Christian Homebirth Stories: Encouragement for Trusting God through Your Birth Experiences

By Haley Pearse

“There's nothing small or inconsequential about our stories. There is, in fact, nothing bigger. And when we tell the truth about our lives - the broken parts, the secret parts, the beautiful parts - then the gospel comes to life.” Shauna Niequist

How do you want your birth story to play out? Would you like God to be a bigger part of it than he is currently?

This collection of encouraging birth stories told in first person by Christian women from around the world shows what trusting God was like for them in their pregnancy, labour, and homebirth or freebirth.
Haley and Gabrielle also share from their own homebirths to inspire pregnant women to view birth as a unique spiritual experience.

Childbirth is a deep and empowering rite of passage into motherhood. God is the Author and Creator of birth and is therefore relevant and powerfully present in birth. He desires for us to acknowledge Him, take on His wisdom, and trust Him in birth, just like in all areas of life.

This book is filled with encouragement in the form of Bible verses, Christian affirmations, advice on combating fear, and a helpful birth supply list to help you plan an empowered homebirth. Its contents will help strengthen your faith and connect you to our Creator God and your own fearfully, wonderfully made female body and God-given birthing abilities.

This book, although written for women who choose homebirth, will relate to all mothers who desire to experience God’s peace and presence in childbirth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Haley Pearse
• Release date: Dec 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9780645373004

Haley Pearse

Haley continues to be passionate about homebirth first and foremost, though it has morphed slowly into a general burning desire to see all women having empowered, Christ-centred births wherever they are.She is fascinated by the theology and theory of birth, and how that intertwines with the practical. While she can't often support other women in person due to location, she connects and encourages them via different online mediums.She can usually be found talking someone’s ear off about birth, trying to write or read books, lost in discussion in Facebook groups (some of which she is the admin of), eating chocolate, or spending time with her family.

Book preview

Book purpose and vision

My sister-in-law, Gabrielle and I (Haley) have had an interest in birth ever since our siblings were born. As we've birthed our own children, and been shaped by that, it has now turned into a strong desire to encourage pregnant women and to help them to view birth as a spiritually unique experience: one that will help them to be connected to our Creator God, and their own fearfully, wonderfully made bodies.

We also desire for women to know about physiological birth, and the benefits it has emotionally and physically for mother, baby, and the father too.

While we were discussing our homebirths and surrounding beliefs over a family meal at Easter 2021, Gabrielle suggested we compile this book.

We clearly saw a gap for a Christian version of a homebirth stories book because there isn’t one in existence that we know of.

It sounded like an amazing way to encourage other Christian mothers in both their faith and their birth choices.

And through the telling of stories, as a valuable tool that benefits both the story writer and the reader, we hope to accomplish our desire of encouraging other women in Christ.

We have created this book therefore, with you, dear reader, in mind, filled with inspiring stories and Christian resources to help facilitate peace for your birth journey.

Introduction

We have compiled these birth stories so you can observe how other women have acknowledged God’s presence as they give birth at home.

This book is written for Christian women; women who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and believe in His promises. If that is not you, you will still benefit from the homebirth encouragement in this book but we would encourage you to take some time to talk to Jesus and accept His freely given love and salvation that He offers to you today.

If you are unsure who Jesus is, what exactly He offers, or how He is God and relevant to your life, visit https://www.gotquestions.org/ to get some answers, or email us with your questions at [e-mail].

It is our desire to encourage Christian women to see how God is relevant to birth, to take on His wisdom in this area, and to trust Him in birth, as we are able to in all areas of life.

What is a homebirth?

Did you know the phrase home birth was only coined mid-19th century? This is because up until then, all births were at home! It was only when the hospital became a popular option that a distinction had to be made.

Home birth¹: birth at home, usually with a midwife or medical professional attending. Homebirths can be planned or unplanned, unassisted or assisted (attended).

Freebirth: birth without anyone attending the woman in a medical capacity

Birth Centre: stand-alone birthing centre attached or separate to a hospital.

Midwife: registered birth professional trained to attend births in a medical capacity

Doula: emotional support person for women during pregnancy, labour, and postpartum

Birthkeeper: unregistered birth worker attending births in a support (doula/wise woman) or medical capacity (each self-titled birth keeper has different qualifications and skills)

Traditional Midwife: unregistered trained professional attending births in a medical capacity

Lay Birth Attendant: Similar to traditional midwife or birthkeeper. No certificates, but practical knowledge in birth.

