Positive Birth Stories
Women can overcome the fear surrounding labor and birth by hearing or reading Positive Birth Stories. I have asked a number of my Bradley Method® and Prenatal Yoga students to write their experiences down to share with other couples. Most of these stories on my blog http://prenatalyoga.wordpress.com are stories of natural birth. A couple of them are not, but these mothers were able to turn their baby's birth into an empowering experience and bring their babies into the world in the best, safest, and gentlest way possible.
"Women need to hear positive birth stories. Sadly, women who have positive, transformative, challenging but amazing births usually don't tell their stories. They may think it's not normal, or may not want to make other women feel inferior. Women need to share their birth stories, both positive and difficult, and when they're difficult, we should examine why and what could have changed. These stories have the power to transform how society looks at birth, to dispel the myths and relieve the fear." Debra Pascali-Bonaro
Welcome Cora Lou
This is one of the most beautiful birth stories I've ever read. It is a positive family-centered Cesarean experience. Congratulations…
Welcome Cora Lou
Birth Story
On July 24th at 1:15 in the afternoon, we welcomed sweet Cora Louise into our lives. Nothing can fully prepare one for the experience of becoming parents. The moment she arrives feels hurried and fleeting but it is nothing short of miraculous.
Jesse and I had been hoping for a natural birth, with as little medical intervention as pos- sible but our little baby’s head was securely positioned, close to my heart, up between my ribs. We tried everything to encourage her to turn, from Moxibustion to Chiropractic to Massage to a pregnant version of “planking” and although she felt very active and we held out hope she would flip, we had a Cesarean scheduled for the 28th of July.
I had expressed to Jesse on Saturday, that I was disappointed to show no signs of labor
as the 28th drew nearer because I really wanted the baby to let us know when she was ready to arrive. Well, that night, I had an unexpected “bloody show,” which Jesse insists on pronouncing with a British accent, and proceeded to re-read every book on pregnancy we had to remind myself that there was nothing to panic about and to go about life as normal. I was very grateful to baby, though, for the little hint at readiness.
Early Sunday morning, I awoke to what I knew were the signs of beginning labor. Mild, slightly painful, definitely not practice, contractions which were about 10 minutes apart. Our weeks of preparation, of staving off the trip to the hospital for as long as possible, were challenged by the breech situation and my desire to avoid an emergency cesarean.
So against Jesse’s urging, I called the hospital nice and early. My reasoning was, if we checked the position of the baby and she was side- ways or maybe even head down, I could return home to eat my meal and prepare my body to relax for natural labor, but if she continued
to be head up, I wouldn’t eat anything as I would be having major abdominal surgery later in the day.
My midwife, in the last few weeks, had spent a generous amount of time mentally and spiritually preparing me for a cesarean. I had some definite fears and disappointment about requiring medical intervention but we did a lot of work to reframe the ideas and details of a cold and routine surgery to a warm and celebratory birth that would allow me to be brave and present no matter how my daughter should arrive into our lives.
When we arrived at Tri-City around 10:00, I requested to first see the position before a vaginal exam. Our little girl was absolutely, unmovably, head up. The surgeon said that the contracting of my uterus would actually make it harder for her to flip. We discussed waiting until the planned cesarean in four days but my cervix was soft and dilating and waiting put us at the mercy of hospital scheduling. I felt I had done so much work to prepare for the surgery that the less rushed we were, the more present I could stay.
I met with an anesthesiologist, and by 12:30 I was ready for our birth experience. I know that we have spent weeks in Liza’s class educating ourselves so that we can avoid an unnecessary cesarean, but if it is necessary, here is what I can offer that helped me along.
Crossing into the operating room is a big red line, as I walked over it, I took a moment to think that crossing it meant I was going to become a mother. I knew what the spinal block was made of, the position I would sit in to receive the shot and the feeling it would give me as it numbed my lower body. The spinal was not very painful. The needle was small; it burned a little. The midwife held my hands and looked straight into my eyes to encourage me. I was quite scared and close to tears, but tried very hard to just take it all in. This was my own birth story happening.
When they laid me on the table, the lights were very bright and they spread my arms out to the sides. Sometimes they restrain them, but they laid a warm blanket over me instead. Waiting for the medication to set in, I paid close attention to my breathing and tried my best to relax. In the room were two assistants, a midwife, the surgeon, a neo-natalogist, and a nursery nurse. Jesse arrived in scrubs and sat by my head. Everyone wore masks and it was difficult to hear but their eyes were all friendly and encouraging.
Jesse and I wrote a birth plan that included requests for both natural labor and Cesarean. I had requested music and had planned to spend Sunday constructing the perfect Labor- land playlist. Instead, I had to quickly make a playlist on my phone while we waited in triage before the surgery. Jesse, smelling of my requested lavender scent, held the phone by my ear as I tried to relax to a song about a bird in a cage. Having music was an impor- tant detail that my surgeon broke some rules to accommodate. I am grateful because the familiar songs brought a lot of comfort.
Neither Jesse nor I actually watched the surgery, but I constantly checked in for reassurance that every thing was happening smoothly. The anesthesiologist did some very convincing tests that I would feel nothing and the anesthesia didn’t have any of the dreaded rare effects, like headache or shortness of breath. The small incision was made at my bikini line and then the midwife guided little baby down and out. This was quite a feat as she was very high up and very breech. I heard a lot of effortful grunting from behind the drape. When she was out, they lowered the drape, as I had requested, and showed me what looked to be a near perfect little baby. Heavy, at 8lbs 10oz, but proportional. Having been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I spent the pregnancy monitoring and carefully controlling my diet and so I actually argued with the surgeon about my baby’s weight. It went something like this.
“Wow, congratulations, she’s heavy! Maybe nine pounds!”
“No she’s not.”
“Yes she is, I can tell. She’s a very good size.”
“No, I had controlled my diabetes, she’s supposed to be small.” “Well you’re both pretty tall. Anyway, she looks great.”
I remember thinking my midwife would think I cheated on all that food diary business I was keeping for six months. Her blood sugar was thrice checked, though, and she had all the signs of a healthy baby with a well-controlled blood sugar. Not the rolly-polly, smoking youTube baby I had feared!
Jesse then accompanied our new daughter to the nursery where he fielded a barrage of tests and procedures. We opted for no ointment in the eyes and no Hepatitis Vaccine. We did allow the Vitamin K as she had some bruising from being hard to get out from her breech position. The nursery nurse was a little abrasive, so we also opted for no bath until later. We ended up with the best nurse in the world who gave her her first bath a few days later in a loving, calm environment. Cora continues to enjoy having a shampoo, I think thanks to Betty – the greatest nurse.
