The Power of Natural Childbirth!
"Thank you mama"
"I was convinced
that woman could do it. I relied on the fact that we are built to do this. God designed us to do this. Yes He promised us
that childbirth would be painful, and he also promised us that He would not put
more on us than we can bear. I held on to those words to pump myself up to do
it. Once I understood woman could do it, I then personalized it and realized I
could do it. I also Googled the negative
effects of an epidural and the impact it would have on my child. I hate needles
so I also Googled images of the epidural needle to totally convince myself to
stay away from it. Once I prepared myself as much as possible, including
watching the Business of Being Born, watching water births on YouTube, taking a
hypnobirthing class, etc., I was convinced that I could do it! I was 100+% committed to having a natural
birth!!!! Having my husband on board and
just as committed was very helpful as well.
I had mixed feelings. When I was in the
middle of a surge I thought whoa this is intense, how much longer is this going
to last. When is the baby coming? How
come I'm not dilating more/faster? But once the surge passed I was thinking,
ok, that wasn't too bad, I can do this. I
managed by breathing deeply in and out, staying in my breath, prayer, and the
excitement of finally meeting our little one. I also replayed parts of the
hypnobirthing class in my head. I stayed in the breath and went so far in/deep
inside that I just remember closing my eyes breathing in deep when a surge
started and then not remembering anything until the surge passed and my eyes
re-opened. It was also very helpful having my doula (Angela) and my husband
there with me coaching and encouraging me along the way. It was very helpful
having my doula (Angela) to remind me not to tense up when the surges got very
intense.
I had mixed thoughts and feelings, more
of joy and excitement and questions about the unknown. I felt a little
disappointed that we did not have a water-birth at the birth center and had to
be transferred to the hospital and had to get pitocin because my uterus was
sluggish. But by that time we got to the hospital, I just wanted a safe and
healthy delivery naturally. By that hour
my biggest concern was getting my baby out safely w/o the result of a c-section.
I stayed positive. I knew that any negative thoughts would only worsen the
situation. So I stayed positive and
prayerful. I prayed that God would get Ethan here safely, that I would be healthy,
that Ethan would be healthy, and that he would arrive naturally. I prayed that
I would dilate more.
I hold natural childbirth as something very sacred and near and dear to my heart. I advocate for natural childbirth for every woman. I believe every woman is capable if properly prepared. I get excited when I hear of other woman that have and/or going to have/plan a natural child birth.
Every woman has a choice. I believe
that every woman should do her research before she chooses. Informed consent is
very important. To choose medication as your first option without informing
yourself is not fair to the woman or her unborn child. I would encourage woman to
avoid medication by any means necessary."
What my client did not tell you above is this, she was in labor for 48 hours. Now, not all of that is active labor, most of it was not. This woman was determined and very committed to her birth process. Before we transported to the hospital from the birth center, I went out onto the patio where she was laboring in the night sky and looked her square in her eyes and said, you know we are going to the hospital, she nodded. I said to her, the same energy, love and focus you have now, you will have when we get to the hospital, she nodded in agreement. So, when we (effortlessly) transported, she maintained her own inner birthing rhythm.
ReplyDeleteShe got into bed, IV and Pitocin was started and she (we) continued her birthing rhythm that she had established at the birth center. I could feel that the nurses were wondering when she was going to ask for an epidural, it was in their mannerisms and tone. The nurses verbalized that the baby would more than likely come around 6 or 7am, it was 9:30 then. I thought to myself, oh no way is that happening, (then I had to put myself in check and let it go). Later on, I found out that my clients had the same screaming thought, "No way!" We each had the thought (unbeknownst to the other) that the baby would come by 1 or 2am, and he did just that!