Already Busy

Monday, March 17th, 2008

So my first experience as a midwife's apprentice was to shadow one of the midwives, D, at a morning prenatal appointment. We drove over and met with mom who was due in a week. She looked fantastic and her 3 year old son and husband were very sweet. She'd already started having some good contractions and the midwife, D, guessed that the baby was going to be coming soon. Mom was hoping for one more day, since it was their anniversary.

So we took off, and around 5pm I got a call from D. M had gone into labor and we needed to head back. I was giddy with excitement, trying to get ready was a funny sight as i was doing a mental check list... shoes, check, sweater, check, book? no book? ah forget it i need to go! I arrived at the same time as Diane and i helped her carry her many impressive (aka heavy) supply bags to the house. Once we got there it was pretty obvious that M was having some really good contractions, and we needed to get set up quickly. Shortly after S, the other midwife arrived.

They opted for a water birth, so while D and S set up supplies I was inflating the pool and dad figured out the hoses from the bathroom. Soon we had the pool filling up and mom was near by on her birth ball concentrating on her contractions. As soon as the tub was ready she got in and melted at the warmth of the water. She labored in the water for about 30 minutes before feeling the urge to push.

The environment was so peaceful with the lights turned low, candles lit, and soft piano music playing in the background. Occasionally D would check the baby's heart tones, and each time he was perfect. M and her husband decided they wanted their son, who was 3 years old, to witness the birth. They had talked to him about it and prepared him for what to expect. The only challenge was telling him he couldn't get into the pool with mom. =)

M was amazing, listening to her body, feeling the sensations of him moving down, breathing into the contractions. No pain meds, just the glorious hormonal cocktail that our bodies naturally produce to calm and envigorate us. Soon the baby's head was born, and she reached down to feel. With the next contraction his whole body was born and she reached into the water and lifted him to her breast. It was beautiful. He began to cry on his own interference and was nice and pink. A very healthy baby, born at 7:54pm.

We stayed till around 11pm, making sure mom and baby were doing great. I was able to help with a bunch of stuff and it felt wonderful to be using some of the skills I had already learned. I am so grateful to have been at this birth. I had seen many home births on video, but this was my first in person, and it only established even stronger my trust in birth and women's bodies. I hope that as i continue to study that i'll be able to foster that in other women.