My delivery of the placenta went unnoticed as I was entirely consumed with new baby. Stitching me up took the most time as they carefully repaired me layer by layer. At this point, I felt pretty dizzy from the morphine in the spinal and also a bit itchy, but still in good spirits.
Jesse brought the baby back to me in the recovery room about 30 minutes later. I had requested for my mom to be allowed to meet me in recovery but you are only allowed one banded person. I actually enjoyed the silent alone time to reflect on my experience and try to calmly relax through the dizziness. When I had Cora in my arms, I set right to work on breastfeeding which has been very successful. I have since had many consultations from the lactation specialists just to double check and continue to encourage what has been going, thankfully, very smoothly.
I spent 3 nights in the hospital. The pain got very bad on the 2nd night as I was really trying to stave off using Ibuprofen and Percocet for pain. I was obviously, very against medication for a natural birth and had a hard time reconciling with using them after surgery. But when the pain got so bad that I didn’t think I could feed the baby, I took them and they helped. Natural delivery isn’t something that needs to be treated and fixed. Surgery kind of is. It has been 10 days and I am down to only an Ibuprofen at night.
We saw the pediatrician on Monday and he congratulated Jesse and me for keeping a new- born baby healthy and happy for a whole week. She is a little person in our lives, surprising us with thoughtful stares and sleepy, unconscious smiles. I would describe my pregnancy as fairly stressful and although I was continuously told none of it would matter once the baby arrived, I didn’t actually understand that until she was in my arms. I plan to use the same advice for any panicked worried mom-to-be I encounter. I totally understand the worry, but I have nearly forgotten the negatives of my journey now that our baby is here. It’s true, I stare for hours and marvel daily. By the way, it’s 5 o’clock and I am still un-showered and in my pajamas. Welcome to baby time!
Tags: baby, beautiful, birth, Bradley birth, Bradley Method, C-section, Cesarean, delivery, doula, family centered, full term pregnancy, hospital, labor, Liza Janda, midwife, positive, positive birth stories, prenant, prenatal yoga, www.yogajanda.com, yoga
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Jasmine’s Birth Story
Day of The day started out with Sarah getting some much stronger contractions (around 4AM) than she had been getting for the last week or so. She was able to breathe through them though and in the morning when I got up for work she seemed pretty much the same emotionally and physically as the night before. This happened to be my first day of work back in the office after working from home the entire previous week. Off to work I went and the day proceeded on as usual. At about 9:30AM I received an IM from Sarah asking what my work schedule looked like today and tomorrow. I was immediately suspicious of the question and began to get excited! I told her I had 1 appointment today and one appointment tomorrow. She then said, “You may need to cancel your appointment for tomorrow”. Which I then was super excited and responded with, “Really?!” She told me her contractions were now 5 ½ minutes apart and the same intensity as the early morning ones. She also said that she wanted to take a walk and needed a walking buddy, so she drove up to her mother’s house in Vista. (We live in Escondido.) They walked all over a local park but things didn’t advance any further. I was anxiously awaiting an update as I continued working throughout the day. Sarah decided that she wanted to go get a trigger point and reflexology message from a friend of ours. I highly recommend this to anyone as long as they go to someone who knows what they are doing. You’ll see why in a minute. After a few more IMs throughout the day, it was decided that I would not need to come home early as she had not progressed any further. Sarah finished her “massage”, I say “massage” because it is not a pleasant massage as one typically thinks of. This “massage” is designed to trigger contractions and get things moving down there. Sarah left from her “massage” at about 5:50ish PM. She called me immediately on her way home and said that her contractions had become even more intense but still at about 5 ½ minutes apart. While we were on the phone I hear “oh s*%t, my water just broke”! Two weeks prior Braxton Hicks contractions have now turned into steady actual contractions. Doctor’s visits are weekly now and during our regularly scheduled visit we stated to the doctor (Dr. Langley is awesome!) that Sarah had been having actual contractions now but that they were not consistent yet. The doctor checked her cervix and to our surprise Sarah was 2cm dilated and 60% effaced! What joy! Hold up. Don’t get too excited yet. The next few days roll by and contractions went from 10 minutes apart to 7 minutes apart. Sweet! She is making more progress! Her cervix is checked this week and she is at 3ish cm dilated and still 60% effaced. I just kept telling myself and Sarah “Hold it together and don’t get discouraged”. We are so close! Also, I think we walked about a bazillion miles over the next couple of days, to include lots of stairs! Over the following weekend we continued with normal plans. We got up on Saturday morning and Sarah ran some errands while I did some long needed house work. On Sunday we went to church as usual and then off to hang out with a friend of ours who just had a baby. I’m telling you, we pulled out all the stops to get things going. Day of continued… Recap: “Oh s*%t, my water just broke”! Immediately contractions were much more intense. She needed help cleaning up the truck, so I met her in the drive way to help cleanup. I started gathering the last minute things that we needed to throw in the truck and head to the hospital. Sarah said, “Just because my water broke doesn’t mean we need to rush off to the hospital”. Which I knew but was very worried with how intense her contractions were. They were veeeeeery strong at this point and seemed to be probably about 2-3 minutes apart. I wasn’t tracking with my contraction app at this point. I was too busy trying to help Sarah through another contraction. By the time we got in the house she was starting another contraction and said she wanted to get in the shower. (Ladies, I highly recommend a nice hot shower. It was amazing for Sarah.) The water felt great and it helped the pain be more manageable but at this point the contractions have now kicked up another notch. Then I hear, “I really feel like I need to push”. What?! “Don’t push” I kept telling her. To which she would respond with “No push” as this was all she could manage at this point. At this point I have to leave her in the shower and pack up as much of the last minute things needed as much as possible in between contractions. Now they are right on top of each other and I’m not getting a chance to really do anything. So finally I tell her, I’m sorry love, I have to get this stuff out to the truck and then we are going to the hospital. She said OK then I am going to stay in the shower. I quickly pull together the last few things and go flying out to the truck. I run back into the house and Sarah is out of the shower and getting her robe on so that we can get on the road. She is still having contraction after contraction with only about maybe a minute break in between. On the freeway now from Escondido to Scripps Encinitas, this was the longest car ride in history! We couldn’t get there fast enough! Why are there other cars on the road now?! Argh! So it is now 6:20ish PM and I’m breaking just a couple of laws 
