Midge
My name is Midge Asher and I am the mother of 4. I have 6,4,2 and new. When I was pregnant with my first, I read every book I could get my hands on. I knew I wanted to have a natural birth. At the OBGYN, I was seeing a different doctor or midwife every time. I would wait in the waiting room for an hour and get checked for ten minutes. I decided to hire a doula to make sure my needs were met in the hospital. When I met with her she told me about Nicole. Nicole was exactly what I was looking for.
My first birth by any hospital standards would have been a C-section. I would have been diagnosed with Failure to Progress or my baby was too big. I had a very slow easy long labor and pushed for over ten hours. The hospitals protocol is to do a cesarean after 2-4 hours of pushing. Joseph was not in destress and finally arrived weighing 9lbs 8oz with no TEARING. I truly was so blessed to have Nicole by my side telling me I could do it.
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My fourth birth was also very long and slow. I called Nicole at 9:30 and gave her a heads up that I would be having a baby in the next 24 hours. Nicole had delivered 2 babies that day so she called in a backup midwife. Nicole showed up with her assistant and her backup midwife showed up with her assistant. My labor had stalled and I felt horrible. I had 4 people in my home and there was nothing I could do to bring on the labor. Again I feel I would have gotten Failure to Progress at the hospital. My fourth labor was over 26hrs long. Some people brag about having short labors, but I feel I have the best. They are long, but very easy and very slow.
They all were so encouraging and we watched birth videos together and talked about past births. Honestly it was a dream come true for me, so much joy, love and happiness around. It was really magical. Before I knew it I felt the labor come on and within an hour I was pushing. We woke my four year old daughter up at 11pm. She had told me she wanted to be there when the baby was born. She had told me she wanted to hold my hand and rub my back. I wanted her there to make sure she had a positive view on birth because everything on tv is a bunch of screaming, fear and negativity. I truly am blessed because my mother always told me that I was born a women and that’s what women were made to do. I have no fear of birth. I give all my fear to Nicole. If a problem arises I know that staying calm would be the most help I could do. I pushed for 15 minutes and had baby Walter in my arms. Having a baby at home is the most surreal, amazing, spiritual, loving and miraculous experiences of my life.
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I am a hairstylist and I come into contact with a lot of people and the number one question I am asked is why I don’t go to a hospital. My response is “why would I go to a hospital?” The question alone is assuming something is going to go wrong. Birth is a natural process and my body is not a lemon. I feel the safest place is to have my baby is at home with no one else but Nicole. Nicole brings the hospital to me. Nicole is who I trust with my life and with my children’s life. My personal circle of friends have the most horrible and traumatic hospital experiences. The dozen people I have sent to Nicole have nothing but beautiful birth stories. If I would have gone to the hospital I would have had to fight for all the things I took for granted at home. I wanted a personal experience. When I had a question I didn’t want to use my social security number and wait on the phone for an hour for a random nurse to answer off of a piece of paper they were given. I didn’t want to be diagnosed with preeclampsia or gestational diabetes and told there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t want a different midwife for every birth. I didn’t want to be put on the clock when I walked into the hospital. I didn’t want a snowball of interventions. I didn’t want to be checked for dilation. I didn’t want my labor induced. I didn’t want Pitocin. I didn’t want an epidural. I didn’t want the midwife to leave my side. I didn’t want to scream don’t cut the cord after the baby came out (in case they didn’t read my birth plan). I didn’t want to have my baby in a germ infested hospital. I didn’t want to give birth in a gown dead people have worn. I didn’t want to have my baby in bright lights and whisked away from me. I didn’t want random people coming into check on me. I didn’t want a monitor placed on me to limit my mobility. And I didn’t want a C-section. I wanted Nicole. If you are trying to decide if you want a hospital or homebirth I advise you to do your homework and choose your care provider very carefully. Put the same energy or more into planning your birth as you did your wedding or first home buy. The end result will be worth it.