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Family Decides To Welcome Baby At Home

By Staff | Feb 25, 2015

Clare Cannizzaro with Safford.

Each baby is unique and special, but little Safford Hugo Cannizzaro of New Martinsville had an extra-unique debut into this world.

On Jan. 28 at 7:45 a.m., Safford was born . . . at home. The decision was well throughout by mom and dad, Clare and Bart Cannizzaro.

“We originally planned to go back to Marietta Memorial,” Clare explains. She and husband Bart are also the parents of two more boys-Simon and Spencer.

“All my prenatal care had been done at Marietta Memorial by an amazing midwife who did all of our care and delivery with Simon,” Clare explains. “We had a lovely and relaxed experience there. But even as non-medical as my first two births were, I still was curious about an even gentler approach, not the sterile, bright atmosphere of a hospital. I also had a feeling that this labor was going to go fast enough that I wasn’t going to want to have the baby in the car on the way to the hospital, in freezing cold weather!”

Clare states that she discussed the situation with Bart and decided “that we were comfortable having a home birth, taking into consideration that we now live in town and are close enough to local medical care, should we have needed it.” Clare adds that her health through her entire pregnancy had also been excellent and the baby was also very healthy.

The proud papa, Bart, with Baby Safford Hugo Cannizzaro. (Photos provided by the Cannizzaros.)

“I used essential oils and natural supplements through my entire pregnancy which kept my immune system strong and my energy level good. I also taught all my dance classes up until the night before Safford was born, which kept me physically fit!” said Clare who is a wellness advocate for Doterra and co-owns the Academy for Dance and Theatre Arts with Bart.

Clare states that she used essential oils for muscle and ligament aches, headaches, and to calm any queasy stomach issues she had. Bart also diffused stress relieving oils while she was in labor. Healing oils were also used on Safford’s cord, which amazingly healed in just three days.

“I also use oils to assist my hormones to balance back to normal and also on the rest of the family to help adjust to having a new baby in the house.

“I felt very confident that I could have the baby at home with no difficulty,” Clare notes. She adds that the family had been talking to a certified midwife from Wheeling who had planned to meet with them and come to their home for the delivery. “As it was, we never had a chance to meet her since Safford decided to be a January boy. His due date wasn’t until Feb. 24.”

“The midwife that we planned to meet with just happened to be available at 5:30 a.m. when my water broke!” Clare notes. “Despite having never met her, she readily agreed to come deliver the baby and got to our house at 7 a.m. We introduced ourselves, my husband made quiche for breakfast, and Safford was born at 7:45 a.m.! She also did the post-care for us, the PKU test for Saff, and all the paperwork for a birth certificate.”

A snapshot of Safford Cannizarro on Feb. 24, his actual due date.

Clare also did plenty of research to prepare for the birth of Safford. “I did do some research and have good friends who had home births,” she notes. “I think it is becoming a bit more common, just not in our area. One of the articles I found was about medical professionals who were choosing to have their own children at home instead of at the hospital, and that really spoke to me. The cases of severe illnesses in hospitals also made me think about bringing a tiny, but healthy, newborn into the world, directly into that setting!”

She adds: “If you have a normal, healthy pregnancy with no history of complications, delivering a baby does not have to be considered a scary, risky event that must take place into a medical setting. It can take place very safely with educated attendants in an atmosphere that is comfortable and relaxing for baby and mama, not to mention the rest of the family!” Clare adds that her oldest son, Spencer, was present for Safford’s birth and was determined to cut the cord. He was then able to bond with his baby brother immediately, “for as long as he wanted since Safford wasn’t whisked away to be weighed and bathed immediately.”

Clare notes that she didn’t look at the birth as a scary, painful experience. Her oldest son saw it as a normal and healthy experience and “saw me laughing and joking between contractions!”

“I do believe that being greeted by our normal and crazy circus is what was best for Saff, just as a hospital or birthing center is the perfect place for those who choose that setting.”

Clare states that “to add to the comical aspect of that day, Bart had been working for weeks to renovate our bathroom to replace the shower with a bathtub.”

“Since Saff was so early, our house was still a construction zone . . . So in true Cannizzaro circus fashion, we had a baby at home, a month early, with a midwife we had never met, and we had no shower!

“I ended up walking to the neighbor’s house and went back to teaching my dance classes 12 days later . . . We are completely insane!”

Interestingly enough, Clare states that Safford is Bart’s mother’s maiden name. “Out of 14 children and 40 grandchildren, no one has used that as a first name yet. Safford’s actual due date, Feb. 24, also happened to be her birthday. So we have parts of our families in his name.” She adds, “Hugo is a variation on my maiden name, which was Hughes.

“The delivery at home was great because there was no “hurry up and get there” stress, or “you have to push now” stress, or any clinical stresses associated with being in the hospital during flu season,” Bart states of the experience.

“I was wary of the home birth at first because I did not feel qualified to deliver. However, it could not have been more of a good decision. Had we tried to get into the car and drive to Marietta to deliver, I would have been delivering the baby on the St. Marys Bridge, so at home in the warm house was just fine!”