Throughout this book we often use homebirth rather than home birth. We make this distinction because to us home birth makes home simply an adjective describing the manner or location where one gave birth.

Whereas homebirth as one word becomes a noun, an event, an idea, a name for a thing in and of itself. A planned homebirth is something that women actively choose. It is an educated decision and a deliberate taking on of responsibility.

Homebirth signifies strong beliefs that are usually shaped by past (often traumatic) experiences, evidence-based research, and the desire for family involvement. These influence how women want the emergence of their children to occur and how they want to be treated while birthing, which ultimately leads to homebirth as being seen as the safest and best for them. ²

When birth moved to the hospital, it only took 50 years for women to realise that they wanted to take back birth. Sometimes we have to leave home in order to find out what we left there, and why it matters so much. Homebirth is not a modern trend, but rather a movement to simply reclaim our innate birthing knowledge and maternal wisdom present since God gave it to Eve.

We believe…

We believe in homebirth for healthy women as a way to preserve the safety, privacy, and dignity of the woman birthing, and to support the physiology of natural childbirth.

We believe homebirth prioritizes your peace of mind as well as physical health for you and baby. The process of birth and how you feel is as important as the end product.

We believe in homebirth for healthy babies as a safe and low-risk way for them to enter the world in a calm and loving environment, and where they are not subjected to unnecessary interventions before, during, and after birth.

We believe a peaceful entry into the world and undisturbed time afterwards³ allows for the mother and baby to have crucial bonding and hormone production⁴, which strongly affects postpartum mood, prevents depression, and increases breastfeeding success.

We believe all women and babies deserve to be treated respectfully in pregnancy and labour as sacred human beings with unalienable rights.

We believe there is no need for medical professionals to inflict trauma on a woman, take away her autonomy, coerce her into procedures or abortions, or give her unneeded drugs and surgeries that have side effects for mother and baby.

We believe the father has a right to be actively participating in the birth of his child. When he is not shoved aside literally or figuratively by policies and bustling nurses, or traumatized by the interventions performed on his wife, he is able to be fully present. He is able to rise to any challenges, readily support his wife, admire and respect her feminine strength, and bond with his newborn child.

We believe homebirth allows you to have the space and freedom to engage in personal and spiritual rituals that you may otherwise be too self-conscious to do in a hospital.

We hope to shine a spotlight on the marvellously designed female body and the amazing work it does in the pregnancy, labour, and birth of a beautiful baby.

We hope to glorify God and inspire and empower women through this collection of birth stories that showcase God's handiwork as it can be in this area of life.

We believe that birth is such a special time to draw near to God, the Author and Creator of birth and that by utilizing this time of physical growth you may also be able to grow deeper spiritually.

Contents

Book Purpose and Vision

Introduction

Ch1: Birth is Theological

Ch2: Made for Birth

Ch3: Birth as a Sacred Rite of Passage

Ch4: Made for Life, Death, and Heaven

Ch5: Faith Into Obedience

Ch6: This Is What Birth Is!

Ch7: Made For Motherhood

Ch8: Made For Fatherhood

Ch9: Fear and God's promises in Birth

Ch10: Christian Birth Affirmations

Ch11: Bible verses for Pregnancy, Labour, and Birth

Ch12: First Freebirths: Eve + Jesus' birth story

BIRTH STORIES

Ch13: Praise and Prayer

Ch14: Pain Free Waterbirth of Samson

Ch15: God’s Gift

Ch16: A Christ-Centered Welcome

Ch17: Our Lovely Quintet

Ch18: Arriving Into A Special Legacy

Ch19: We’re having a Baby!