with hazards flashing and me waving people over like a mad man because they won’t move out of the way. I drove fast but safe. By the way, if you ever see anyone with hazard lights flashing and driving fast down the highway, move out of the way! You are supposed to turn on your hazards when you have emergencies and other drivers are supposed to move out of your way, but I digress. So, Sarah is hanging on to the door and the handle trying desperately not to push. She just kept saying “No push” over and over. I kept encouraging her. “You are doing so great baby. I love you. Don’t push.” We finally get to the hospital and it is now 6:45PM. We get to the counter and I said my wife is in labor, we are already registered in your system and we need to get into a room ASAP. I had called in ahead so I knew they had one for us. ☺ I highly recommend everyone do this as well. We get into the room and the nurse hooks Sarah up to fetal monitor and checks her cervix. At first she said “oh wow, she has no cervix”, but then checked again and said that she was at 9cm and baby is at 0 station. Sarah is now having a serious urge to push and shaking uncontrollably trying not to because the nurses told her she can’t yet until the cervix is all the way gone. The nurse called the doctor to come over because things are obviously about to go down. The whole time this is happening (maybe 10 minutes) they are still trying to get babies heartbeat. They got a week signal and wanted to use the internal monitor instead. To which we both said “no, we want to do this natural”. The nurses response was then “that has nothing to do with natural but OK”. Looking back on it now, she was correct but we knew what we wanted and we just said the wrong thing. Sarah did have to get an IV due to the precipitous labor with electrolyte fluids and an oxygen mask because she kept saying she felt like she was going to pass out (focused on breathing out, no so much the breathing in). The doctor comes in and it’s now 7:15 PM and he starts filling out all the required paper work that you typically do prior to delivery. Little things like consent forms. The nurse checks Sarah’s cervix again and I hear “oh…. That’s babies head”. “Doctor you need to get over here to catch”. He is getting his scrub top on and Sarah yells “No push”! The doctor asks why “no push”? Sarah said “I’m not allowed to”. Then the doctor said that she was cleared to push and that it was actually “highly recommended at this point”. Sarah gave a couple of grunts with some decent pushes with a good yell and the head came out up to Jasmine’s (our baby) eyes. The nurse quickly grabbed the head to get ready to catch as everyone was caught off guard due to how quickly it all happened. The doctor said, “please don’t scream, we are about to bring your child into the world” (which was meant to be funny and we laugh about it now) and came over and said “when you are ready, go ahead and push again”. Sarah gave one more good push and our babies head was out! The whole time I’m encouraging Sarah and giving her a play by play of what is happening. I told her I could see the head now and that she was almost there. “Keep pushing.” She pushed one more time and our beautiful baby girl was born at 7:42PM on 8/22. If you are doing the math Sarah was only in active labor for 1 hour and 42 minutes. Insanely fast for a first time baby. Coming in at 9cm was waiting a little too long but we think it worked out in our benefit because Sarah was concentrating so hard on not pushing that she barely even tore when it was finally time to push. All in all it was a truly amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Jasmine Marie 7lbs 15oz : 19.5 inches
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Turning around the whole birth experience 180 degrees. Welcome to the world Brooklyn!
My contractions started on Sunday night after a long day with the family @ Sea World. Even though Garrett pushed me around in a wheelchair all day, I was still exhausted when we got home and started having contractions around midnight that were every 5-7 minutes apart. I woke up on Monday morning and the contractions had pretty much died down, maybe one an hour off and on throughout the day. This continued on until Wednesday afternoon when I had my prenatal appt. @ Dr. Cap's office. He checked me and I was 3 cm dialated and contracting about 4-6 times an hour. We discussed how I could start labor at any time but it may takes days or even weeks. We decided that he would just "stretch" my cervix a little bit and see if it helped moved things along. I was OK with this idea because it had been a long week already and I was VERY ready to get the whole thing going. Dr. Cap assured me that if the baby wasn't ready to come out, then the "stretching" wouldn't do anything, but if she was…. then we might have a baby soon 
By 9:00 that night, my contractions were getting stronger and more regular. I was able to download a contraction app. on my sister's I-phone (highly recommended!!!) and could soon tell that things were progressing along and that I was in the first stages of early labor. I was able to relax through them and began packing my bags and preparing the house for the baby's arrival. I tried to lay down and sleep from about 11-2 AM and was able to get some rest in between the tightening in my uterus. At around 2 AM I woke Garrett up and told him that I was definetely in labor and that we should probably get out all of our worksheets and handouts from class (which I had organized in a binder and put in the suitcase for the hospital). I was surprised at how well I was able to relax through each contraction and how minimal the pain was compared to what I thought it was gong to be. My doula and i texted back and forth all night and she offered to come over to help me but I was totally fine and told her I would call her when we felt it was time to go to the hospital. Now this is when it got a little tricky….. we kept going back and forth about when we should leave the house!!! The most helpful thing to us in making our decision was the hand out you gave us early on in the class that described the physical and emotional signs of true labor. Even though my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, I was still talking, laughing, and was even able to braid my hair! We decided that we could probably hang out at home at least until I couldn't talk through the contractions so I hopped in the bathtub. I was probably in the tub for about an hour and Garrett was massaging my back when my water broke. Immediately after that, things definitely started to pick up and I could feel myself getting more serious and unable to form complete sentences! the contractions were getting stronger but I was still definitely able to handle them and relax through them by leaning over the counter and kind of squatting my legs (not sure if that's an official Bradley position but it worked for me!). We headed for the hospital around 6:00 AM and the car ride was NOT FUN! I ended up sitting backwards on the seat holding onto the headrest with a pillow under my rear end for support. You were right when you said that there is no way to be comfortable in the car! Every bump intensifies labor but my race car driver husband was able to get us there in no time and I made it through. By the time I got to the hospital, my doula was waiting out front for us to help us get our things and get checked into labor & delivery. She took one look at me and knew that we didn't have much time! I had 4 contractions on the way into the hospital and was cussing like a sailor in the hallways probably scaring all of the other patients. I have to say that the last hour was really the only part the threw me for a loop. The contractions were bearable but everything seemed to get much more intense in that last hour. I got into the delivery room and the nurse hooked me up to a few monitors while I sat on top of the bed on all fours. She checked me and I was already @ 9.5 cm! I have to admit, I still begged the nurse for an epidural My doula reminded me that I was in transition and that it is very common to doubt yourself at this point in the labor. I really didn't believe her but didn't get much of a chance to argue because it was time to push! The only problem with pushing was that my doctor wasn't there yet! I totally forgot to mention that in all of the time I was at home, I was in constant communication with my doula. I even let her know when we were in the car on our way to the hospital. We were about 10 minutes from the hospital when I realized that we forgot to call Dr. Cap. and let him know that we were on our way! Luckily for us, he lives less than 2 miles from Scripps Encinitas and came in just as I started to push. This was probably the scariest part of the whole labor for me because it was something my body was doing on it's own that I really seemed to have no control over. The only way I can describe it is that it is the most REAL LIFE feeling in the world! The intensity of the whole thing scared me and each time I had a contraction, I remember thinking how there was no way that I could do this! I guess I kept saying it out loud, because my doula kept reminding me that I was already doing it! My husband was amazing through the whole process and was such a great support. He held my hands, rubbed my back, and just kept telling me that I was doing a wonderful job and that the baby would be here soon. Garrett held my hands while I pushed little Brooklyn out into this world and it was the most amazing feeling in the world to hold my beautiful baby girl!!!! Thank you Liza for helping me change my whole birth experience 180 degrees!!! I will always be greatful for finding you and for the wonderful information you provided to help us make the right decision for our family
Tags: birth, Bradley Method, contraction, delivery, dilation, doula, Dr. Nick Capetenakis, epidural, labor, natural, positions for, Scripps Encinitas, transition
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Home Birth On the Rise a Dramatic 20%
NEW YORK (AP) — One mother chose home birth because it was cheaper than going to a hospital. Another gave birth at home because she has multiple sclerosis and feared unnecessary medical intervention. And some choose home births after cesarean sections with their first babies.
