"I recently attended a birth that was one of the highlights of my career so
far. It has really affected me deeply.
Mum was having her second baby.
Her partner and she believed in birth, believed it would happen, believed she
could do it. They wanted fairly minimal care, declined U/S, and took an
approach that her body knew best. Those beliefs in themselves were awesome to
witness. This family listened and asked really enlightening questions, and for
the most part let nature take its path
When I was called for labour, things were gentle and sweet. Her first
labour was fairly swift, so I called her second midwife to come too. We also
had a student whose role was to be a fly on the wall, as the parents wanted an
intimate feeling. She laboured beautifully, and every time a contraction came
her partner made this amazing sound. He sings operatic bass and so his voice
was like a didgeridoo -- low and modulating. She would join his voice with a
higher octave, sometimes copying him, sometimes moving up or down. Her
contraction would finish, and she'd breathe a nice deep breath, and then she
would turn back to us and be PRESENT in the moment
...We did choose to do a vaginal exam at this point because she was feeling
that it was different than last time, and felt that she wasn't entering
'labourland'. She was a good 5-6 cm with her cervix totally effaced, and the
bag of waters bulging on her cervix. We waited for it to go on its own,
knowing that once it did, the baby would be right there. She didn't have any
other exams in the labour and birth.
A couple of hours later she moved
from hands and knees to standing up. She started swaying and wiggling her hips
with the contractions, all the while singing her beautiful labour song with
her partner. The baby sounded stellar, she was drinking labourade, and all was
well.
Around 3 we woke up her son, who was almost 2. At first he was
stunned and sleepy, not making a peep. Then he started to cry and ask for the
comfort of his mum. The mum would finish her contraction, and smile broadly
down at him, and lean down to comfort him. We distracted him with some trains,
and after awhile he started to laugh at her every time she had a contraction!
He would start a big belly laugh every time she had a contraction because she
was vocalizing. It really helped to bring him into the birth, and make it
happy and joyous instead of totally solemn.
At this point in her
labour she was starting to sound like she was making love with her partner. I
wondered what the neighbour upstairs was thinking because it was obvious they
were up -- we could hear their pacing. I hoped the holy feeling would waft up
there and soothe them from complaining or something worse. The mum was so
strong, so goddess-like, and her voice was an embodiment of her strength. We
were in awe just watching her. She was working very hard, she was so strong.
She didn't ever complain, or say she couldn't do it. She accepted every
contraction and worked through them calmly and with such strength and
grace.
At once, her water broke. She was standing up being supported by
her partner. I reached around her from behind, while the second midwife held a
hand at the front. The baby was crowning. Her vocalizations were at a peak
now, no stopping, just loud and strong. The baby inched its way out quite
slowly. That's what those hip wiggles were about -- those shoulders were big
and she wiggled them into place! Her body knew so well what to do. The baby
slid out, vigorous and pinking up, with quiet cries. Mum turned around and the
baby was passed through her legs -- she was literally hanging from her
partner. They sat down and she snuggled that baby close to her, and the baby
was transforming beautifully. The older one came over and talked to the baby.
Later we weighed the baby: 10 pounds even, and over an intact perineum to
boot!
Later we heard that the birth was recorded - audio only. I
listened to it on our day one visit-- so amazing! You can hear her singing
with the contractions, then just quiet murmurings in between, with quiet
encouragement from us and her partner, and the lovely laughs from her son as
the contraction started again
"
________________________________________________________________
Lea
Mason, AAHCC
Certified Bradley® Natural Childbirth Educator & Labour
Support Professional
http://www.birthsteps.com.au