Ch20: My Unassisted Breech Baby

Ch21: My First Birth

Ch22: My Second Birth

Ch23: My Empowering Birth

Ch24: A Light In the Darkness

Ch25: Hitherto The Lord Has Helped Us

Ch26: Friday’s Child

Ch27: A Joyful Family Birth

Ch28: Spirit Focused Home Birth

Ch29: My Birth Experiences

Ch30: Not My Power, But God’s

Ch31: God Has Heard Us

Ch32: My Miracle

Ch33: My First Pain-Free Birth

Ch34: My Second Pain-Free Birth

Ch35: The Birth of Our Beautiful Boy

Ch36: Spirit of Motherhood

Ch37: Spirit of Power

Ch38: Spirit of Freedom

Ch39: Spirit of Strength

Ch40: Prayers and Peace

Ch41: This Is How Our Babies Arrive

Ch42: Home Is Where The Births Are

Ch43: How to plan a Homebirth or Freebirth

Ch44: Tips for Your Husband

Ch45: Homebirth Supply List

Ch46: Christian Resources For You

Postscript

Acknowledgments

About the authors

Notes

Chapter 1

Birth is Theological

Why theology?

I desire to present here our theology of birth in order to further explain our motivation and beliefs behind this book, but first and foremost to encourage you!

Please do not be frightened off by the word theology.

Theology means simply, The study of God and, Your set of (religious) beliefs.¹

Being a Christian is a lifelong study of God, His nature, and His creation. You are in a personal relationship with Him! Being in a relationship requires you to spend time with Him, to seek to know Him, to understand Him, and appreciate Him, just as in any relationship.

Whether we knowingly developed them or not, we all have our own personal theology; our theories and beliefs about God, our faith, and the way we put it into practice.

I believe that childbirth and how we think about and prepare for it is not an area where we should have accidental, casual theology. It is a time for beautiful, deep reflection and study of God’s divine nature and plan; His overall plan for the world, from Creation through to salvation, and then where we and the babies we are carrying fit into His omnipotent plan!

We should do theology every day of our lives. We should spend time with God daily and see Him in the general living of our lives, having our eyes open to the holy ordinary.

God in his divine wisdom has given us everything we need for life and understanding Him. He has provided these insights through His son Jesus, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in His Word, the Bible.

As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the foundation for our faith and our life, and so we will frequently use verses from the ESV Bible throughout this book to support and explore this theology of birth.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 1:7

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Spiritual and Physical

Throughout the Bible, God has given us examples of how the physical world relates to and illustrates the spiritual.

He designed the world this way to help us understand important spiritual concepts and be reminded of them daily. Understanding these concepts is useful and necessary for sanctification², and for viewing our everyday life in the perspective of eternity.

For example;

We must eat and drink daily because Jesus is the Bread of Life, and the Living Water. Our soul needs Him just like our bodies need physical food and water.

We must wear clothes, and wash them, as we ourselves must be clothed in Righteousness, and washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

Human marriage is an example of the Biblical Covenant and the coming marriage between Christ and His Bride, the Church. The way He loves us is the way husbands and wives should love each other.

And that brings us to birth.

Birth is the physical representation of salvation and rebirth.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

"Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." 1 Peter 1:23

Birth is what God did when He laboured to create the world and everything in it. Birth is Him breathing life into every living creature, and into the first humans.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation." Genesis 2:1-3

"...then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." Genesis 2:7

Birth is also an example of the coming changes to the world as God prepares to end it and usher in heaven.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:6-8 NIV

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Birth is God completing something and bringing forth what He has started. A baby from conception. The Covenant work of Salvation from Adam to the present day.

Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? says the Lord.

"Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? says your God. Isaiah 66:9 NIV

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

God Himself participated in physical childbirth by coming to earth as a baby!

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law." Galatians 4:4

"For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Childbirth is the sacred institution God has used to bring the promise of new life, a constant reminder of the eternal life we have in Christ.

A theology of pregnancy and birth is a theology for us all. It is a theology of hope, of birth and rebirth. It is a theology of life. ³ - Rachel Richardson Smith

Chapter 2

Made For Birth

Made to birth

In the beginning, God made the entire physical world in just seven days¹, with every detail accounted for. Think of all the marvellous design in even some of the smallest parts of creation; a cell, a seed, a butterfly’s wings. He spoke them all into existence in an instant. That is the power and brilliance of the God we get to know, love, and work with!

