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Birth Stories |
Baby Britton’s Birth Story
A bit of background about me: I’ve been a high risk nursery nurse, labor and delivery nurse, an obstetric sonographer, and finally, a (hospital based) nurse- midwife. I’ve seen complicated, medicalized births and normal, minimal intervention births. When it came time to experience pregnancy, labor, and birth first hand, I chose the route of minimal intervention and an out-of-hospital birth. I chose two wonderful CNMs (certified nurse-midwives) at a free-standing birthing center (Nativiti). Now, for the rest of the story…
I awoke at 4:20 a.m. to a broken bag of waters. I was at 39 weeks gestation exactly. Expansions (this is what I chose to call the contractions, to focus on their actual purpose- to expand the cervix) were only about every 10-15 minutes apart but fairly strong. I got out of bed and took a shower and dressed and ate a light breakfast. My husband awoke for work at 6 a.m. and I told him the baby would be here today. I called one of the midwives and she said to head to the birth center (about an hour away). My GBS (Group B Strep) test had come back positive so I needed to go ahead and get at least one dose of antibiotic in before the baby arrived. We arrived at the birth center at about 8 a.m. and found out there was another woman there in labor also. We were in the same childbirth ed classes. She was in active labor while I was still in latent/prodromal labor. Lindsay, my midwife, started the IV and I got my first dose of Ampicillin.
The expansions were still about 10 minutes apart so my husband and I took a 20 minute walk outside around the neighborhood. (The birth center is actually a house, in a neighborhood of houses converted to businesses). It was nice to get out in the fresh air. Being March, the weather was quite pleasant. We came back and I walked around in the birthing room, sat on the ball, laid on my side, and basically changed positions frequently as I felt the need. The expansions were getting stronger and closer, now about 7-8 minutes apart. I felt lots of back pain (surely he can't be OP after being LOT for months!!) A doula (Sally) arrived and massaged my feet and did accupressure points on my feet and ankles that caused stronger expansions. I ate lunch at some point- a Subway seafood sandwich! About 1 or 2 pm, my CNM and doula suggested homeopathy to stimulate more regular/frequent expansions. I waited another hour, then decided to go ahead with the homeopathy tablets. It worked! Contractions became more frequent, now every 3-4 minutes and strong. I decided to get in the water to help with the pain. It was very relaxing. After about 45 minutes, I decided to get out. So I did and went and sat on the toilet. Then I stood leaning over the bed, then sat on the birth ball, rocking slightly. With each expansion, I used mental imagery techniques- imaging that my cervix was opening like a flower. In my mind, I repeated the phrase “Open, open, open.” I also told myself to welcome each expansion, that each one was getting me closer and closer to having my baby in my arms (two great books for helping my prepare in this way were- Mind Over Labor by Carl Jones and Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz.)
Through out the labor, my midwife and the student midwife and doula checked my vital signs and listened to the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler. Everything was unobtrusive and calm. Candles were light in the birthing room and soft music played. They made suggestions sometimes but mostly let me follow what my body told me to do. My husband was wonderful, telling me I was doing so well and helping me with mental imagery.
Finally, I was feeling a lot of pelvic pressure and hadn't had any vaginal exams up to this point. Part of the reason was, because my water had broke prior to labor really starting, we wanted to minimize any chance of intrauterine infection. Also, I I harbored a fear that they would check me and say I was only minimally dilated- so I decided I’d rather not know unless it truly felt like I was getting close to pushing! So, now at about 6:30 p.m., with the pressure I was feeling, I decided to let the student midwife (Ashley) check me, praying I was more that 3-4 cm. I was 9 cm, 100% effaced, and 0 station. Yea! Thank heaven! I got back in the tub on my hands and knees. I was doing some low moaning with each expansion and soon felt an urge to push (7:20 pm?). I basically just listened to my body and did fairly short pushes, some closed glottis, some open. After several contractions/pushes, I felt for his head. I could feel it a few centimeters inside, but not crowning yet. Some more contractions/pushes. I could feel his head emerging, then going back in. More contractions/pushes, then finally the head was staying out. At 8:23 p.m., I pushed his head into my hand, then turned over for the midwives to do the rest. My husband helped get him the rest of the way out. The doula played Celine Dion’s “A New Day Has Come” on the CD player, per our request. Yea!! Our first child. We were elated, relieved, thankful, joyful, and full of love for our child and everyone who had helped us.
I would describe this birth as quiet, peaceful, calm, loving, and joyful. I really listened to my body and did what seemed to be the right thing to do. Yes, it was painful and hard but very manageable. The biggest factor in helping me achieve a drug-free birth was trust- trust in my body, that it would do what it was supposed to do. Trust in the baby, that he was strong, brave, and healthy. Trust in my midwives and doula, that they were skillful. Trust in my husband. Trust in the Lord. Trust in birth