Mollie provided the birth environment we craved

When Eric and I found out I was pregnant with our first child in 2004 we had no doubts that a midwife assisted homebirth was the way we'd go. Both of us were born at home. Eric's mom was attended by a doctor who did natural births, and my mother had five of her six children with midwives at home (the 5th was born in the hallway of a hospital, completely unassisted, and this bit of family lore always strengthened my belief that in an uncomplicated birth women can pretty much handle it themselves). Finally, Eric's sister used midwives for her babies, so family support for our decision was a foregone conclusion.

Unfortunately, I had no friend or family recommendations for a midwife for this area, so I was stuck with vague friend of a friend references and the yellow pages. New to the entire vocabulary of obstetrics, I read every homebirth guide my sister-in-law gave me, and tried to put together a list of coherent questions to grill my potential caregiver on. Mollie was our second and last midwife to interview. I had found her listed in the phone book, and called and talked to her mom, who at the time served as her secretary/receptionist. Her mom was incredibly sweet, and stressed Mollie's commitment of time and personal care for each of her clients. Sounded good so far.

The “downside” of an extended family devoted to homebirths is that everyone wants to participate. Well, the women anyway. Eric, a quiet guy with low tolerance for blood was pretty sure he could stand to miss the whole deal. Oh, for the days of fathers waiting in the lobby, he thought. Besides the blood and gore he imagined, the very real estrogen level in our tiny apartment was bound to be high. Laboring wife, mother-in-law, mother, and sister, not to mention midwife plus assistant could easily railroad a poor man who just wanted to have a kid or two with as little pain (and blood loss) as possible. I could only stress to him my intense need to have him by my side, and pray that somehow he could be made as comfortable as possible in this whole uncomfortable process.

Within minutes of meeting Mollie we were both certain this was the woman who could provide the birth environment we both craved. Young, hip, and easy to talk to, she readily engaged both Eric and I with her candid answers to our incoherent medical questions. She had both of us so at ease we walked away feeling like we were already old friends. More importantly, she easily conveyed her medical expertise and years of experience with a quiet confidence that left us reassured she would be able to handle any situation that developed. Over the next six months we did become friends, through prenatal appointments which inevitably turned into extended visits just to chat. When our daughter was born in July 2005 it was wonderful. Mollie saw to my every need, seamlessly delivered a precious baby, and juggled a full houseful of women with no problems at all. She also understood and completely supported Eric's role as husband and father – never insisting that he act outside his comfort zone, which left him free to support me perfectly.

Mollie delivered our second daughter in 2007 and will soon deliver our third child. We could not be happier with her as both a caregiver and a friend, and only wish we had the opportunity to recommend her services more often.