Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Rallying for Homebirth

Imagine a freezing and rainy morning, dreary in nature. Now imagine the front of Parliament House with its pristine lawns, its clean borders, its bright lines. Enter about 3500 dads, mums, kids, grandparents and midwives, decked out in bright colours. Banners, posters and signs, littered with slogans and pictures. This is the Save Birth Choices (Homebirth) Rally in Canberra. Politicians and medical professionals delivered passionate speeches...songs about homebirth (a tad hippy-ish for me!) serenaded the crowd. There was chanting, there were meet-ups between friends. It was cold and wet...but it was passionate, powerful and inspiring. And Im absolutely THRILLED we went. It the first time I have ever rallied or protested something, but this was just too important to let slip by. I was never an advocate of homebirth until I started doing my own research when I got pregnant with Cade. I decided that with all the studies pointing toward its safety and with my desire to have an empowering birth experience, I wanted one. Unfortunately, we couldnt afford it (its about $5000, and not covered by Medicare from the government), and so I tried for a vbac in hospital, which again ended in a c-section after 24 hours (maybe one day I will post my birth story on here). And it was then decided that if I was going to be able to experience a vaginal birth, I was going to need to homebirth, and I was completely fine with that. I know the facts and figures, I know the risks (which are extremely small, even after 2 c-sections), and I know the pain of a natural labour. Im MORE than ok with homebirthing...and if that right gets taken away, Im not sure what options I am left with. This is important to me.

To give you an idea of what is going on and why the rally was so important, HERE is an article that will give you the main idea...

The only photo I got of the day, due to the weather and not having any free hands between juggling Cade, Carter, umbrella and sign :) This is Cade and I with Joelle and Jyrah, and Ainsley.
We are ever thankful that the horrific storm we hit on the drive home didnt hit Canberra while we were there...hail, lightning and torrential rain...not a good mix for an outdoor event. Needless to say, I did NOT enjoy the drive home...was quite the harrowing experience.
And now, we see what happens...
In other news, I hit the gym this morning, despite being absolutely exhausted, and am ever so glad that I did, being that my food options were very limited yesterday. Heading there again tomorrow morning in anticipation of my weigh-in on Thursday. Its always nice starting the day with 500 calories in the bank :)

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