Whatever their motivation, all are among a striking trend: Home births increased 20 percent from 2004 to 2008, accounting for 28,357 of 4.2 million U.S. births, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in May.
White women led the drive, with 1 in 98 having babies at home in 2008, compared to 1 in 357 black women and 1 in 500 Hispanic women.
Sherry Hopkins, a Las Vegas midwife, said the women whose home births she’s attended include a pediatrician, an emergency room doctor and nurses. “We’re definitely seeing well-educated and well-informed people who want to give birth at home,” she said.
Robbie Davis-Floyd, a medical anthropologist at the University of Texas at Austin and researcher on global trends in childbirth, obstetrics and midwifery, said “at first, in the 1970s, it was largely a hippie, countercultural thing to give birth outside of the hospital. Over the years, as the formerly ‘lay’ midwives have become far more sophisticated, so has their clientele.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which certifies OB-GYNs, warns that home births can be unsafe, especially if the mother has high-risk conditions, if a birth attendant is inadequately trained and if there’s no nearby hospital in case of emergency. Some doctors also question whether a “feminist machoism” is at play in wanting to give birth at home.
But home birthers say they want to be free of drugs, fetal monitors, IVs and pressure to hurry their labor at the behest of doctors and hospitals. They prefer to labor in tubs of water or on hands and knees, walk around their living rooms or take comfort in their own beds, surrounded by loved ones as they listen to music or hypnosis recordings with the support of midwives and doulas. Some even go without midwives and rely on husbands or other non-professionals for support.
Julie Jacobs, 38, of Baltimore, who has multiple sclerosis, said she “chose midwives and hypnosis because I wanted to surround myself with people who would support me as a birthing mother, rather than view me as an MS patient who would be a liability in need of interventions at every turn.”
Her first two children were born in a freestanding birth center operated by midwives. After the center closed, her third child was born at home in 2007. “If I had been in a hospital I probably would have had C-sections for all three,” she said. “With the first, I would have been terrified to try a home birth. After the second one I was like, hey, I can’t necessarily walk in a straight line, but I can do this.”
Some home birthers cite concerns over cesarean sections. The U.S. rate of C-sections in hospitals hovers around 32 percent, soaring up to 60 percent in some areas. In some cases, there’s a “too posh to push” mentality of scheduled inductions for convenience sake (Victoria Beckham had three).
Gina Crosley-Corcoran, a Chicago blogger and pre-law student, had a C-section with her first baby and chronicled nightmarish pressure from nurses and doctors to abandon a vaginal birth with her second. She followed up with a third child born at home in April.
“I do think there’s a backlash against what’s happening in hospitals,” she said. “Women are finding that the hospital experience wasn’t a good one.”
In Portland, Ore., acupuncturist Becca Seitz gave birth to both her children at home, the first time in 2007 because she and her husband were without insurance.
“It was never on my radar, until we couldn’t afford otherwise,” she said. “I’m granola, but not that granola. It cost us $3,300, as opposed to over $10,000 in a hospital.”
Her midwife was prepared with the drug Pitocin, oxygen and other medical equipment.
“They were both born over the toilet,” she said. “It was a nice position. It’s a way that we’re used to pushing.”
Dr. Joel Evans, the rare board-certified OB-GYN who supports home birth, said the medical establishment has become “resistant to change, resistant to dialogue, resistant to flexibility.”
“Women are now looking for alternatives where they can be treated as individuals, as opposed to being forced to comply with protocols, which however well meaning, have the impact of both medicalizing childbirth and increasing stress and anxiety around delivery,” said Evans, founder and director of the Center for Women’s Health in Stamford, Conn., and an assistant clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
By some accounts, in 1900, 95 percent of U.S. births took place at home. That slipped to half by 1938 and less than 1 percent by 1955.
Today, most midwife-attended births take place in hospitals in the U.S., and many midwives are licensed nurses. But there are also close to 1,700 midwives who practice outside of hospitals, said Davis-Floyd. In 27 states, so-called “lay” midwives who lack nurses’ training but are licensed and certified as professional midwives can attend births legally.
Some women chose home births after learning about it from TV shows or documentaries. The show-all “House of Babies” on Discovery Health Channel from 2005 to 2009 was filmed at a Miami birth center run by a midwife. Actress Ricki Lake screened her movie, “The Business of Being Born,” around the United States in 2007 after giving birth at home to her second child. The film also showed Lake’s filmmaking partner, Abby Epstein, documenting her own frantic taxi ride to a New York hospital after abandoning her home birth because the baby presented feet first, with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
Michael Robertson, 27, of Poulsbo, Wash., knew nothing about home birth before watching the TLC series.
“I just really had my mind set on a water birth, like on the show,” she said. “It looked so cool, so relaxing.”
She had two babies at home, but opted for a planned hospital delivery for her third child due to complications. She’s glad she had the choice. “If you don’t know your options, you don’t know what’s out there to begin with,” she said. “I don’t think an OB will say to you, ‘Hey, did you know there was this thing called home birth.’”
Most studies of home birth have been criticized as too small to accurately assess safety or distinguish between planned and unplanned deliveries, according to researchers Kenneth C. Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss.
