What do you think I should put on it?
I think the best crepes are and always will be sugar crepes.
In my opinion.
We'll probably need chaperone parents at the pool.
Well yes, but on Friday...
But I told them that you could perhaps come on Friday.
Is she Valerie?
Hello? Yes.
Ok, I'm ready to leave,
I'm on my way. Ok?
I need about 20 minutes to get to your place.
In all it should take me about half an hour.
All right?
See you in a bit then.
Who is it? -Did you hear, Tim?
Mummy's going to the birth. -I keep you posted.
I'll call you when she's given birth,
because knowing her I think it'll be pretty quick.
If it's 5 a.m send me a text message.
No I won't call you, but I think it might be before midnight.
All right, see you tomorrow morning kids! Kisses!
Kisses, when will you be back?
I'll be back soon. You'll be sleeping already. All right?
Enjoy it while it's quiet, enjoy the quietness...
Great.
IN THEIR HANDS
So you're not immunized against toxoplasmosis, are you?
No I'm not. -So you know what that means don't you?
I know! I can't touch the cat's litter box,
and I need to wear gloves in the garden.
Did you talk with your family about your plan to give birth at home?
Or with your friends, maybe? - Not yet.
That's one of my questions actually: how to announce it?
I fear very negative reactions such as "Are you crazy?
You must be out of your mind, imagine, anything could happen!"
And then people'll scare us and make us worry more than anything.
Well it is a possible reaction. -For sure, people will make us doubt.
Mummy, he's moving.
Who is? -The baby.
It's baby?
Oh yes, it must be baby.
He sure is kicking!
Great.
So I told Joseph: "Starting mid-December, don't move,
stay put, keep your phone."
I sent him your number: "Save it in your contacts."
Tattoo it on your arm.
Do you want me to listen to your heart? No?
First of all, not all babies cry at birth.
And it's not a bad sign.
Some babies are born very calm and they're fine.
Some scream as soon as they come out,
and some don't cry at all.
But they're ok, nonetheless.
Often, especially with the first child,
the only deliveries you've seen are from the TV.
They often seem sudden and alarming:
waters break, women scream,
and within 15' the baby is born.
Which isn't the case at all, in reality.
We're two trainers.
do we instruct or deconstruct? You can judge for yourself at the end.
My name is Jacqueline Lavilloniere, I forgot to mention it.
I left Paris in the 70's, it's been a while,
to do something else than midwifery because I was revolted
by what was happening in the hospital I was working at.
I started getting requests for home births and I've never stopped since.
The latest newborn is less than 24 hours old.
You have the floor. We can start with whoever.
I work in a clinic, so it's not very easy.
I was able to do deliveries in various positions
but that was already extraordinary.
It wasn't always well accepted by the team.
I graduated in 2008, so I'm a young graduate.
During my studies, well...
Basically, on natural childbirth, we had two hours.
with a handout.
I've been a midwife for 27 years now.
I worked in a small maternity ward in Chaland for 17 years
and did some time in the Sables d'Olonne.
In the Sables, it was the last straw. So I left.
what is being done to women in the large hospitals today
is disrespectful to women, to children, to humans beings. So here I am.
Beautiful.
The bathtub is half full.
This baby is on his way down.
He's quite low.
Do you still feel a strong pressure?
Yes I do.
It hurts way more.
I'm going to take a bath.
Yes, please go. Do you need help getting up?
No, I'll be fine.
Listen for when she starts to push.
It's pushing, it's pushing.
I'll let you do it on your own.
There's the head, there's your baby, there's your baby.
Yes, Hello, hello!
All bets are on.
Don't worry. Don't worry sweetie.
So?
6 lbs 24 oz.
Same built,
same model.
There, let's put her back here.
A little hat.
Perfect.
Since you're calm, let's check your pulse right away.
I know, sweetie, it's a bit uncomfortable.
Hold on, let's not move too much.
Oh it's perfect, it's perfect!
Good circulation.
I'm gonna stretch your legs out, you're not gonna like it.
Perfect.
I know, it's no fun, it's no fun.
It's a pain, it's a pain.
Very energetic.
Perfect.
I'm going to tell them she's born.
Here comes the gang.
Gently, be careful.
Come here, Remi.
Hold on, I'm looking at her.
She's nursing in her sleep.
No more milk? -No, there's more.
It smells bad.
What do you mean, it smells bad?
It's not the first time she says that.
I like the smell.
Mmm... I love it, I find it intoxicating.
She wanted to wash her up and get her dressed.
Alright let's get her dressed! -No.
So, why did we bring pyjamas? -In a little bit.
We'll get her dressed but not right away, there's no hurry.
Why does the cord still look this way?
