Many of you know that I had a homebirth after caesarean section (HBAC) in February 2024 and that it was not an easy journey.
Today I want to tell you why.
Even before I was pregnant, I chose Margarete Wana as my midwife.
Margarete has been attending out-of-hospital births for over a decade, including for women like me who have a so-called high-risk pregnancy. She looked after me for the first half of my pregnancy and I felt completely comfortable and safe and was already looking forward to giving birth with her.
At the beginning of September 2023, I met Anne, who was close to her estimated due date and also had Margarete as her HBAC midwife.
It was love at first sight with Anne and we spent hours talking passionately about birth and HBAC while our big boys played together in the sandpit.
Anne's birth began a few weeks after we first met on her estimated due date. She was at home with Margarete at her side as midwife and everything went well.
Until suddenly her little daughter's heart rate dropped and Margarete' immediately transferred the birth to hospital, where the baby was delivered very quickly.
Five days later, Anne wrote to tell me that her little angel baby had flown away and shortly afterwards Margarete had to tell me that she was no longer allowed to accompany me as midwife during my HBAC.
When I went to see Anne the following week for a postpartum visit, the first thing she said to me was, “I'm so sorry that you and the other women can't have the birth you want because of me.”
Anne, who has become a close friend over the past year, is simply one of the strongest and most amazing women I know.
She assumes that her daughter did not die because of the place she chose for her birth or human error, but that several undiscovered factors during pregnancy made her start in life more difficult.
Anne was one of the first people I wrote to after the homebirth of my second son and she was very happy for me.
In the end, I was very lucky to find a midwife in the 36th week of my pregnancy who accompanied me during my birth at home three weeks later.
I had the healing, self-determined birth that I would have wished for Anne and that I wish for all women, especially those who have previously had a traumatic or violent birth.
We need midwives like Margarete Wana for such births.
But Margarete is currently no longer allowed to attend home births and now has to justify herself in court in criminal proceedings for the tragic outcome of Anne's birth.
Even if she is (hopefully!) acquitted, she will have to pay the entire legal costs as the defendant.
Margarete has started a crowdfunding campaign to cover her legal fees and legal costs.
Every donation, no matter how small, is welcome!
I have Anne's permission to share her story here.
The picture shows Anne and me at my Mother Blessing at Women's Nature in January 2024 and is by Christiane Raffeiner.
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