Over the next few weeks we will be introducing you to some of the volunteers of the Kentucky Home Birth Coalition. They are citizens, parents, and advocates just like you. If you would like to become more involved as a volunteer, please let us know!
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Hi, I’m KHBC volunteer Mary Kathryn DeLodder. I’m a native of Kentucky’s Purchase region and currently reside in Louisville. My husband and I are parents to two-year-old Henry. We are expecting our second child to be born at home in November 2013.
Long before becoming pregnant with Henry, I found an interest in pregnancy and normal birth by way of my quest for more information on holistic living. It didn’t take long for me to discover the idea of giving birth at home, which led to a confusing start 
to understanding the home birth landscape of Kentucky. There was some information available online, but it was hard to understand to someone new to the concept of home birth. Was it legal? Was it even possible? And how does one even begin to find a home birth midwife? There certainly seemed to be more questions than answers.
I was fortunate to connect with people who helped to answer some of my questions. During my first pregnancy, I had excellent prenatal care from a wonderfully skilled direct entry midwife. Although we always planned on having a home birth, we ended up with a lovely hospital birth after our little guy decided to make his entrance a little earlier than any of us had planned.
Now, several years later I’ve learned all about the legalities of home birth in Kentucky, and I’m proud to be helping the Kentucky Home Birth Coalition. While I was fortunate to be in an area of the state where information and access to home birth is somewhat available, I know this isn’t the case for families in many areas of Kentucky. Even here in Louisville the information can be hard to find if you aren’t connected to someone “in the know.”
Every family deserves to have choices in childbirth, and they deserve access to qualified birth attendants. KHBC will eventually make this happen, but not without widespread support throughout the state. I’m not a birth professional or a political expert (I’d never really taken any political action before getting involved with KHBC), but I AM passionate about KHBC and its mission. What I do have is time to volunteer and a willingness to do that which I am capable of doing. I hope you will get involved, as I have, to make the dream of licensing CPMs in Kentucky a reality!
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