It'll fall off, all the white part.
All that'll be left is the belly-button, just like yours.
It's not gonna hurt, right? -Not at all.
It has been largely demonstrated
that in order to give birth in good conditions,
the woman's neocortex should get as little stimulation as possible.
This fact becomes obvious as we observe a woman giving birth.
This means that if a woman is in a birth room,
there should be no comings and goings,
no sudden clanging of pots or metal objects.
Just look at the loud ruckus we make
when we start opening all the cupboards
because all of a sudden, the child is about to come.
We're all familiar with those women
who start having contractions at home, get in their car,
arrive at the hospital, and then no more contractions!
Having to leave her comfort zone, her home.
On the way: "I hope it'll go well,
I hope I didn't forget anything, I've got my paper work."
That's when she comes back down to earth.
"I hope I get a nice midwife,
I hope I'm not gonna get that mean old Ms so-and-so,
I hope the doctor I like will be there."
So many questions that by the time you arrive, you're stuck up here.
Inevitably, there's an interaction.
A woman who is stressed out does not secrete any prolactin, nor oxytocin,
doesn't have any ejection reflex
because her over-excited hypothalamus doesn't secrete, or doesn't release;
her pituitary gland doesn't release.
And in childbirth, this crucial hormone is needed.
If it's not released, it cannot work.
So let's see what a woman naturally does to get her baby out.
It is not going to cross her mind to lie on her back with her legs up.
She might lie on her side, kneel, or hang on to her sweetie like this.
She waits for a contraction.
And then, she takes a breath and makes a characteristic sound with her throat.
She takes a breath and goes...
Ok? Elegant, isn't it?
She does that once, twice, thrice during the contraction
and the midwife notices that the baby is slowly descending, then going back up.
The contraction ends, mom rests.
Next contraction, baby descends a little further and disappears.
There's a sort of natural yo-yo effect.
Then at one point, baby's fully engaged.
At this point, time stops for mom, I won't hide it.
Baby doesn't go back up anymore
and slowly, he slides, mom still making throat noises.
You do understand that this scream is not mom's extreme pain.
That scream is the power she exerts
to bring her uterus back up and get her baby out.
Ok? It's important.
Because there are moms who'll barely scream,
and some who'll make a very loud and wild scream,
but not because it hurts her more.
It's just the power she uses to bring her uterus back up.
All women have this in them.
When they have a baby on their perineum, they do that.
So it's important.
I'm writing it down because you really need to get that in your head,
if you don't get an epidural, you know how to do it, and don't ever doubt that.
There's nothing to learn, you just need to wait.
And it comes naturally. In fact the hard part is to wait.
Ok, let's give this mom an epidural, it's her full right.
Goodbye reflex.
Going back to this pain business.
I'm actually tired of calling it "pain."
At the same time, it means what it means.
But in my opinion it's a pain that we need to differentiate from suffering.
When we're suffering,
it's interesting today to use the epidural tool,
which we couldn't do back then, before the epidural existed.
Some women would go through this and never have kids anymore.
So, what could all those very intense sensations have to do with birth?
What could their function be?
Any idea?
Something like an alert?
The more I work, the more I see natural births,
the more evident it seems to me that it's some sort of guidance.
In other words, for example...
it's so narrow that depending on the positions we take,
we more or less open a certain level of our pelvis.
Whether we squat, get on all fours, stand, lean forward,
lie on our side, put one leg up like this or like that...
Some positions will be more favorable than others to allow the baby to engage,
to cross the pelvis.
Therefore the strong sensations are going to guide the woman.
Feeling the pain allows her to adopt a better and more comfortable position
and therefore eases the passage for the baby as well as for the mom.
So with an epidural she feels less
and therefore goes at it kind of brutally.
Sometimes yes, at the final stage, it can happen, you're totally right.
Obviously when we don't feel, we don't protect ourselves the same way.
So, any questions?
Darling, do you have any questions?
About what?
About our next vacation.
About our next vacation?
Of course not, about the baby, our home birth plan, I don't know.
Oh yes. I'm with the kids so I didn't hear what you said.
We talk later, later.
When are you seeing the anesthesiologist?
Oops I forgot.
Oh Nina, how could you? -I forgot...
Maybe I didn't want to see him. -Yes, that's what I think.
No, but I'll go. -Why don't you want to see him?
Because if I have to see the anesthesiologist,
well I don't know, it's the whole process actually.
Ok, well it's important, we need to talk about it. -Yes.
I have to go, I know. -It's not that...
The thing is, I don't want to even imagine
that I'll get there with an anesthesiologist, I don't even want to.
Yes, but that's not possible. -Yes, I know.
