"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
