http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=6256
Very Interesting Article!
There is a power within us that is simply more than we know or can understand. Anyone who has experienced a birth can say that it is one of the most physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual representations of this power. It is a journey unlike any other. Through intention, education, kindness, respect, commitment, and support we manifest our vision of what this journey will be. Though there are unknowns, we trust in the wisdom of our bodies and our babies, and allow ourselves to blossom.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
6 Healthy Birth Practices
http://www.lamaze.org/HealthyBirthPractices
1. Let Labor Begin On It's Own
2. Walk, Move, & Change Positions
3. Have Continuous Support (Doula!)
4. Avoid Uncessary Interventions
5. Get Upright & Follow Urges To Push
6. Keep Your Baby With You After Birth
1. Let Labor Begin On It's Own
2. Walk, Move, & Change Positions
3. Have Continuous Support (Doula!)
4. Avoid Uncessary Interventions
5. Get Upright & Follow Urges To Push
6. Keep Your Baby With You After Birth
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Bethany's Story
9:45 AM Text: "They are not regular
at all. I have to breathe through one here and there. But they are not close
and not regular. Def not in "active labor" yet."
Bethany approached me months before she was even pregnant, actually on her birthday, revealing the things she had learned regarding labor and birth and how she felt robbed by the course the birth of her first baby. She seemed determined to have a different experience the next time around, whenever that might be. It actually came as a bit of a surprise to me, (along with extreme delight), that she was interested in hiring a Doula when she found out she was pregnant a couple months later that December. I then knew that if she was to choose me as her Doula, I would do everything I could possibly do to help her feel confident and prepared.
We began meeting in June and decided our first course of action was to discuss what happened in the first birth that she wasn't satisfied with. But, rather than compiling a list of what she didn't want for her current pregnancy and birth, we compiled a list of the things she wanted to do differently. Her list looked something like this:
Though I am fearful of what the sensations of labor might be like without medication, I believe in the body's process, and want to be present before, during, and most importantly after the birth.
I want to avoid induction and medication.
I want a competent, supportive team surrounding me that encourages and respects me throughout the entire process. This includes a Midwife & Assistant, Husband, Mom, and Doula.
I want to encapsulate my placenta to help with recovery and avoid postpartum depression.
I want to labor in the tub and give birth to my baby in the water.
I want the baby to receive the remaining nutrients from her umbilical cord.
I want my baby to be with me immediately after birth.
I want my baby to be healthy and alert and to nurse immediately after birth.
I want my family close and available.
I want to be able to go home at my leisure and recover at home with my new baby and family.
I left the Lake at 10:20 AM, having received an email from Bethany. I sensed her calm control immediately, and felt assured that she had some time ahead of her.
11:30 AM: I was driving into Tacoma, about 45 minutes from home. I called Bethany's phone, Josh picked up…
Doula: "How is she doing?"
Josh: "Very good."
Doula: "When was the last time she ate or drank anything?”
Josh: "She ate at breakfast this morning, at about 9:20. She’s been drinking water all morning.”
Doula: "Okay, let’s get her something to eat."
Josh: "Okay. Here's Bethany." His phone rang, so he handed me the Bethany.
Doula: "Hi, how are you?"
Bethany: "Pretty good. I'm breathing through contractions and I feel pretty good. They are getting a little harder, but I can handle them. Oh, here comes one, hold on..." She said as she proceeded to take about four or 5 slow deep, breaths, two small soft moany-type sounds.
Doula: "You sound great! Good job! Sounds like you’re handling them pretty well…"
Bethany: "Okay, thanks Melly. Got to go..." They were on Josh's phone with the birth center, just letting them know they had begun labor. It sounded like things were starting to rev up a bit, but nothing to be concerned about.
11:58 Text from Doula: We're in Maple Valley, grabbing a quick bite and gas. Should be in Snoqualmie in about 30 minutes…
12:11 Call from Doula: "Hi, what's happening?"
Josh: "Contractions are right on top of each other, did you get my text?"
Doula: "Not yet, but I thought I would call you back and get an update because I hadn't heard back from you." (‘Ding’ text came over as we were speaking: Contractions are right on top of each other…)
Bethany in the background: "Oh my god, Oh my god, Aaaah, Uggggh!!!!” I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach, What if all that time had slowly done work without her knowing and things are turning? I need to get to her! I was comforted my Josh’s calm and loving demeanor with Bethany, but thought – it’s time to go to the birth center or at least call them again – maybe the Midwife will have to come to them…So, I said, "have you called the birth center?"