And when it comes to humans, fertility, and birth, our bodies are intricately designed to work harmoniously in those functions. God has given us a blessing in married sex that is both pleasurable and procreative. From that union, the tiny egg and sperm meet (in what for them is the vastness of the uterine structures), and many hormones support the pregnancy for an average of 38-42 weeks. Every ligament, every cell, is placed where it needs to be so that the woman can carry the baby, and then also birth it with the same body. The woman’s uterus grows, organs move out of the way to make space, and she grows a whole new organ to sustain the baby!

And then at birth, in a matter of hours, her whole body undergoes one final massive hormonal change so that everything can open and shift, and allow the baby to exit her body with a minimum of pain and effort, and start the process of breastfeeding.

This is the ultimate transformation made by an awesome God!

We haven’t got the space to write a lot about how awesome a woman’s body is, (we would be writing all day because it really is awesome!) but if you would like to read more about the physiology and hormones of a birthing woman, look up Dr. Sarah Buckley’s book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering and her other work such as blog articles. There are also some great descriptions of how well our bodies work when healthy and undisturbed in Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage by Rachel Reed.

If you want to explore the fascinating pre-pregnancy processes, then It Starts With the Egg by Rebecca Fett and Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler will give you a good grounding in the intricacies of female fertility and menstrual cycles.

When we nourish the pregnant woman, support the hormones at birth, encourage her emotionally, and promote an environment where the woman is able to feel safe, she will have a better birthing experience. If we do not force her body to do things prematurely or in an unsafe way, she will have less chance of complications. And when her body works in the way it is designed, she will be able to listen to the wisdom God has built into her, and instinctively do what she needs to do to birth her baby.

Male bodies are unique and marvellously designed, too, but their role is not for carrying life. They are different to women in hundreds of obvious and tiny ways we don't fully understand yet. A man cannot ever gestate a baby even if modern medical techniques could eventually make a uterus transplant work, because they don’t have the ligaments or hormones to protect and sustain the pregnancy, nor the correctly shaped pelvis to birth a baby.

Men are not the default body², as centuries of history might have us believe,³ but rather both sexes are made in God’s image with key differences and roles when it comes to procreation. They are purposefully designed to complement one another physically and emotionally,

"God did not create Adam in his image and then come up with nonimaging, feminine traits for Eve. She represents God together with Adam as they both bear the image of God. A church that has merely a masculine feel is not one that fully represents the God we image. The theme of childbirth in the Bible...undeniably shows that women represent God by giving birth just as much as men represent God in their masculine roles. Recovering a biblical notion of childbirth can help us worship God more fully...Childbirth provides one avenue for women to reflect God" ⁴

Aubry G. Smith

Human life is sacred

Because humans are made by God, AND in God’s Image, male and female, as he created them, we believe in the sanctity of life. All human life is sacred from conception.

We respect the miracle that happens every time life is created inside a woman, no matter the circumstances of the baby’s conception. It is a preborn human being, an image bearer of Christ, and like every other human, we have no right to knowingly and willingly take its life.

We also have no right to say that any preborn person is less deserving of life than any other. Not for being female, as China’s son preferences which have caused them to use abortions to be sex selective⁵ for years. Not because they have a disability, like Iceland’s campaigns to rid their country of babies with Down Syndrome⁶. Not because their mothers live in poverty, like 50% of women seeking abortion in the USA.⁷ And not because they are Black and Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC), like many babies in America, whose mothers are having abortions at 4x the rate of white mothers⁸.

I believe that once the baby has been conceived, the woman has a responsibility to nourish her own body and to take care as best she can of the baby. As much as she is able, she should try to give the baby a healthy and safe start into the world.

She has no right to evict the baby before it is ready to be born, because the baby’s life belongs to God. He knows the baby and He has a plan for the baby. He has entrusted the mother with its life, and He requires her to obey her Creator’s wishes in caring for it.

"Everything belongs to God, and all things were created by his power." Hebrews 2:10 CEV

"For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me." Ezekiel 18:4a NIV

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth... he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." Acts 17:24-25

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." Psalm 24:1

"For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them."

Psalm 139:13-16

God is with the woman through her entire journey. Whether the baby was planned or unplanned, healthy, or has a medical condition, He will guide her, protect her, and give her peace, and all she needs to do is trust him and obey Him. Even if, and especially if it is a difficult time, she should press into God.

