My husband and I are excited to announce that our last little light, our rainbow baby, will be making their way into the world and we couldn’t be more excited!

We are hoping to have a home birth complete with highly trained and certified midwives and a doula, and it would mean the world to us if you could help support us in this goal.

There are a few reasons why we would like to have a home birth:

Safety - The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and unfortunately, this rate is more than double for Black and other women of color. My closest hospital has little or no Black OB-GYNs, and I currently travel over an hour to get care from a Black female doctor whom I trust. However, my previous labor was only two hours long. As this is my third and final pregnancy, I do have serious concerns about attempting to travel over an hour while in labor. There’s a high chance that I could deliver in my car.

Advocacy - The C-section rate in my city is pretty high. I am very healthy, low-risk, and have no previous history of medical issues that would knowingly impede my delivery, so I’d like to avoid any unnecessary medical interventions. Of my previous two pregnancies, my last was a home birth, and it was very serene, empowering, and went very smoothly. However, my previous hospital birth was traumatic, painful, and I was given an episiotomy without informed consent, which led to exacerbated tearing, prolonged bleeding, and a healing process that took beyond six weeks. Having a home birth will allow me to ask so many more questions, receive so many more answers, and provide me with a birthing team that is familiar, supportive, and respectful of my thoughts, experiences, and aspirations for myself and baby.

Proximity - The closest hospital is over 20 minutes away from my home, while the closest midwife is just 15 minutes away and is available to me at any time of the day. She is prepared to be on call and fully equipped to help me bring the baby into the world but also has a relationship with the doctors at the local hospital and can help advocate for me in the event that I need to be transferred.

Lastly, the final reason why we’d like to have our baby at home is because we’d love to bring our last little baby into the world in an intimate and meaningful way that will also incorporate our daughters, who will be 6 and 16 at that time. It is my goal to show them child birth doesn’t have to be scary and is in fact a huge act of love, strength, and courage; a superpower that lives within each woman who chooses to give birth. Unfortunately, if we give birth at a hospital, they won’t even be allowed into any room with us until the process is all over.

There are many other reasons like language barriers, proximity to the Mexican border, current events, etc., but the ones listed above are the ones closest to our hearts.

We need your support because due to rapid changes in the economy and me having to spend 3 months out of work due to bad nausea, my husband has been shouldering the weight of our monthly and day-to-day expenses completely on his own. He has been such a force making it all work, and I plan to return to work as soon as the pregnancy sickness resolves to help us catch up, but it would be healthier for the baby and myself if I ask for help. So humbly I ask, will you help us?

We are over 4 months in, and then in 5 months or possibly a little less, I will be out of work again to take care of the baby, and my husband will only have two weeks of paternity leave. Your donations will be used to help us pay for the home birth expenses, doula, out-of-pocket costs for labs as our insurance will not cover anything, meals, bills, or any unexpected expenses to arise from the pregnancy/delivery.

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read this request and do ask that you may also share this fundraiser even if you yourself are not able to give. I appreciate each and every one of you who will give your love by way of sharing and/or donating, and we plan to send a special thank you gift that includes baby’s first photo to anyone who would like to receive one.

With much appreciation,

Lashay & Jonathan Montemayor