In 2005, they published a study in the British Medical Journal based on nearly 5,500 home births involving certified professional midwives in the United States and Canada. The study, considered one of the largest for home births, showed 88 percent had positive outcomes, while 12 percent of the women were transferred to hospitals, including 9 percent for preventive reasons and 3 percent for emergencies.
The study showed an infant mortality rate of 2 out of every 1,000 births, about the same as in hospitals at the time, Davis-Floyd said.
“Women who are truly educated in evidence-based maternity care understand the safety and the multiple benefits of home birth,” she said. Leanne Italie can be reached at http://twitter.com/litalie
Tags: Business of Being Born, drug-free, home birth, intervention, LC, medical, midwife, natural, Ricki Lake, risks of medication, safety of homebirth
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Cade’s Birth Story, from Kimberly’s perspective
At 12noon, on Monday Feb 23rd, we (Erin, Cecilia and I) went to Doctor Biter’s office for a check-up. Doctor Biter did an ultrasound and everything looked good. We left the office at 2pm and Erin started having contractions about 7 or 8 minutes apart. We went to Chipotle and ran into Dr. Biter and Lindsey (the acupuncturist) there.
Since we were all in one car, we drove back to Mom and Dad’s house and we laid down for awhile while Erin continued to have contractions. She was joking between them and we took a couple pictures. Cecilia laid in her new crib. Erin waited for Anthony to get off work but then called him to come over because things were getting moving. We went for a walk along the cliffs and saw dolphins and then came back and rested some more. She had a pancake or crepes craving. Soon Mom and Dad got home and everyone watched bad reality TV (the Bachelor) and Dad got some IHOP pancakes. I went to teach a yoga class and came home. At around 10pm, the contractions were consistent but still 7 or 8 minutes apart, so Erin and Anthony went home. I slept with the phone by my bed.
In the morning, we called and Erin was still having consistent contractions 7 or 8 minutes apart. She was eager for me to come over. She had slept some but she had taken a bath and been up with Anthony most of the night. When Cecilia and I got to the house, Erin had the OM Sanctuary CD playing and candles burning; around 9:30- we went for a walk along the golf course. A few folks/neighbors stopped to talk and Erin had contractions during but did not tell them. Erin leaned over on the fence and held her belly with a contraction and Cecilia copied her groaning. We came back to the house and continued to take turns being with her. She labored a lot walking around and then in the rocking chair to rest between contractions. She got in and out of the tub a couple times. The contractions were getting closer together, somewhere between 4 to 5 minutes. I was keeping track, because Anthony was talking with Liza on the phone and letting her know what was happening. At about 4:30 Liza came over and pronounced that things were not that far along, because Erin answered the door smiling. She said we needed to get things moving, so Erin went for another walk with Liza; the contractions seemed to slow down. Liza prescribed nipple stimulation between and during contractions. Erin had some of a protein shake. The contractions would speed up for periods of time but then slow down again. Their duration was usually from 25-45 seconds. Mom also came over and eventually took Cecilia home. Around 7, it was back to me, Erin and Anthony. Erin wanted to go to the hospital, but I was trying to stall for the contractions to get closer together. During these hours, she was getting really tired, but talking to herself and to Cade “good boy”, “I can do this, I can do this”, and a couple “oh Gods”. We had periods where the contractions would be steadily three minutes apart, down to two minutes apart, and when they were at two minutes apart, I called Dr. Biter and he asked if I thought she was ready. Based on the period of time she had been having steady contractions and the two minutes apart, I thought she was.
We arrived at the hospital at about 10:30 or 11. Mom met us there. The nurse checked Erin and she was at 1 or 1 ½ centimeters. We were all surprised. The nurse said that we could labor there for an hour or an hour and a half, see how she progressed and then if it didn’t progress we would have to go home. So we walked the halls. Erin kept saying “I am not going home.” She also said “I don’t like her,” referring to the nurse, which made me and mom almost laugh. She also said, “I hate these f**ing chairs” about the furniture in the room. At 12:30 or 1, the nurse checked her again and she was at 2 cm. so we decided to go home. We went to mom’s because it was closer to the hospital and we had the bathtub. The Dr. prescribed an Ambien so she could sleep some and get some strength back.
When we got to Mom’s house, Cecilia was in bed with Dad. Anthony slept upstairs and Erin went in the downstairs’ bedroom. She fell asleep pretty hard but then would wake up for the contractions a little disoriented and getting hysterical. She was begging for something, saying she could not do it, and asking “what is happening to my body?” “I do not remember getting here.” “I can’t do this.” And I would respond, “you are doing it.” At one point she almost fell down after a contraction and Mom caught her. Then Mom went to sleep and I would get her in bed and cover her during contractions because she was cold, and then she would wake/get up for the contractions and say “what am I going to do?” Soon she answered her own question—“ I am tensing up; I have to breathe, help me breathe.” “Help, me,” help, me.” We had been breathing together and making low OH and OM sounds for a long while. Then she got in the shower and that seemed to break the Ambien spell a bit. She labored more in the bedroom, then Cecilia woke up and Mom came to get me. I slept with Cecilia for about 45 minutes, and then she woke up completely, so at 4:30, it was the three of us again (Erin, Cecilia, and Mom). Erin leaned on us, held our hands, looked in our eyes as she rocked and dilated. She got in the bath and we began the same stalling/negotiating process about when she could go back to the hospital. At about 5 I called Dr. Biter, at this point she was leaking ambiotic fluid and some bloody show. He said to call in another hour. At that point, I was feeling nervous, because Erin had said before she wanted a natural delivery and no epidural unless she had been in labor for 20 hours. It had been much longer at that point. So I felt conflicted. Anthony thought she had suffered long enough; he wanted to relieve her and get her an epidural. Mom said that it was her choice, if she wanted to go to the hospital, we should take her- it was her choice. I did not want to place my own beliefs over hers, but I knew how accomplished and proud she would feel, and how empowering it would be if she could follow her birth plan. I also know that these moments are precisely the ones that exemplify why you choose the people to be present at your birth that you do, because in the middle of the experience, you do not have any perspective. You are relying on the people present and the Doctor’s experience to know what is within the range of normal. Dr. Biter just said on the phone, to try to get to 7:30, after the shift of nurses changed, and he would meet us there. We negotiated, I told her three more contractions here at home, she said. “no, 1” and I said, “no, three.” “Okay.” So at around 7, we got her dressed. I got more snacks and water and clothes together, cell phones, cameras, etc.
