08/11/2026
8 babies. 5 days. One incredible baby boom!
This beautiful birth happened right in the middle of it—and this photo captures so much of what I love about physiologic home birth.
I am just so grateful to witness these profound and sacred moments. The weight of that is never lost on me. It is such an honor to serve during these holy moments!
We Do Not Clamp The Cord Prematurely.
After birth, placental transfusion continues for those important first minutes, providing baby with additional blood volume, increasing iron stores that support development during infancy, and transferring valuable stem cells. We allow this transition to happen naturally. Once the cord is white and limp, we can clamp & cut if desired—but we’re in no rush. Families are too busy breathing in their new babies.
We Do Not Rub The Vernix Off.
Vernix provides remarkable biological protection. It contains antimicrobial proteins and beneficial lipids, supports baby’s developing skin barrier and microbiome, reduces water loss, and naturally moisturizes delicate skin. Within the first hours, much of it simply absorbs.
Skin to Skin.
A mother’s body helps regulate baby’s temperature, breathing, heart rate, and blood sugar. Skin-to-skin encourages breastfeeding and oxytocin release, supporting uterine contractions, bonding, and a smooth newborn transition.
Calm Environment.
Babies recognize their mother’s voice and are comforted by her warmth, smell, touch, and familiar heartbeat. When healthy babies are given warmth, time, and uninterrupted contact, we protect the physiology that is already at work.
Birth isn’t always predictable, and intervention is sometimes necessary. But when mother and baby are healthy, sometimes skilled care means knowing when to protect normal physiology by simply allowing it to unfold.
*Also, she was in a black bathtub with much less water than a birth tub. Because the black tub doesn’t reflect light, her blood loss appears darker and more concentrated in the photo than it actually was.*
Emily Schultz