It's because I don't have faith anymore after what I went through,
I don't trust clinics and hospitals as much, so...
Ok, it so happens that you had this experience.
Nonetheless the first two births didn't turn out so bad, did they?
No, they were ok.
Ok, I'll go.
I would like that, because it is really an essential condition for me
to come over when you call.
Ok, that's nice.
Fine, I'll do what I need to do.
Ah! There's the back.
And is that the head?
No, the head is here.
You had felt it very well. Why are you so worried?
Here you have the feet, see, we felt her well.
The butt, the back.
Everything is just fine madame!
Ok, well good.
So, ladies, know that your vagina and your baby belong to you.
If you feel like touching it,
if you feel like encouraging yourself to welcome your baby,
put your hand on your perineum, go ahead.
Don't ask for my permission to hold it, to touch it.
It's your little one.
Indulge yourself.
And then it's THE meeting. -It's THE meeting.
We're always talking about it with Paul. We can't wait for that moment.
And then I'll leave you alone for a little while.
Then you'll probably hold him, but don't ask me...
Some moms are really cute; they ask me: "Can I hold him?"
No!
Of course not, don't touch your baby! -It's my baby.
So then you'll hold him against you, I'll lie you on your back
and then I'll disappear for a little while to leave the three of you alone. Ok?
Would you have advised her to drive all the way from Bidart to Hasparren?
With a belly like this, the last week of her pregnancy?
Yesterday, I got yelled at because I was saying: "I can drive, I can drive!"
She almost wanted to come alone.
And her mum and I were telling her: "Are you nuts? What if you have contractions!"
And I was saying : "Wait until we ask Muriel tomorrow, she'll say..."
Your wife is not ill, she is not ill.
If she thinks she can, let her do it.
I knew it.
I shouldn't have asked the question.
People think that moms are as fragile as glass. It's not true.
I was a real technician when I got out of school.
I was at the hospital.
A nice maternity ward where we were working like crazy.
I did that for 10 years.
And then I became a mum.
And being on the other side of the fence gave me a different perspective.
Because I was not heard at all
when I asked for something softer and less medicalized.
So, clearly, becoming a mum changed me as a midwife,
the way I looked at what I was doing to mothers.
Presently, home births in France are not what they used to be.
Sanitary conditions are completely different. There are roads and cars.
If you need to see a doctor, it doesn't take you two days by horse to get there.
Pregnancies are monitored.
We don't discover twins in the middle of the labour.
Tons of illnesses have been eliminated.
We have ways of monitoring births
which we didn't particularly have before.
Hello beauties, I came to see your little brother.
How is he doing today? -He's nursing.
Oh he's nursing. Well let me go check that out then.
Could you move the stroller?
I often tell this story:
the first person who told me: "I want to give birth on all fours",
I told her "it's not possible." I was a young midwife then,
I had never seen that and had no idea how it worked.
So -she must've planned it out- she told me:
"I want to pee, I want to go pee."
She didn't want the bedpan,
I allowed her to get up to go to the bathroom,
she didn't have an epidural. And as soon as she got up, bang,
she got on her hands and knees and started to push.
I couldn't carry her onto the table.
The baby was there anyway, I could see him coming.
I was a bit overwhelmed, you see, because I had never seen this.
So I placed some sliding sheets under her.
I screamed to call the assistant:
"She's giving birth, she's giving birth, on all fours!"
And the baby's arriving on this perineum
I couldn't figure out because it was upside down.
And I told myself: "Since I have no clue, I'm not going to touch.
I'd better not touch or else I'll create problems more than anything else."
So I just watched this child come out.
That woman taught me my first birth on hands and knees.
That woman had decided that she would have it her way, not mine.
If you place... See, I'm defining the walls of her uterus.
With the tip of your fingers, place one hand here, the other one there
and you'll feel like a round ball.
And there if you look for where it...
It sort of dips down...
You realize that the uterine fundus is right there.
Go ahead, try.
With both hands, in comparison.
Place one hand here and the other one there.
Oh yes, ok. -With your fingertips, and then you...
Oh yes, I can feel it. -Well, there you go.
Well yes, but I'm always afraid to hurt her.
Come on now, surely she can tell you to stop, no?
Oh yes she can! -That's what I said.
Could we go over some questions that might've suddenly come up
about what was said and done yesterday?
I sensed there was some questioning.
You were talking about availability of accompaniment...
Midwives lack the necessary amount of time
to provide quality accompaniment,
because we're busy doing lots of other things which aren't very interesting.
I can say nothing less! -Some women I see post-birth
who were lucky to be alone with the midwife on duty tell me:
"She was there, she accompanied me." It often went well.