(Note from Gabrielle: The time surrounding my son’s conception was incredibly difficult for us, in the midst of a traumatic postpartum. But the fact that we knew He was a sacred gift of God, helped us to grow and stretch and be better people from having him. Stretching is good, although it can feel challenging. And now, we cannot imagine life without our precious dimply little boy.)

In growing and birthing this baby, God will be with you, as He has promised He will never leave you. Your Heavenly Father knows all your physical and emotional needs and He will supply you with what you need.

God does not always tell us what He is going to do, or how, or when, or why. But He always reveals who He is.

He has revealed that He is the God of everyone and everything. He is the Master Planner. He is the Saviour. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the Everlasting God. The God of Peace. He is the One who has created clever physical parallels to help us understand the spiritual world. He is the Father who sent His only Son for us. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, Who Is and Who Was and Who Is to Come. He is the Creator!

This is someone you can trust with your life and your baby!

"I want to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude, of groundedness, of enough, even while I'm longing for something more. The longing and the gratitude, both. I'm practicing believing that God knows more than I know, that he sees what I can't, that he's weaving a future I can't even imagine from where I sit this morning." ⁹ Shauna Niequist

Chapter 3

Birth As a Sacred Rite of Passage

Birth as a Rite of passage

While many women nowadays are detached from seeing the magnitude of the relevance that childbirth has for them, many people from both past and present secular cultures know that birth is important. Most cultures around the world have a ritual to celebrate and recognize this significant time in a woman’s life.

These cultures have acknowledged birth as a sacred rite of passage.¹ They see women as goddesses, transforming, going through the transition from maidenhood to motherhood, bringing life through their bodies as a vessel, a divine portal.

Some see the baby as a spirit, able to transcend reality and come to them through the earthly plane.

Pregnant women will be given extra food and during postpartum they may be waited on and given nourishing foods and massages. After the baby’s birth there will be special celebrations and naming ceremonies. Even the placenta often gets special treatment because they believe it is important to the baby, even a twin of the baby. It will be buried following traditional practices.

As a new parent, you have entered a fellowship stretching back millennia, one that includes queens and slaves, thirteen-year-olds in ancient cultures, and at least one ninety-year-old mother, Sarah, mother of Isaac, in the Bible. Every kingdom, tribe, tongue, and nation has its rituals surrounding giving birth, and for a reason. It is a near-mystical event, welcoming a person who was not-there but now is. ² Kathy Keller

Even though they have these rituals, cultures both past and present do not have the lens that we as Christian women see birth through, and they see but a shadow.

They fail to stop, to pause, and acknowledge who created birth!

They do not want to worship the One who has created life, designed the woman’s body, placed the baby in her womb, and guides her through labour. They want to see themselves as goddesses and being the ones doing the supernatural and physical work.

They also want to be able to ignore their own beliefs around the sacredness of humanity. Women want to simultaneously declare that they are unique sacred beings, and yet discard their own preborn babies by abortion, or vote for their grandmother to be able to choose euthanasia. They believe a baby’s life only has value if the mother wants it.

Hospitals have a misogynistic double standard where they pressure mothers in early term to abort babies for many different reasons, for the health of the mother, yet when they reach full term, they will traumatise, medicate, slice, and cut open the mother all in the name of a healthy baby is all that matters.

It breaks my heart to know how women and babies are treated in hospitals these days during a time that should be beautiful and special, and in a place that is supposed to provide care. This is one reason why many women choose a homebirth for their second baby. To avoid the impersonal, apathetic, or insidiously cruel treatment they received in their first birth.

Unfortunately, the way you get treated when presenting for necessary medical care is often down to the individual staff and their beliefs on the day. The benefit of hiring a private midwife or doula for either your hospital or homebirth means that you can know how you expect to be treated in advance. Sadly many women cannot afford this gold standard of care, and so you will need to be prepared to advocate for yourself, or have your husband or support person advocate for you. Please ask for a new nurse or doctor if one that you have is acting unpleasant or misogynistic.

If you have a lovely staff member, be sure to thank them and let them know that you appreciate their support on behalf of all birthing women.

Many midwives face a lot of pressure from the hospital policies and the OBGYNs, and though they may want what is best for you, they must follow certain protocols that are not in your best interest in order to keep their job. This is true for both hospital and homebirth midwives. It will benefit you to familiarise