We got to the hospital around 7:30- we got a great nurse, Amy. She started setting Erin up for the checks—blood pressure, fetal hear rate, urine sample. Erin told Amy, she wanted some medicine, and Amy responded that she could not see why not. Amy checked Erin’s dilation and said 4 or 5cm. At that point, I was really disheartened, after 6 hours and all that work at home, only two more centimeters? Erin was not though, she was happy that their had been progress. Then Dr. Biter came in and checked and said it was more like 7 or 8, that we were “close.” Erin asked Dr. Biter for an epidural. He asked her to reflect on why she had chosen him, said that there wasn’t much longer. “So I can’t have it? “You can have it, but I want you to think about why you came to me and your original plan.” So Erin went on laboring and several times began to think that she could not take it, screamed to Dr. Biter to get his hands out and stop. At one point, Amy told Erin she was a warrior. Each time, Dr. Biter calmly looked her in the eyes and told her to stick with him, that she was doing great. He told her to “ride the waves”, “see how the contraction is over now”. One time he told her about going to the beach, first you have to go over hot rocks. You don’t want to step on them, but if you don’t get past them, you don’t get to the sand and the ocean. He had Erin push a few times, but said that they were not going to be able to push past this place, so we needed to wait a bit longer to push. This is not what Erin wanted to hear, and she tried to convince him she was ready, but he negotiated for 20 minutes. For this time, we went into the shower with the big ball. Amy told her that she loved the ball. Erin changed positions with the ball, having a towel over it and sitting on it and then leaning against it and resting her head on it on all fours. I kept track and told her we needed to be there for a little while. He said that she could push a little bit but not a lot. I had a feeling that Dr. Biter would be out for a bit longer than 20 minutes, as that seemed to be the name of the game- to stretch things out. We came out of the bathroom, dried her off with big bath sheets that Amy had warmed. She got back on the bed and lay on her side. She asked for Anthony and said that she missed him, could she have a kiss? Anthony said “of course.”
Dr. Biter came in a bit later and it was time to push. He got out the mineral oil and as Erin pushed he directed her where to push as he stretched and massaged her vagina and perineum. He said the baby needed to turn so we needed to labor on alternate sides. She had one foot up on him and one Amy or I would hold. Erin was supposed to pull back on her thighs and pull her chin to her chest while she pushed. After awhile it seemed that she needed to change positions so we adjusted the bed up higher and she had her hands up top and her knees down below (like all fours). All the while Dr. Biter was guiding the locations of her contractions. Mom was also doing the pushing with Erin (holding her breath and pushing). I was alternately crying and stepping away and then coming back in. Erin’s face was turning bluish/purple during the contraction. She was working so hard, spit flew out of her mouth, she looked like she was going to suffocate. After about an hour or so of pushing. Dr. Biter said “reach down”- that’s your baby’s head, and after about ten more minutes, Cade’s head came out and Erin was able to reach down and pull the baby to her chest. Astonished, she immediately stared shouting “I did it,” “I did it”, “I did it naturally,” “he is so beautiful”, “I did it, Dr. Biter”, “I did it.” This was the moment where I really started to cry, the moment that I knew was possible but took so much courage, strength and faith to get to, the moment that I believe every woman deserves a chance at, this rite of passage to motherhood.
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Ryan Heather and Introducing Tosh
Ryan and I are proud to announce that our son, Tosh, was born Monday afternoon. He weighed 5 lbs, 9 oz and is 20 inches long. Since he arrived early, he’s small, but he has long legs and fingers, and big ol’ feet. On Sunday evening, my contractions were coming on stronger, but were still irregular and felt like Braxton-Hicks contractions, not what I imagined active labor to feel like. We took a long walk and came home for dinner. As I stood up after dinner around 9 pm, I felt an obvious “clunk” deep inside, which reminded me of slipping an old transmission into gear. Not 30 seconds later, regular and hard contractions began.
I think Tosh hadn’t been in position and finally slipped down onto my cervix. Ryan noticed that my belly had dropped considerably. We were on our way! It only took a little more than an hour to achieve contractions 5-6 minutes apart and 1 minute long for an hour. So, I called Andrea, my homebirth midwife, as instructed. She thought I would probably labor like that for awhile, and told me to call her again when my contractions were longer and closer together, or when I felt like I wanted her there. I labored on the bed in the side lying position like we practiced in class, and being totally relaxed made the first 3-4 hours hours pretty bearable. When I started feeling bothered by the pain, I climbed into the birthing pool we had rented, and stayed there for another couple of hours. It was pretty relaxing, actually – Ryan set up Hulu and I caught up on The Office and The Simpsons. All I needed was a swim-up cocktail bar and it would have been downright pleasant. =) However, when the pain got so bad I didn’t even remember Hulu was on, Ryan knew it was time to call Andrea. That was 3:45 am, and she arrived 20 minutes later. She examined me and I was 7 cm dilated. I then labored some more in side lying pose until I was 9-10 cm. I remember being pretty delirious, but not so far gone that when Andrea explained to me that I was in transition, I replied, “Gee, ya think?” Thankfully, that was the meanest thing I said during labor. (I think … you might want to confirm that with Ryan. haha)
It only took a few contractions after that until I was ready to push around 5 am. Andrea said she thought we would probably have the baby by sunrise. It took me awhile to get the hang of pushing, but soon Tosh was within an inch of crowning. Then, he got stuck. I had horrible pains near my pelvic bone and just couldn’t get him past that point. I pushed and pushed and pushed for 5 hours, and my contractions grew further and further apart, as long as 20 minutes apart! We tried every position in the book, and nothing helped. By 11 am, I was completely exhausted and they put me on oxygen. I took a nap for about an hour while the midwives took a break. Andrea came back in our room around noon and we tried again for about half an hour, but no dice. I was completely defeated. So, she left Ryan and I alone to regroup and decide what we wanted to do next, which included the possibility of hospital transfer. Ryan gave me a huge pep talk and convinced me to get into the shower, which I didn’t want to do because I was feeling so weak in the legs. But not long after I got in there, the contractions picked back up and I squatted. It took only a couple of contractions & pushes to get him past the sticking point, and with another push Tosh had crowned. Ryan and I were alone at this point, I remember, so he ran out and got the midwives. (although, I was pretty … um … vocal with that push, so I think they had figured that out. haha) Ryan and Andrea got back in time for me to push out Tosh’s head, and Andrea had Ryan catch him. Then Andrea said, “WAIT … STOP … I see a hand.” Turns out he had his arm above his head, and that’s why he got stuck. And, why passing the head hurt so badly! So to birth the rest of him, I had to push very slowly, but with only one pretty easy push he came out and doesn’t have a mark on him. He even looked as pretty as a c-section baby, other than a suspiciously arm-shaped dent in the back of his head that has since filled out.
