Photos and story by Ashley Franscell

A beam of sunlight found Laura Lund as she sat in the middle of a makeshift room submerged in a plastic bathtub. A cold, blue washcloth hung around her neck. Her eyes were closed and her hands draped over her expectant belly.

"You are in control of your birth," whispered a female voice. It seemed as though the mother and child painted onto the canvas in the corner may have spoken those soft words. But, instead, it came from a boom box in the corner hidden behind blue bath towels and medical supplies.

Laura Lund had her fourth child -- her fourth girl -- in her parents' house in Provo under the watch of midwife Suzanne Smith. There were no bright lights. There were no drugs. There were no doctors roaming in and out. What she did have were candles, a warm bathtub and her three daughters asleep in the next room.

The Lunds might have been considered typical parents for their first child, Audrey. They did the weeks of childbirth classes. They did Lamaze. And she was born at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center under the watchful eyes of numerous doctors in 2000.

But Laura's disappointment with the experience lasted weeks, months, even. "I felt like I wasn't in control of my body and the choices," she said. "I had no information to say 'yes' or 'no' to what the doctors were doing."

Smith said that being in control was one of the reasons many women chose to have a midwife and home birth.

As Audrey, now 6, was turning 1, Laura and Matt discussed a second child. Laura began doing research about different birthing methods and had planned on natural childbirth in a hospital. But despite her conclusion, she kept reading and researching. The more she read, the more she learned and the more her decision changed.

"I hated my hospital birth experience but didn't want the homebirth if it wasn't safe," she said.

It wasn't until months later, when Laura picked Matt up from the airport after a week-long business trip to India that Laura told him her decision on a homebirth with a midwife.

"It sounded like playing with fire," said Matt, who was less than agreeable to her choice. "It didn't sound smart, but Laura doesn't take 'no' and she doesn't do anything half way."

In that car ride home, Laura rattled off statistics and numbers that impressed Matt. The mortality rate between hospitals and midwives is equal. There are fewer injuries and interventions with midwives and fewer cesarean sections. And, for a normal, healthy pregnant woman, it is actually safer.

"When you're at home you can do other things, like walks or the tub," she says.

As soon as she found out she was pregnant with her second child, Addie, she knew that she wanted a homebirth and a midwife. Finding Suzanne Smith was the easiest.

"She's the only one we interviewed," said Laura. "But she inspired confidence. She had good numbers and had a file of statistics."

"She's the rock-solid column of the midwife community," said Matt.

Smith began her career in 1994, was the first licensed midwife in Utah and teaches at the Midwives College of Utah in Orem.

"Birth is amazingly empowering," Smith said.

"The first time I called Suzanne for the (Addie's) birth I was like 'Am I really staying homefi' " laughed Laura. No bags needed to be packed to sit waiting by the door. All they had to do was sit, wait and relax in their then-Riverton home. Matt relaxed so much, in fact, that he nearly missed the birth, waking up just 15 minutes before the baby came.

"Suzanne tried to wake me up," Matt said. "I got up, put my swimsuit on and got in the tub (with Laura) and then there (Addie) was."

The birth of her third child, Eva, was much the same. It was fast, relaxing and in the privacy of their own home with Suzanne.

One of the ways that Laura makes it through her labor without drugs is by using "Hypnobabies," a childbirth hypnosis technique of conditioning the body to relax and focusing on naturally relieving pain. The technique, which she also teaches, is about eliminating the fear, tension and stress of birth.

"If you're afraid, you are tense and you're not able to enjoy birth," Laura said.

With all her experience, the fourth child was supposed to be simple. But Laura wasn't prepared for 23 hours of labor. Not one of the three others had gone longer than seven hours. Nine hours into the labor on Sept. 19, the doula, Olivia Allen, came to support Laura at her parents' house in Provo. The Lunds had hoped to have the child at their brand new house but contractors have pushed the completion date back.

Smith came at 1 a.m., 15 hours into labor. Laura's contractions still weren't regular and she was only 5.5 centimeters dilated. Laura went for walks. She ate a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen table. She tried to sleep. At 7:10 a.m., sunlight started filtering through the blinds -- Laura was in her 20th hour of labor.

"This is so unlike her," Smith said as she sat in a chair in the living room, giving Laura privacy in the warm tub to relax.

Her three girls sat on the top step outside their grandparents' guestroom door anxiously awaiting the birth of their baby sister.

Audrey, the oldest, was so excited she could hardly sleep the night before. She made a card for her mother, with "I love you, yes I do," scribbled on the neatly folded computer paper. She brought the card in and clutched it tightly in her hand as she watched the last hour of the birth.

"Audrey grew up emotionally pretty quickly," said Matt. "It's a really neat experience because she could be there."

Being in the room and watching her sister's birth ranks above BYU football and Christmas, Audrey said.

"It's nice that Mom doesn't disappear for a couple of days. They are able to see where the baby comes from and what Mom produces," Laura said.

At the end of the protracted labor, Leah Virginia was born with one good push. The time was 9:24 a.m.

"When a woman has expectations that they can do it naturally, they accomplish it very well," Smith said. "Laura is an amazing birther."

Afterward, as Audrey took pictures, Laura cradled Leah in the bathtub. Only minutes after birth Leah began nursing. The girls ran in and out of the room elated about the delivery as the midwife and her assistant ran tests and began cleaning up the towels and room.

When mom and baby were ready, they moved from the tub to the bed, and cuddled up together.

Matt and Laura have noticed an easier transition into the family with homebirths. "It's easier getting to know this new little person," said Matt.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B12.