Pictured are Sierra and Jeremy Mason and their sons, Giannis and Silas. Silas was recently delivered by the couple at their own home. Submitted photo

When it comes to childbirth, every person’s story and every person’s decisions are different.

One local couple who recently gave birth to their second son in their own home rather than the hospital are sharing the reasons behind that decision.

Sierra Mason and her husband Jeremy recently gave birth to their second son, Silas, and while they said they were originally planning on a hospital birth, they eventually decided giving birth at home was a better way for them.

“It wasn’t really part of the discussion, doing an at home birth, but as time went on I really started to look into birth sovereignty or taking radical responsibility over my own pregnancy, labor, and delivery, and some of the fear-based decision making that a lot of people make in having a hospital birth, which I think that there is definitely a time and place for hospital births,” Sierra Mason said. “There are times where it’s necessary but we did a lot of prenatal care to make sure that everything was healthy for him and safe and knowing that there weren’t any pertinent, alarming diagnoses I felt comfortable with the research that I had done and if anything took place I would know what decisions to make to keep him the safest and keep myself the safest.”

Additionally, Mason said she felt she was being pulled to deliver her son independently with the help of her husband. The birth itself she said went great, with her being in labor for 14 hours, with what she described as intense labor for only about two hours, adding that she only needed to push for about 10 minutes. The delivery happened in their bedroom with Jeremy Mason catching the baby when he was delivered.

“We sort of talked each other through the whole thing,” Mason said. “He described to me what he was seeing as I was going through the process of birth. When he came out I stimulated him; I cleared his airways and he was great.”

Mason’s mother was in the living room at the time with the couple’s oldest son, Giannis, and came in and swaddled the baby for them. Mason said there were no issues, and that “he’s been perfect ever since”.

“I think her and I going through that was probably the most powerful coming together moment we’ve ever had, and that we could ever have really,” Jeremy Mason said.

Mason added that the process took a lot of courage and knowledge, saying that it should not be taken lightly how much research they put into making the decision before the birth. She said she would not encourage anyone to make a similar decision if they were not 100% certain it was for them and without research and knowing it was a healthy pregnancy.

“I just want people to be aware of the power they really do have,” Mason said. “I think that as a society we often give our power away because we’re indoctrinated into certain belief systems that make us feel like we have no choice, but if you’re being called to step into something that feels scary at first I would just encourage you to reconsider. I suppose that’s what we did here.”

Jeremy Mason added to that, saying they wanted to encourage people to have control over their own lives and share that with their loved ones.

Doing the right thing for their loved ones is one of the most important things the Masons said they want people to take away from their story. Jeremy Mason said sacrificing fear and time means that a person is doing the right thing and that at times everyone has the tendency to focus on themselves and being able to give everything for one’s family and “share something so beautiful” like they used to do long ago when everyone gave birth at home, was something they wanted to bring back. He said it is something that is pretty much unheard of to have an unassisted birth, adding that they did not think about that aspect but more about how they knew they could do it as a family. Mason added that this way of giving birth is done in many other places in the world and that she believes in America that it is thought that doing it unassisted means something bad is guaranteed to happen.

“That’s not the case in most situations,” Mason said. “A lot of things that happen in your pregnancy and delivery are variations of normal. Even though they might feel scary, if you learn about them and educate yourself they’re not as scary as they seem.”

She reemphasized doing research and getting educated, and being willing to think deeper and ask questions. She added that a person should trust their own abilities and dig deeper than just trusting what they are told.

The Masons noted that there is a global community of people that do births at home and can answer questions about resources or anything, known as the Free Birth Society. There are also books, podcasts and other ways to find more information about others that have also made this decision.

“I think our biggest thing is we definitely want people to be more considerate of their options and have their children be more safe, more happy, more healthy,” Jeremy Mason said.

Mason added that she is a mental health therapist and is not against getting medical assistance, but that she thinks there is a time and place for it.

“I am a strong proponent for your own autonomy and stepping into that self agency and being the master of your own life,” Mason said.