Since I was practically on my hands and knees to deliver, leaning forward into the squat like the yoga frog pose instead of leaning back, Ryan and Andrea passed Tosh to me through my legs so I could hold him while I sat down for a few seconds, then they helped me up and out of the shower, and into bed. From then on out, it was like a standard home birth. I got to hold him and nurse for awhile before they cleaned him up, measured him and did the Apgar test.
Andrea was scheduled for a family vacay the day after we delivered, so Michelle (who came to our class) is her back-up, and she and Andrea’s apprentices have visited every day for follow-up care. They have been very helpful with nursing and other baby care tips, as well as my recovery. We are very pleased with our home birth experience! It wasn’t easy, but we are so thankful we were able to deliver at home despite the complications. It never would have happened without our Bradley education – both the learning about complications and how to handle them, and also learning how to work as a team. Ryan’s coaching
made all the difference.
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Another Positive Birth Story
Here’s our story…
My water broke on Friday night at 10:45pm (just as I was falling asleep!). I didn’t have any contractions except the Braxton-Hicks which I’d been having for several months. I called my doula, Jacqueline, who is also my best friend. She lives near Ventura and arrived at our house before 3am. I tried to go back to sleep but I was too excited. Curt was able to sleep some that night. I did not call my obgyn as nothing was happening yet (my water was clear and the flow slowed significantly) and I didn’t want to go to the hospital too early…or have them scare me into going to the hospital!
By early morning I still didn’t have any contractions. We went to breakfast around 9 and I started to feel a few very mild contractions. We made it through the meal and came back home. My contractions slowly started to get stronger and by 11am I was in active labor. We timed my contractions with an app on Curt’s iPhone. Having Curt and Jacqueline there as my support was a big help mentally. Physically I didn’t require them to do much…very liitle massage and I used a heated neck pillow on my back for a short time. I started with a lot of deep breathing (bee breathing from yoga) and as time progressed it turned into low vocalizations with each contraction. I changed positions frequently and didn’t really find one that was more comfortable than the other. By 2-ish we decided to go to the hospital as they were between 4 and 5 mins apart, over a minute long, for over an hour.
We were checked in by 3pm and I was 7 cm dilated. I was already 100% effaced and started at 2cm dilated (found that out at the obgyn the previous day). An hour later I was 10cm and ready to start pushing. At 6:12pm our baby girl, Jaden Price Beyer was born…with one hand up by her head as she came out! Jaden was placed on my chest and I think I attempted to breastfeed but she was not hungry. By that time I was very tired from lack of sleep and pushing. And I was hungry!
I didn’t have any medication during the birth but they did give me pitocin to expel the placenta (which was not such a pleasant experience).
As a side note, Scripps policy is to draw blood from the baby if s/he is delivered over 18 hours after the water breaks. I delivered 19 hours later and would have “modified” the time my water broke had I known this because they tried to draw blood from both of her arms unsuccessfully, then from her hand (where she still has a bruise) and also from her heel. It was torture to hear her cry so much! 24 hrs later she showed no signs of infection, but they kept us in the hospital a second night just to be sure.
After a bout with jaundice (requiring round the clock phototherapy at home) and an aggressive feeding schedule to overcome a greater than 10% weight loss (and expel the bilirubin) we are starting to settle in a little bit more!
Thank you, Liza, for giving us so much information about the birth process. I feel this helped me stay calm and push aside any anxiety I may otherwise have had!
Tiana & Curt
Tags: birth pavilion, Bradley Method, contractions, Encinitas, first stage, hospital, iphone app, La JOlla labor and delviery, natural, Scripps, timing
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Fiona was due on December 20th and it had already been a week past her due date. We were looking at different options in order to induce the labor naturally (nipple stimulation, spicy food, sex, and we even set up a couple of acupuncture appointments). The night before the labor, we ate some pizza and some pineapples, my mom believes that pizza started her labor AND it looks like mom’s theory worked out for us too.
Anyway, on December 28th,
2AM: Fiona woke me up morning to tell me she was having contractions. I rolled out of bed sleepily and we started timing her contractions. They were about 5 minutes apart, so we just gave a call to the birth center to see what they wanted to do. We were supposed to give a call at 5-1-1 in order to get antibiotics because Fiona was GBS positive. We really woke the midwife up and she seemed like she wanted to get a little more sleep, so she asked us if we wanted to come in or just wait a little bit longer. We decided to just keep waiting at home.
4PM: Throughout the day, the contractions varied from 7-8 minutes apart till around 2 in the afternoon. We called up the midwife again, and she asked us to come in at around 4pm. We get into the birth center and get checked up. The contractions seemed to stop as soon as we walked in the door. Fiona was measured at 1 cm and we were told that we were going to have a LONG labor. She advised us to get some rest and that she could give us some medicine that would allow her to get some sleep. In order to get the medicine we needed to run some tests on the baby’s heartbeat. The baby’s heartbeat was baselining at around 170 and peaking at 180, the day before it was baselined at 130, so the midwife was concerned. She tried giving our backup doctor a call so that they could run more analysis on the baby. While she was making the call and waiting for a response, she told us that we could go get some food while we wait,
630ish PM: Midwife gives us a call while we are out getting some gyros, and tells us that we need to head over to UCSD Medical Center. Our backup doctor called it an urgent issue and that we need to get there immediately. I start driving back down from Clairemont to downtown and on the freeway, Fiona says “MY WATER BROKE! I’M RUINING THE CAR!” I throw a jacket at her for her to wipe up and sit on while i still am driving down the freeway. I never have been to UCSD Medical Center before and got LOST on the way down there
7PM: I finally found my way to the front of the doctors office and grab a wheel chair to put Fiona in and walk her upstairs. The people check us in there and monitor the baby, and the heart rate was PERFECT! there was no issues of it being elevated. We get checked and Fiona is still sitting at 1 cm and the doctor starts urging us to take some pitocin in order to speed up the process. The nurse talked to us and knew that we were coming from the birth center and told us that we can wait. We decided to wait it out while we continue to be monitored.
915PM: The nurse tells us that we can transfer back over to the birth center if we wanted to. Fiona starts thinking about it, but tells me that she cannot make decisions at this time. The contractions were starting to get a lot worse and Fiona was starting to ask for some drugs. I told her to wait for 30 minutes at around 9:45 and we can talk about it again. I also called up the birth center to see if the midwife could make it over, since I didn’t want to have that temptation of drugs around us. The midwife at the birth center starts talking with our nurse and Fiona is rustling around trying to jump in the shower. She takes off the baby monitor and starts heading for the bathroom. With the nurse and midwife on the phone, Fiona starts yelling “I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO PUSH!!!” It is around 9:45 and the doctor comes in and says let’s check you out.
