Building a Support Network and Finding Community

How does one find other homebirthers? The first way may be right from your midwife. She’s served others having a homebirth, she already knows who is friendly to homebirth. Depending on where you live, there may already be a local homebirth group or group open to alternatives to hospital birthing. Look for a Families for Conscious Living chapter (previously called "Families for Natural Living"). Try your state midwife association. Search Yahoo’s Groups for homebirth as well as Homebirth Meetups. Ask La Leche League leaders and childbirth educators, as well as doulas. Sometimes there will be some others at your local Attachment Parenting chapters who have had a homebirth to start their attachment parenting from the beginning. Look on the Mothering.com message boards. There may also be a local chapter of Birth Network National near you.

If you don’t have a local homebirth group and your midwife does not have one, start one. Ask your midwife to forward the group info to her families. You can meet in person or keep it virtual—whatever you need.

Local homebirth groups/birth circles (that we know about):