But then there are those who would've really needed a presence,
but who didn't have one at the time.
Well with public health policies
that are purely based on the profitability of everything,
premises, staff, that's what you get.
We're very far from quality healthcare. How can we?
Since, at least for us, this level of quality
requires some time and availability.
So, about the issue of women lying down on a bed.
If you listen to them when they tell you what they do
before they get to the hospital, the majority don't stay lying down in bed.
They walk, they stroll, they do their usual stuff.
So then I wonder... Hold on, let me just finish.
You enter a room where there's a bed. It's really inducing.
Even that's inducing!
So you're a good girl, you lie down
because you watched TV shows on the first channel every evening
that showed you how to give birth and over and over
you've watched women lie down with a thing behind their back.
And then, they push.
So obviously you can't imagine you can do it differently.
I realized that I trivialized the medicalization of birth
when I talked to women.
One of my classes is "medicalization of birth."
Here's how it goes, you'll get an IV, be hooked to the monitor.
With a lot of humour of course! I tell them: "You'll be like this,
oximeter on your finger, blood pressure monitor, fetal monitoring..."
That's when I felt like I was entering this narrow mold of
"it's like this, it's like that." When in fact, it may not be that way.
So for me, it's important
both from a professional and personal point of view.
I don't intend to do home births...
not right now at least. Maybe one day. I don't know.
I find it quite wonderful, but I don't know if it'll be my path or not.
The objective is not home birth. The goal is that,
wherever we are, midwives can allow physiology to be respected.
It's not about promoting home births.
I'm coming in.
Come in, come in.
How are you?
So so, a little tired. -You look tired.
You look very tired even.
I feel like I had more energy this morning.
It sort of came over me at midday.
It means it's time for a nap.
Yes, probably. -I think so.
I'll let you nurse her, we'll weigh her afterwards so we don't make her wait.
So watch out, because she'll catch it before you have time to say anything.
Here you go, sweetie!
She opens her mouth much wider now. -Yes, I see it's gotten better.
She's nicely nestled. There.
She's a bit far. -Ok.
I would put her more over here.
Are you able to go sit in the chair now? -Yes but not right away.
It would actually be better so that your breast can hang better. -Ok.
If I were you I would comfortably position myself before nursing.
Let me place a pillow.
Do you have enough pillows? -Yes, I'm good.
I hear a lot of glup glup.
Is your milk already coming in or what?
I don't know.
He sure is gulping a lot.
Do you have to hold your breast like that? -So that he can breathe.
No, leave it alone, otherwise it's pulling your breast.
I'm wondering if it's not making your pain worse.
Right now, does it hurt when you nurse or not?
No, I don't think so, because he's well positioned.
But last night and this morning it was hurting.
The best way to end a feeding is when he unlatches on his own.
Wow, I'm exhausted.
So it's my fourth pregnancy.
I had three births previously which were each different from one another.
The first one was with epidural and forceps.
When we got to the hospital, nothing went the way we had hoped.
We had done haptonomy, we thought we would be helped and accompanied.
But it turned out we arrived at a time when there probably were many births.
My waters had just broken but I had no contractions yet
and the first thing we were told was:
"A lot of women are giving birth right now, we'll put you in a room on the side
and Sir, you go home and we'll call you."
At that point I lost ground and I had control of nothing at all.
I have a very bad memory of it.
When I was pregnant with my second daughter,
I really really did not want to go to the hospital at all.
My contractions weren't very painful
and I managed them very well, and then at one point...
The shift... -That was it...
I felt I was giving birth, so we finally called an ambulance.
Ok.
At one point I felt an urge to push, they were here, I was on my couch.
My daughter's head came out
and that's when they realized that they weren't here for a transfer
but for a birth.
That was my nicest birth actually.
It was an extraordinary moment for me.
Because of the sensations I felt while I birthed.
I would've given anything afterwards to relive the same emotion.
Of course, it would've been better with a midwife
because I would've known where I was at.
The welcoming could've been softer.
So that's why we're considering that option now.
Laurent didn't experience the home birth the same way at all.
We had taken the medicalized route to start with.
We were supposed to go to the hospital
and all of a sudden we were all alone,
because she was about to give birth at any moment.
So I called an ambulance, but it takes them at least 5 minutes to arrive,
which meant she could very likely... -The fear was mostly that...
Well for 5 minutes I found myself alone
with my wife who was having contractions
and I wondered if I would end up delivering the baby.
So, what do you want to know regarding the delivery?
So, about that, what do you do if there are complications?
Knowing that, at the hospital,
the midwife didn't make a move
and called the doctor for a forceps intervention.
Yes, it's true that midwives don't do forceps, I don't have forceps.
