DENVER - When Lindsey’s contractions started, instead of rushing to the hospital, she went for a walk with her 2-year old son and dog to help take her mind off of labor and to allow the birthing process to progress without intervention. After having a traumatic labor that ended in an unplanned cesarean section with her first son’s birth, Lindsey decides to plan a homebirth for her second child.

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DENVER - Lindsey braces as Lindsey’s contractions intensify.

11913DeliveryLindsey's Homebirthbirth

DENVER - Twelve hours after Lindsey Frank's first contractions, the pain becomes unbearable. She is at home surrounded by two midwives and a doula who support her through the pain. Frank will not have any access to painkillers while attempting a homebirth. A birthing tub is used to help soothe the pain. This image is part of a story on natural birthing choices for women who have experienced unwanted cesarean operations.

DENVER - At 7:31 a.m. on November 9, 2013, Lindsey’s son is born and he is immediately brought to her chest where he takes his first breath. He is later named Abel which is Hebrew for breath.

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DENVER - Less than a week after celebrating a successful vaginal birth at home, Lindsey can’t escape the "baby blues" and lies on the floor of her bathroom weeping. The baby blues is not to be confused with postpartum depression, however it is much more common. Four out of five women experience the baby blues with symptoms like crying without apparent cause and shifts in mood. The baby blues is attributed to fatigue and to a dramatic shift of hormones that had been stored in the placenta but exit the body at childbirth.

Birthhome birthlabor and deliverymidwifemidwiferydrug freeVBACHBACbirthing tubchildbirthtens machinedoulaDenverColorado