They check Fiona and she is completely dilated! RIDICULOUSLY CRAZY FAST, and I had couldnt believe it. The doctor could not even believe it, she had to check TWICE to see if she was really completely dilated.
The doctors start setting up the room for the delivery. We ordered some doulas to help us out when we first walked in and they walked into the room just quick enough to grab a leg. Fiona starts the pushing process and baby Caleb was ready to rock on out!
11:18PM we deliver Caleb Ernesto Padaon… 8 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long without any tears. Once again, the doctor was shocked that it went so quickly that she had to check twice to make sure that there were no tears and we were able to stay away from the drugs… WHEW
The next 2 days was spent at the hospital and was an annoying process. If we delivered at the birth center, we would have been able to head back home within 6 hours. Instead, we were at UCSD and had to stay for a couple of days with doctors and nurses and lactation consultants running into our room in what seemed like every 20 minutes. just a little annoying and tiring. Baby latched on really well and being a dad is pretty awesome!
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight
Proverbs 3:5-6
Tags: baby, birth, Bradley Method, first stage, lactation, midwife, natural birth, natural. labor, obgyn, pitocin, pushing, second stage, UCSD birth center, unmedicated
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Violet’s Arrival
I had started to feel Braxton Hicks in my 38th week and we started to get excited and thought that it might happen any day. The start of my 39th week came (Sunday Jan 30) and still no baby. I finished packing the hospital bag that afternoon before we went to have dinner with some friends. For dinner, our friends cooked homemade pasta and brownies from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook. After dinner, my stomach started to feel really uncomfortable, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of contractions or my overdoing it on the food. Chris is convinced that the brownies initiated the labor although he probably ate more than anyone else…
We went home and went to bed. I figured if this was the start to labor then I needed to be as well rested as possible. I woke up around 2:00AM to very distinct pain in my abdomen that came regularly.
I took a bath to ease the discomfort and didn’t want to wake Chris yet, in case this was a false alarm. At this point, my contractions were about 10 minutes apart and lasted 45 seconds each. Chris woke up around 4:00AM and started to get ready by reviewing his notes and the Bradley workbook from Liza (last minute cramming) while I labored on the birthing ball, timing my contractions. He also packed another bag of stuff because he had little idea what was in the bag I had packed earlier (some lack of communication on my part). By 5:30AM, the contractions were about 3 to 4 min apart and lasted from 45 to 60 seconds. They started to become very, very strong and it helped when Chris remembered advice from our class and encouraged me to vocalize through them. We decided to leave and stop to pick up some coffee on our way to the hospital around 6:30AM. We were worried that we were making the rookie mistake of going too early, especially since my contractions weren’t consistently a minute long though they seemed to be coming more quickly. At this point, I literally had to run in between contractions, because I was otherwise completely immobilized.
On our way out of the house we decided to change our plan and head directly to the hospital. This was probably decided after Chris returned to the house from loading up the vehicle to find me on all fours in the living room working through a hard contraction.
Our arrival at the hospital was a little hazy for me. It felt like the contractions were on top of each other and I found myself stopping everything to focus on getting through each one. On our ride up the elevator, several nurses inquired about my pregnancy and upon learning it was my first, proceeded to joke that we were going to be here for hours. Of course this didn’t help Chris with his dislike of hospitals at all but we soldiered on to our destination with the help of one nurse who accompanied us up to the birthing section. Our first stop was a small room that hadn’t been shown during our hospital tour. We arrived at roughly 7:00AM and Chris began to set our things down. The nurse on duty wanted to check if I really needed to be at the hospital yet and asked for me to get undressed. Chris had to help me get undressed and after a quick check the nurse told me that I was 6 cm dilated. We were immediately moved to a delivery room. While he was being asked a battery of questions, I began to feel the urge to push. A total of thirty minutes had passed since the initial check and the doctor had just arrived. Chris was coaching me to remain calm as he was afraid it was too early. The nurse asked if she could examine me again and discovered I was at 9cm already. We were not ready for things to move this quickly and it was a little hard to determine where exactly we were in this experience but Chris focused on talking to me as I continued to experience severe contractions.
At that point, the doctor on duty (Dr. Pattengil) who had been waiting for my medical records to arrive was called to the room to assist with the delivery. Chris says the nurse turned to him and said “We’re going to have this baby in the next couple minutes” to which he replied “But we haven’t even read the birth plan…” During this discussion, I was bent over the edge of the bed working through another heavy contraction while Chris massaged my lower back and talked to me. My water broke, drenching his pants and flip flops. The nurse pointed out to him that my water had just broken. Chris describes this event as if someone had dropped a drink on his bare foot and then had the courtesy to tell him that they had in fact dropped their drink on his foot. At this point, it hit Chris that we were indeed having this baby in the immediate future. The doctor took the time to thoroughly review our birth plan while Chris kept me focused on working through a single contraction at a time.
We began to push at roughly 8:00AM. Initially we requested a squat bar but I was not able to get comfortable with using it while on the bed. I spent the rest of the time on my back and followed the instructions of my doctor while she guided the baby’s head out and worked to massage the baby through with as minimal amount of tearing as possible. This was the hardest part of labor for me. I was torn between pushing because of the urge and not pushing because it hurt so much. I remember saying things like “I can’t do this” and “I just want this to be over.” At this point Chris had taken charge, talking me through the contractions while the doctor and nurse mainly stayed out of his way. After a series of contractions, Violet Qi Anderson was born at 8:50am on Monday, January 31. She was this squirmy, screaming, purple, chubby baby with a full head of hair. She laid on my chest for quite awhile and Chris cut the cord (and surprisingly didn’t pass out!)
Chris and I cried when we met her and I’m pretty sure he cried a few times more afterward.
I was lucid and Violet was extremely aware and active immediately after the birth . We held her and breastfed her shortly after. The staff was completely helpful and worked with us on fulfilling our goal of having a natural childbirth with minimal involvement on their part. I took a shower about 90 minutes later and was able to walk around for the rest of the day. We went home the following afternoon (and even grabbed a cup of coffee for Chris).
Chris was a really wonderful partner and coach and I couldn’t imagine doing this without him and his support. I feel closer to him than ever.
We feel very lucky to have had such a great experience and look forward to hearing everyone else’s experiences with their childbirths.
Thank you so much for preparing us for this experience
Wendy, Christopher, and Violet




Tags: 40 weeks, birth, Bradley Method, childbirth, induction, labor, natural, unmedicated
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