We took a drive this afternoon and met with the first set of Nurse-Midwives. They are an organization of four nurse midwives who deliver babies in a hospital. This is different from the registered midwife we met with last night, whose main focus is on home births.

This process of interviews has really helped to settle Allyson and me on what things we find to be important in the birth of Binker. We knew at the outset, for example, that we didn't want to have the baby through the network of OB-GYNs here in town. When Allyson was first pregnant, they refused to even meet with her before her first trimester was complete, and during a delivery, it's a matter of who's on call that night to determine who does the delivery. We're more relationship-driven than that, and wanted to have someone we have spent some time with and are comfortable with when we welcome Binker into the world.

These nurse midwives struck us as an extremely good blend of opportunities--the midwife aspect provides more attention to the family, allows Allyson to have a specific birthing plan and to deliver in a manner that feels comfortable to her, and yet takes place in a hospital, where if something were to go wrong we have all of the necessary facilities at our disposal.

So we have been weighing the options of whether we would prefer the comfort and familiarity of our own home, or the security and solidity of a hospital. And, after much discussion over a (much needed) Indian dinner, we've come to a conclusion. We feel that the important aspects of our delivery are that it be with a trusted and supportive caregiver, and that the baby be born in a safe manner. There is a ceremonial aspect to the home birth that, while appealing, isn't vital to our experience.

So we've decided to go with the nurse midwives.