

The lake water was higher than residents who had lived their all their lives had ever seen it.\u00a0And the lake was so filled with debris\u2014fallen logs, dead animals\u2014that having an outdoor birth no longer seemed safe.\u00a0The Birds were not deterred.<\/p>\n

Even if they couldn\u2019t have lake birth, they could still have an outdoor birth.\u00a0So Peter built Audrey a birch-tree platform six feet off the ground, which he draped with mosquito netting to keep out the bugs.<\/p>\n

\"Peter

Peter Bird, Audrey’s husband, building a birch-tree platform for their outdoor birth. Photo courtesy of Audrey Bird.<\/p><\/div>\n

Is unassisted birth on a Central Alaska island safe? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

While we know that midwife-assisted birth with licensed midwives is as safe or safer<\/a> than hospital birth, no data that I am aware of exists about the safety of planned<\/em> unassisted outdoor birth<\/a>.\u00a0But Audrey and Peter Bird were confident they were making a safe choice.<\/p>\n

{This mom<\/a> planned an unassisted bathtub birth. So did this mom<\/a>.}<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you just have to look at yourself and your family and what\u2019s best for you and your baby. That\u2019s going to be the safest,\u201d Audrey says frankly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us that was right outside our home. I was the calmest, most peaceful, and happiest. I didn\u2019t have any fear of complications. Also, we had a good back up plan in case there was an emergency to transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had alerted the local medevac, which had a helicopter that could fly her to the hospital in Fairbanks.<\/p>\n

I interviewed Audrey for an article on outdoor birth<\/a> I wrote for ResetMe.\u00a0I also talked to a first-time mom who had a horse-assisted outdoor birth.\u00a0And a mom who gave birth to her baby on her side patio in Poughkeepsie, New York.\u00a0As well as a Texas mom who birthed her fifth baby into a tub set up in an oak tree grove on her property in Texas.<\/p>\n

Click over to my article, \u201cOutdoor Birth: Why Some Women Choose Nature\u2014Not Just Natural\u2014Birth<\/a>,\u201d to read about those outdoor birth experiences.<\/p>\n

The perfect night to have a baby<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Back to Audrey Bird: Her contractions started while she and her husband were out canoeing on the lake.\u00a0Her mom and 17-year-old sister were watching the two older kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to go back home, they were coming pretty hard and fast,\u201d Audrey remembers.<\/p>\n

In July in Alaska there are 24 hours of sunlight.\u00a0It was a warm evening, the perfect night for having a baby<\/a>.\u00a0The sun hit Mount McKinley, turning the landscape a glowing pink.<\/p>\n

Audrey, who says she is a \u201cvocal birther,\u201d remembers the sound of the chickadees, spruce grouse, and robins, as well as the wind rustling through the leaves as she labored outside.<\/p>\n

\"While

While she was laboring outside, Audrey remembers hearing the sounds of the birds and the wind rustling through the trees. Photo courtesy of Audrey Bird.<\/p><\/div>\n

A difficult outdoor birth<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As idyllic as that sounds, the birth itself, Audrey admits, was difficult.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Audrey didn’t hemorrhage this time, her daughter was sunny side up. The baby’s head was cocked at an angle, making it hard for the baby to get under Audrey\u2019s pubic bone and out of the birth canal.\u00a0Audrey made a lot of noise, moving around during the entire labor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just moved and moved and moved,\u201d she explains, getting on her hands and knees to push.<\/p>\n

She says she had to work extra hard to birth this baby\u2014who they named Piper\u2014and she is certain if she had been in a hospital the birth would have ended in either a C-section<\/a> or a vacuum-extraction.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t see this as evidence that she made an unsafe choice in having a home birth<\/a>, but rather another reason why she’s glad she was giving birth at home<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Born

Born after a difficult labor. Baby Piper, just moments old. Photo courtesy of Audrey Bird.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAs a midwife, when I attend a birth, I sit back,\u201d Audrey explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI allow the mom\u2019s body to do what it needs to do. I\u2019m there as a lifeguard, in case something happens. Usually it doesn\u2019t. For me, when I have an unassisted birth, my husband knows what to do. We are paying attention the entire time to the baby\u2019s heart rate and to our instinctual feelings. We are prepared. Birth generally happens the way it needs to when it is undisturbed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This

This happy, healthy baby was born unassisted on an island in the middle of Alaska. Photo courtesy of Audrey Bird.<\/p><\/div>\n

At the end of the interview, Audrey confesses she’s pregnant again.\u00a0The new baby is due in June. But the lake water will probably be too cold, she says.<\/p>\n

Still, she\u2019s planning another outdoor birth.<\/p>\n

Related posts:<\/strong>
\nHow I Rocked My Outdoor Free Birth<\/a>
\nWhy Medical Professionals Choose Home Birth<\/a>
\nA Doctor’s Thoughts on Home Birth<\/a><\/p>\n

Published: Dec 18, 2015
\nLast updated: April 5, 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Audrey Bird and her husband Peter homestead in central Alaska, 150 miles from the nearest road.\u00a0To get to their house, she explains when I interview her by phone (after the Skype connection cut out), you fly from Fairbanks. And then you take an hour-long boat ride across Lake Minchumina. When Audrey, who is 26, got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[8275,5268],"tags":[673,227,567,674,675],"yoast_head":"\nWhy This Alaska Mom Wanted to Have her Baby in a Lake (And What She Did Instead) — Jennifer Margulis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Alaska family decides to have an outdoor water birth. 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