I won't use forceps, that for sure.
In a home birth setting, there are no interventions.
One of two things can happen:
either it goes well, simply, normally and physiologically,
or things are iffy and we transfer.
At the slightest sign that the baby isn't well during labour,
we transfer you.
If contractions decrease, if dilation stagnates,
if the baby clearly doesn't descend.
There are many signs.
Many hours can go by without medication
before the baby's condition gets critical. -OK.
We accompany physiological births,
we only accompany births without epidurals.
In other words, at home, we won't use medication.
If we need medical assistance, we transfer to the hospital.
That said, 9 out of 10 births don't require medicalization.
And you've already done a strict selection
of the births you accept to assist by then.
Yes, absolutely, it means a physiological pregnancy,
with no particular medical history.
So that means if we're transferred to the hospital,
it's the midwives there who will take care of us.
Correct, they will take over.
In a case like this, we accompany you all the way to the hospital doors.
Nowadays, we generally come in
and stay with the parents for about 15 minutes
but we're not able to do much more than that.
All right, let's place this over here,
and the little tray. -Thank you.
Healthwise, not all women can consider such a project..
Therefore it's important to register at a hospital
where you can transfer to, just in case.
Whether it's during the pregnancy, the birth or even afterwards.
Which brings us to this issue of insurance.
All health professionals are required to have insurance.
This law passed in 2001
and insurance companies have taken the opportunity to raise their prices,
using the support of jurisprudence, especially the Perruche arrest,
a notorious trial in France,
where parents were granted very high financial compensation.
As a result, insurances need to charge a lot more
and consequently they're absolutely unaffordable for midwives.
They range between 20,000 and 30,000 euros per year.
It's absolutely unattainable.
As a result we're borderline legal,
because although no laws prevent a midwife
from accompanying people for a home birth,
but she can't meet insurance requirements,
so she's illegal.
I don't know about you but, the longer I stay awake, the more I need to eat.
So I'm gonna need to eat a little. -Well, eat!
Take good care of her.
I promise, Cedric. -Thank you, Cecile.
Everything's still going very well.
How do you want to position yourself? -I don't know.
Do you want to lie back down a little, maybe?
Get on your hands and knees?
I don't know.
You can lean your back against me.
Why isn't he coming out?
Because it's little by little.
Ok. -He's coming.
Very good, he's almost made all the way down.
I don't know what's keeping him from descending.
Your perineum looks very stretched out. I think it's probably a big baby.
Which is not very surprising, we were expecting that.
I'm gonna pack up.
Pack up. That would be great, perfect, exactly what we need.
What are they gonna do to me at the hospital?
I think that, considering where he is,
they'll probably do something to help the baby out,
with a vacuum or forceps, because he's already descended far.
Had he descended even further, an episiotomy could be done,
but he's still too high, it's not enough.
He's not engaged in the perineum enough.
Hello? -Yes, Gisele, it's Cecile.
Did she give birth? -Yes she did but at the hospital, we left.
Yes, it went well, very well.
The baby turned out to be OP.
She pushed for a long time.
She was at mid-pelvis for a long time so we left.
Yes, it was still a nice night. -Was it?
Yes, and then she had an episiotomy once we got there, that's all.
Yes, and you're yawning and yawning.
So what was this path you took?
Let's say we are a little bit disappointed, but just a little.
Yes, it went really well at home.
We were prepared for the possibility of it not ending here,
right from the start.
And, well, we left, things went well and ended well, quickly.
Quick and well!
Yeah because on the table, I was thinking:
"Ok, if she doesn't come out, in..."
Anyway, there wouldn't have been a C-section, she was too low.
Yes, but they would've had to go get her.
There could've been forceps, or a vacuum. That's what I had thought.
Because in any case, seeing how high her head was before we left,
I wouldn't have done an episiotomy at home.
Are you happy with your project?
Have you talked over it again? -You still have concerns.
Well, there's always the possibility of the cord being around the neck.
So, the cord around the neck. -And that the heart stops.
The heart doesn't just stop like that. You'll hear it.
In other words, at each contraction the child is drawn downwards.
Then the cord is compressed
and that's when you'll hear a decrease in the heart rate,
which will increase again at the end of the contraction,
because the pressure decreases when the contraction stops.
When you have this kind of thing going on during labour,
there's an abnormal situation, and you go to the hospital.
But the heart doesn't just suddenly stop like that.
A large number of children were born with the cord around their neck,
or a sling, and it doesn't cause any problem most of the time.
Including in hospitals,
but a little less, because labour is medically accompanied,
so you often have induced contractions with synthetic oxytocin,
an artificial rupture of membranes.
