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Testimonials
Joan
My husband, Jacques, and I took a long, circuitous route to get to a homebirth with Sybille. We started by looking off-island at a birthing center and at a highly regarded obstetrical practice. In each case we were concerned about the logistics of getting off of Nantucket to give birth and about the ensuing disruption to our lives. At the obstetric practice I met with a different doctor for each 10-15 minute appointment. Some of them I liked and connected with, some I did not. When the time came to tour the facilities at the hospital I cried. The nurses seemed so proud of what they had created. I saw alot of machines, linoleum and strangers. The birthing center was a better fit until I was chastised for asking for what I wanted regarding my care. By this time I was in my seventh month. A homebirth had never occurred to me. I had assumed that I would need lots of help when the time came to give birth. I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it without intervention. What turned me towards the option of homebirth was a pre-natal yoga class. The instructor reminded us that women have been giving birth for thousands of years, that we have the innate knowledge and the courage to do this. Jacques and I ended up where we began: Nantucket. We met with Sybille and realized that we had found what we wanted: professional, competent care; great respect for the process of birth and total belief in a woman's ability to do it.
When I went into active labor with our son, Zephyr, Sybille arrived. She was calm, professional, exhilarated and in her element. Sybille is one of the few people I have met of whom I think: She has found her calling. She is doing exactly what she is here to do. She looks like a regular human being until you get her talking about midwifery: then she begins to glow. During labor I felt supported, respected and trusted. The experience was very internal and I was allowed to stay in that place. Five hours later our son was born. Afterwards, Sybille made me scrambled eggs and helped me to take a shower. We saw her the next day, frequently after that and always had the support of her being a phone call away.
The birth of our daughter, Aurora (Scooby), took place two and half years later. I had spent most of my labor with Zephyr in a large tub. Scooby was born in the water. Immediately after her birth she unfolded her arms and legs while she floated under water and looked around. My mother had come to help with our son and was amazed by the differences between what she saw and what her own experiences had been 35-40 years ago. Grandmother and granddaughter met soon after Scoobs was born. There were no policies or procedures that kept our family apart. We laid the baby down on the kitchen counter and crowded around to admire her. My mom's dog, Scarlett, put her paws up on the counter, sniffing and trying to lick her. Scarlett couldn't stay away. She would whine and pace when Scooby cried and kept trying to lick her. My guess is she had never seen such a new baby either.
Our children, now seven and five, know just where in the house they where born, Scooby in the tub in the living room and Zephyr on the floor by the door. They know about the neighbors congratulating my husband the day after Zephyr's birth (sound does travel ... ). We see Sybille at the grocery store or walking her dogs and they know that "she helped me be born".
Joan
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