We’re back with another special series, diving into one powerful theme at the heart of home birth journeys. This time: First Time Birth Stories.

What does it look like to fully trust your instincts and choose a new birth path halfway through pregnancy — while your partner is deployed across the world?

In this episode we're talking with Christie Andersen about her home birth. Christie was pregnant at the time of our recording, just days away from giving birth. We were incredibly excited that Christie wanted to share her homebirth story with us and let us into her experience as a soon-to-be-mom. On top of all of that magic, Christie was excitedly awaiting the return of her husband, who was on active duty and heading back home that very evening.

This is a great story because it’s ongoing. Christie Andersen is pregnant - in fact just a couple of days away from her due date at the time of this interview. So this is our first “before and after” style interview where we’re talking to a mom who is actively planning and preparing for her home birth (her first!).

Christie’s husband Ryan was deployed right after they found out they were pregnant. Christie originally intended for a hospital birth but decided to make the switch around 20 weeks, in a bold move to follow her heart and trust her body.

Even though he’s been thousand of miles away for the entire pregnancy, Ryan has been fully supportive of Christie in her process of transitioning to home birth planning and was traveling home for the birth at the exact moment we were chatting with Christie on the phone for our interview.

So already Christie’s story is an amazing one - planning a home birth and also representing the community of women and families who experience pregnancies and births often without spouses or other family present because of active military duty. We’re so honored to share her journey and excited to bring you the rest in part 2!

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