So you're in a situation which is not physiological,
which is not normal.
With artificial rupture of membranes,
there are higher risks of cord compression,
that your baby no longer tolerate the contractions,
and that you end up having to get a C-section.
It's more frequent.
I personally delivered many children with the cord around their neck, many.
Almost a quarter of births.
But it's good that you ask yourself all those questions.
If you're overwhelmed with such questions on the day of the birth
and it doesn't work for you, we go to the hospital.
If you tell me: "I want to go to the hospital", it's enough for me.
I don't need a reason to go there.
The only reason would be that you don't feel secure at that moment.
You need to feel very very free,
we're not bound by any sort of contract.
In France, there are very few alternatives for parents.
The hospital setting is practically the only option for most people.
But in a huge number of hospitals in France, if a woman says:
"I'd like to walk, I'd like to give birth crouching",
she's told: "It's not possible."
Since there are no alternatives, people are forced to accept this.
Currently there are no functional birth centers
and home births are highly criticized
and receive little support from professionals and public authorities.
People tell me: "But why do they put themselves at risk like that?"
They're unable to hear that it is a real demand from our patients.
And that when people start using their skills to respond to their demands,
it'll be much better than leaving them unaccompanied.
To them, removing the midwives who do home births
means ending home births. I tell them, no, home births do exist.
Everything that needs to be taken out of our organism
is taken out through the contraction of its container.
The rectum, the bladder, the stomach, to cite only a few,
all function the same way.
I don't see why, suddenly, it would be different for the uterus.
Try to make a lady push without contractions,
you'll see that nothing happens
except that the lady exhausts herself and then someone says:
"She's been pushing for too long, let's get the forceps."
Why must we absolutely turn a head, extract a shoulder,
when in fact we're preventing the child from being born spontaneously?
What's the use of freeing up a head?
Those are totally unnecessary moves that we're still being taught
and that have no purpose at all. Does this seem logical to you?
What other situations of this type can you think of?
Well, we could talk about delivery hemorrhage.
Delivery means what it means,
which is that a birth is not complete until the placenta is out.
And we, midwives, are of course very attentive to that phase.
Same thing here.
Give me reasons why a woman could possibly bleed excessively during birth.
There's no particular reason for that to happen at home,
when you've done nothing,
and whatever delivery hemorrhage you might have,
it's not like it comes out full stream from an open valve.
It comes out in bursts and clots, and at one point you think:
"OK, this is not good, we have to do something."
Right or wrong? -Right
But what everyone imagines and fears is this full stream wide open valve.
Because that's what they go through at the hospital once in a while.
And it's the worst nightmare, imagine, when you don't know how to stop it.
When you have to take out the woman's uterus or do some other crazy thing.
It's scary.
But the chances of this type of hemorrhage happening are very slim
because we don't use synthetic oxytocin.
Plus, lucky us, the latest study on this topic
has demonstrated in a very compelling way that,
unless there are risk factors,
such as Willebrand's disease or some other condition,
most of the time, those types of hemorrhages
are all caused by abuses of synthetic oxytocin.
Why don't you take off your T-shirt to welcome the baby?
He's here?
Almost.
Well, if you feel him pushing... -Can you see the head?
No, not yet.
Is he in the pelvis?
Most likely, if you start feeling the urge to push, it means he's not far.
So you catch him like this,
you hold him. Make sure the head doesn't drop too much
Leave him head out and the shoulders will gently come out afterwards
but I'll guide you. No worries.
Mommy's here, mom and dad are here.
My love, we're here, my baby. -Welcome Mendhi.
We were waiting for you, you know.
Where's the little one? -She's here, she's walking now.
Over here, we're in this little corner.
So it's just a room in fact.
There's a little bathroom,
a bathtub.
We'll be in a dim atmosphere
to soothe the mom.
And no one will enter the room, it'll be just the three of us.
And we'll remake history. -It's going to change!
And so we'll remake history.
We came to see you because we heard good things about you,
so we wanted to meet you.
Our plan is to make it happen as naturally as possible.
As naturally as possible, you see yourselves welcoming the baby...
Are you aware of the options you have with me?
Because you have two options with me. -Not at home.
Not at home. -Preferably in Orthez.
Ok.
When I'm in Orthez, I have a room at my disposal
which is de-medicalized and where I offer an alternative to home births.
It's just the two of you and me, no one intervenes.
No one comes to see what's happening or to examine you.
I keep the medical team informed on how we are doing.
If everything goes well, the birth takes place in that room.
We do this together, relaxed, just like at home.
If a transfer is needed, you just cross the hallway
and the medical team takes over.
There are very few technical facilities in France, about 20.
But why so few?
