Home Birth
by Jared Anderson
by Jared Anderson
She strains,
Lovingly labors
Not only to bring life
Into the world
But also against all those
Who say
“It is simply not done”
Awakening
Vestigial memory
Of how it has always been.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jared wrote this little poem Sunday night after we came home from visiting our friends Amy and Clay who just had their second baby at home-- a successful VBAC. We both had issues (she a previous cesarean, me a breech baby) that in many circumstances would have resulted in c-sections, but we both had normal, beautiful home births without complication. I love how succinctly Jared captured the spirit of those of us who choose to birth at home and what we must often work against to do so.
After some previous comments that got into a debate on the topic of home birth I have decided to delete them and ask that all future comments on this post focus on the poem rather than arguments for or against home birthing.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I am totally up for discussing this. (And have had emailed with those who commented earlier.) I just don't really want the discussion to happen on this post. That wasn't what I posted it for and I think it is distracting from the beauty of the poem. This is something heartfelt that Jared wrote and I'd like to leave it at that.
I do plan on writing a post about why I chose to birth at home, at which point, I welcome all and any comments on the issue.
Thanks for understanding!
This is so lovely! Poetry is such a tricky medium, but he has done an excellent job conveying something so complex, in a simple, spot on way.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to your post about why you chose to home birth- I'll definitely add my two cents:)
Love the poem, love the photo. I'm a homebirthing mom, and have attended a dozen or so homebirths as a doula, and love seeing homebirthing issues brought to the forefront!
ReplyDelete