Documenting one family’s home birth experience

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:01:20 +0000

Home births aren’t for everyone. But for Ashley Bennett, having her second child at home in Medford was an opportunity to be encouraged and supported at a time when she, and many women, feel at their most vulnerable. The birth plan gave Ashleyand her husband, Mike, an array of delivery options, but, as always when it comes to birth, circumstances were unpredictable. The night Ashley went into labor, their toddler, Marin, came down with a fever. And Ashley’s dreams of a water birth — in a giant portable tub — dried up when the new addition to the family, Isaac Douglas Bennett, arrived before the tub was filled. Besides doula Catherine McKeown-Lindsey and midwives Tara Kenny and Audra Karp, the Bennetts allowed Globe photographer Jessica Rinaldi to witness the family’s private moments.

At her four-month checkup, Ashley Bennett's 2-year-old daughter, Marin, leaned over to give her a kiss as she lays on the couch at her midwife's home in Cambridge. When Ashley first became pregnant with Marin, she made calls to both a hospital and a home birth midwife to see about setting up a prenatal appointment. While the ObGyn's office was informal telling her when and where she would deliver, the midwife first asked how she was feeling. "The idea that someone who didn't know me cared how I was feeling and doing as a person may seem trivial, but it was such a stark contrast to my first prenatal call at the hospital that I was instantly touched by her intentional care for me," Ashley said. "As much as I read with our first baby on birth, that initial call spoke volumes and solidified this path for me. I cancelled my prenatal at the hospital and I never looked back." (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

The Big Picture

Documenting one family’s home birth experience