Because doctors don't want to accommodate them, that's all.
They always wonder what's happening in those "natural" rooms.
Will we react fast enough?
Or will we know what actions to take or recognize difficulties?
The doctors are holding back, quite simply.
Because if they wanted to, there would birthing rooms facilities everywhere.
Hi! Oh my!
Hello miss Lutece! -This is Sidonie.
She's looking at me, isn't she!
We told her: "It's the woman who helped us birth you."
How are you? I can hardly recognize them.
They sure are growing, aren't they? What do you say to Sidonie?
Hello miss. Hello, Rosalie!
She's sick. -Cookie.
A cookie, sure, no problem.
Once you've tasted home birth...
I couldn't go back to the hospital. That's for sure.
I know it from the bottom of my heart,
I could not.
It conquered you, it became part of you.
I think that the most difficult thing
would be to care for 3 women at the same time.
Does that really happen in hospitals? -Yes, and that's the problem.
The problem today is that,
because the number of births per midwife has greatly increased,
most of my colleagues care for 2 women,
but sometimes 3.
In some countries, particularly England,
where the female population as a whole demanded
that each woman get one midwife.
So whether they give birth at the hospital, in a birth centre
or at home, they get one midwife.
One woman, one midwife! One woman, one midwife!
Tomorrow's society is born in our hands.
Mistreated midwifes = endangered babies
Sido!
Hi, Jacqueline! -Did you see my new haircut?
It's superb, I was looking at it when I came.
How are you? Overloaded with work?
I just did 3 births in one week, I'm a little...
Of course, but it keeps you going too. -Sure, it's both.
But then, it's sometimes hard to juggle with the family life.
So, the epidural has caused me to be called a conservative.
Because when we started to talk about it, I dared alluding to the idea that
perhaps the accompaniment of women by midwives
would be affected by that medical practice.
I can confirm it, I have observed it.
Just recently, I had the opportunity to see young midwives devastated
after hearing a woman give birth making those liberating screams
we knew of a long time ago and that you still know.
The midwives behind the door asked me: "What happened?"
When I told them:
"That woman is actually happy about the way her birth went",
they couldn't believe what I was telling them.
I wanted to share a thought that I often have
when I hear people talking about pain and pain relief.
No one talks to women about what increases pain.
Because currently, in France,
61% of women have labour induced or accelerated
with products that increase pain,
that cause artificial contractions which are very violent, very close together.
So the woman no longer has that space
between 2 contractions that allows her to breathe.
And no one tells this to women.
So they suddenly have this unmanageable pain
and they don't even know why.
I'm now going to give the floor to an anesthesiologist
who was there when the epidural was introduced in hospitals
and knows a lot about those issues.
Behind the closed doors of one of the birth rooms,
I hear a labouring woman's muffled moans at every contraction.
It's afternoon, why isn't she calling for me?
Maybe she doesn't know she can get an epidural.
My heart's aching with compassion and the epidural is itching me.
I use the excuse that there are anesthesiology materials in that room
to knock and enter the room, pretending I'm looking for something.
She sees right through me
and tells me: "Thank you Jeanne, but I've got this."
I had received a lesson.
I was so ashamed of not having trusted a woman,
which is to me one of the basics of human respect.
And in retrospect, if I entered that room,
it was because I was the one who needed relief.
Where do they get a chance to be themselves these days,
since they're systematically given an epidural in 80% of cases.
What discovery are we depriving them of when,
without even asking for their opinion,
we eliminate that pain that is so dreaded,
yet such an enriching learning experience
and unpredictable in its intensity.
Finally, before I conclude, I'd like to clear away any ambiguity
that might make you think that I advocate pain.
This pain that devastates some women
and of which the horrible memory haunts them for the rest of their lives.
I loved my job,
even though I was wary of the almighty power this practice could've given me.
Similarly, although the right to abortion was a victory,
abortion itself rarely is.
So was the access to epidurals,
but when it becomes systematic, if not mandatory...
Thank you.
We know, statistically, that roughly 80% of women
have normal pregnancies and can give birth to their child
without the need for any medical technology.
I believe we really need to totally change our world vision.
Which means we absolutely need to open up the dialogue
and not put up a brick wall
between those who work one way and those who work differently.
We indeed need to open more birth centres.
We need to be able to make home births much safer in everyone's mind.
Because it's not crazy, but it needs to have a good support structure,
and I have my ideas on that.
And I believe we should also open services,
within hospitals, which are exclusively dedicated to physiology.
And that would be accessible to everyone,
and not just to those who have the time and opportunity
to think about the best way to welcome their child.
So it's about truly changing our vision of healthcare organization.
You're handling it like a queen!
