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Leaving the Care of My Midwives
Tom and I made the very careful and, for us, very clear-cut decision to have our third child under the care of a homebirth midwife. The decision was easy for us, because the idea of having the child at home fit with where we were as a family. We had moved to a new community about a year earlier hoping to live more simply, more thoughtfully and more intentionally. We wanted not to accept the status quo, but to follow our own course that may or may not have been the societally accepted path. It was also easy because, as a nurse, I had begun working for a visiting nurse and hospice organization, providing home care for people who were ill or dying. This role and work showed me first-hand how natural, safe and true I felt helping people stay in their homes during the difficult time when most people are transferred from family and community to doctors and institutions.