Josh: "Remember? I did about 30 minutes ago?" I could tell he was a little more concerned this time, excited, but also maybe thought I wasn’t picking up on the urgency of the situation.
Doula: "Yes, but, um, have you called them since things have changed? Have Bethany slow her breathing down and try holding in the yelling." I was trying to see if we could bring her back down at all, see if she had really turned that corner or not…
Josh: "No. I haven't called.” To Bethany, “Honey, good job sweetie. Breathe..." Bethany in the background: "Hold it in? Ugh… Aaaah!!!!" Oh, boy, things have changed…I thought.
Doula: "Ok Josh, what I want you do to is get off the phone with me and call the birth center right now."
Josh:"Ok, got to go..."
12:15: Call from Doula...
Doula: "Did you call the birth center?"
Josh: "Yes....we're heading there now..."
Doula: "Ok, good, I'll meet you there."
Josh: "Ok, great. Got to go…"
12:35: Call from Doula: "How's it going?" A clear ‘transition’ sound of hitting the dashboard and grunting at the same time came from the background...
Josh: "We're almost there, got to go…" contractions were still right on top of each other, and I’m assuming an extreme amount of pressure…
12:55: Call from Josh: "We made it to the birth center; Bethany is 9 1/2 cm!"
Doula: "Awesome! I'm about 2 minutes away..." HOLY… WOW, transition in the car. OUCH. She is a rock star! I thought to myself as I sat at that forsaken light on NE 8th St. for a whole minute!!!!! GREEN LIGHT!!! I turned, pulled into the parking lot, parked, and ran into the birth center…
Midwife: "She's right there, Bethany...okay...breathe" (Crazy energy in that room)
Bethany, clear as a bell: "Oh…I'm going to die."
Kelly, Bethany’s Mom: “Bethany, Melly's here.”
Bethany – in between contractions: "I'm so glad you're here Melly."
Doula: "Me too. Breathe honey.” I stroked her hair and rubbed her shoulders.
Bethany: "Okay..." And as the first of two remaining contractions came on, she re-focused...and pushed once...
Midwife: "Okay, hold it…that's it… That's it, Bethany! Here she comes…"
Doula: "Baby's is right there Bethany, you can do this."
Bethany: "Okay…" SHE knew it – that last push WOULD do it – SHE did it!
Roxanne was born...
Doula: "Baby is out, Bethany. She's coming up to your chest."
Bethany: "Huh? What?" The Midwife brought baby Roxy to her chest!
Bethany: "My baby, here's my baby..." She looks at her baby then looks at Josh, then at me...
Josh: "You did it Bethany, you did it!" He was so amazed by her strength and accomplishment and relieved that they were both healthy and safe.
Doula: "You did it. She's here!" (Amazing energy in the room now: smiling, tears, hugs, kisses)
Bethany: "That was so hard...” She then immediately back at her baby, “Hi Roxanne! Hi Baby..."
Bethany was in one moment changed by her experience. In the minutes immediately following the birth she was amazed at how good and happy she felt and how perfect her baby was. To boot, Roxanne nursed like a champ right away - latched on and ate as if she had been doing it all along. Bethany's mom was there to witness her daughter do the unthinkable, deliver her baby in the water, naturally, with purpose, ambition, and confidence. As if the universe had known all along she would give birth at that very moment, her dad and step mom happened to be in the neighborhood and arrived at the birth center within Roxanne's first hour of life. It was beautiful to watch this family come together and celebrate the hope and wonderment new life brings.
I spent about 3 1/2 hours with her after the birth and massaged her and helped mom and baby get acquainted as we talked about the excitement they had just experienced, recounting all the little things that happened and changed so quickly. We talked about all the preparation we did, and how much time we spent understanding transition, as well as acknowledging the calm, resourceful, informative, consistent presence her strong husband was for her. It was at that moment, I realized something I had already known deep inside: Babies are a miracle. Birth is a mystery. It was at that moment, I felt changed by her experience, and remembered how much Life is a Gift.
Thank you Bethany, Josh, Hunter, and Baby Roxanne
Love,
Your Doula
Auntie Melly
10:22 AM Text: "We are on our way
home. I'll call you when we're close.
10:23 AM Text: "Okay. Drive
safe."
And I was on my way to check in with my
client. A "typical" start to "possible" early 1st stage
labor...