Wonderful.
That's it, stay in the water.
Stay in the water.
Hello baby.
Sit up, Maylis, sit up.
Look, here's your baby!
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Hello, little angel!
My God, I can't believe I'm done.
Push yourself up on your hip.
Enjoy.
Come, sit over here.
My God, I just can't believe it's over!
It feels so strange.
Hello, Mom!
Hello!
Thank you Muriel.
Would you like to hold her? -Wait, she's attached to your cord.
Oh yes, that's right.
Just enjoy the moment.
It just happened so fast!
Look at your baby.
I can't believe she's here, it's so strange.
Look, she has little hair like yours.
Let me place her against your skin.
I'll cover her later.
Are you left or right-handed? -Right-handed.
Well, hello daddy!
Skin to skin is beautiful.
We'll keep the hat on for 24 hours.
Yeah, 24h.
She's gonna drink from dad pretty soon.
Congratulations, dad!
I know that there's already an enormous amount of midwives
in the south who are quitting at once.
I know. -You know it.
In Brittany, they're like....
I thought a 45.000 euros fine wouldn't be so bad since we have solidarity.
That's funny...
That even if there were risks of jail, it wouldn't be so bad because...
It's the prohibition to practice our profession.
The prohibition to do our practice...
I don't know if it can get to that point.
We're here to talk about midwives
who offer to accompany couples at home
and many of us have received a letter from our departmental Councils,
under the National Council's advice actually,
asking midwives to provide proof of insurance
specifying that they were indeed insured for home births.
The subject is:
"Illegal practice of home births by midwives with no insurance coverage.
Independent health professionals are required to subscribe to an insurance
to guarantee them for their civil and professional liability.
Failure to comply shall subject them to disciplinary sanctions imposed by the council.�
The threat is serious, very serious.
What I would like for us to do tonight, is to say, right now:
1- that we are sufficiently united;
2 - what reply do we propose from each one of us.
I do not wish to quit overnight, I really don't wish it.
We've started telling couples that we're accompanying
that we're having difficulties again,
that we're not sure if we'll have to stop or not.
Well I don't want to go to trial, no one does, I think.
But I also want to continue.
I would definitely like to reply,
because this insurance issue is still a huge problem.
And we're not being offered any solution at this point,
but the problem has been brought up.
Sooner or later we're gonna have to solve this insurance thing
because in any case I'm not comfortable working without insurance.
I have been very very worried,
I fluctuate a lot I have to say.
And the better things go, the more I tell myself I'm going to continue.
I must say that termination, in other words,
not doing my job anymore would be really really hard.
It means that some of us will stop and others will continue.
Among all of those who are going to continue,
one, two or three will get caught.
Today's justice system allows legal actions
to be taken only once someone gets caught.
So are you ok with this alternative
of giving birth at the hospital instead of home?
No, I'm not OK with it, but I don't have a choice.
I hope it takes place in the best possible conditions.
Even though my heart is heavy.
Yeah.
I'm not happy to be giving in to the pressure,
not happy at all.
In fact I...
I make myself angry.
I just feel so alone.
It's way too much pressure.
I feel like the weight on my shoulders is...
I remember the first transfer I ever did.
I invited the doctor to have a chat
because there was clearly not a very nice vibe
when I arrived with the couple.
So we talked a little and she said: "Muriel, I just don't understand,
what's gotten into you? Why do you do this?"
I told her: "I'm not crazy, I do it very carefully."
Then she says: "But what do you do if you get a breech baby?
I tell her: "I don't do breech at home."
"Really, what if you get twins?"
"I don't do them!"
There's truly a lack of knowledge about the home birth practice.
We really only do low risk births.
I don't understand, you can't be insured at all?
Oh sure, sure, we can be insured, just like OBGYNs, 21,000 euros a year.
And I don't have 21,000 euros to pay for my insurance,
I have to take out a loan every year!
And many don't even earn that much in a year.
They say it.
Yes, you have to earn it too.
And are you insured for the technical facility?
410euros -Per year.
That's how much you pay? -Yes.
It's a real battle for the mothers too,
even with their families, their physicians.
When they say: "I'm going to give birth at home"...
What a battle!
They become outcasts.
That's another thing that bugs me,
to be an outcast, to always be underrated.
Marginalized.
Yes, and stopping home births will allow me to take a breather.
It'll give you a little break.
Exactly, I'll get a break.
We're always suspected of doing I don't know what.
Like some kind of witch who...
It kills me!
Easy...
Great! Easy...
Yes, go Marion, go ahead.
Oh, your little baby!
Hello!
Yes, Yes, come, come!
Subtitles : Lisa Reutenauer Anne Debrabandere