Bethany approached me months before she was even pregnant, actually on her birthday, revealing the things she had learned regarding labor and birth and how she felt robbed by the course the birth of her first baby. She seemed determined to have a different experience the next time around, whenever that might be. It actually came as a bit of a surprise to me, (along with extreme delight), that she was interested in hiring a Doula when she found out she was pregnant a couple months later that December. I then knew that if she was to choose me as her Doula, I would do everything I could possibly do to help her feel confident and prepared.
We began meeting in June and decided our first course of action was to discuss what happened in the first birth that she wasn't satisfied with. But, rather than compiling a list of what she didn't want for her current pregnancy and birth, we compiled a list of the things she wanted to do differently. Her list looked something like this:
Though I am fearful of what the sensations of labor might be like without medication, I believe in the body's process, and want to be present before, during, and most importantly after the birth.
I want to avoid induction and medication.
I want a competent, supportive team surrounding me that encourages and respects me throughout the entire process. This includes a Midwife & Assistant, Husband, Mom, and Doula.
I want to encapsulate my placenta to help with recovery and avoid postpartum depression.
I want to labor in the tub and give birth to my baby in the water.
I want the baby to receive the remaining nutrients from her umbilical cord.
I want my baby to be with me immediately after birth.
I want my baby to be healthy and alert and to nurse immediately after birth.
I want my family close and available.
I want to be able to go home at my leisure and recover at home with my new baby and family.
With her plan in hand, we set out to re-educate
Bethany and Josh about natural, un-medicated
birth. We discussed, in depth, the different stages in labor and what her body
was doing during any particular moment in the process, that the beginning part
of labor would allow her time in between contractions to establish her rhythm,
we discussed how to breathe, relax, and use different positions for pain
management to provide comfort and relief, we spent a lot of time on what
transition looked like and how that meant labor was in the home stretch. We
talked about how pushing offered an opportunity to do something about the
intense sensations she would feel during transition and the amazing feeling she
would have after she delivered her baby... It was really wonderful teaching and
discussing birth as a normal process.
I left the Lake at 10:20 AM, having received an email from Bethany. I sensed her calm control immediately, and felt assured that she had some time ahead of her.
11:30 AM: I was driving into Tacoma, about 45 minutes from home. I called Bethany's phone, Josh picked up…
Doula: "How is she doing?"
Josh: "Very good."
Doula: "When was the last time she ate or drank anything?”
Josh: "She ate at breakfast this morning, at about 9:20. She’s been drinking water all morning.”
Doula: "Okay, let’s get her something to eat."
Josh: "Okay. Here's Bethany." His phone rang, so he handed me the Bethany.
Doula: "Hi, how are you?"
Bethany: "Pretty good. I'm breathing through contractions and I feel pretty good. They are getting a little harder, but I can handle them. Oh, here comes one, hold on..." She said as she proceeded to take about four or 5 slow deep, breaths, two small soft moany-type sounds.
Doula: "You sound great! Good job! Sounds like you’re handling them pretty well…"
Bethany: "Okay, thanks Melly. Got to go..." They were on Josh's phone with the birth center, just letting them know they had begun labor. It sounded like things were starting to rev up a bit, but nothing to be concerned about.
11:58 Text from Doula: We're in Maple Valley, grabbing a quick bite and gas. Should be in Snoqualmie in about 30 minutes…
12:11 Call from Doula: "Hi, what's happening?"
Josh: "Contractions are right on top of each other, did you get my text?"
Doula: "Not yet, but I thought I would call you back and get an update because I hadn't heard back from you." (‘Ding’ text came over as we were speaking: Contractions are right on top of each other…)
Bethany in the background: "Oh my god, Oh my god, Aaaah, Uggggh!!!!” I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach, What if all that time had slowly done work without her knowing and things are turning? I need to get to her! I was comforted my Josh’s calm and loving demeanor with Bethany, but thought – it’s time to go to the birth center or at least call them again – maybe the Midwife will have to come to them…So, I said, "have you called the birth center?"
Josh: "Remember? I did about 30 minutes ago?" I could tell he was a little more concerned this time, excited, but also maybe thought I wasn’t picking up on the urgency of the situation.
Doula: "Yes, but, um, have you called them since things have changed? Have Bethany slow her breathing down and try holding in the yelling." I was trying to see if we could bring her back down at all, see if she had really turned that corner or not…
Josh: "No. I haven't called.” To Bethany, “Honey, good job sweetie. Breathe..." Bethany in the background: "Hold it in? Ugh… Aaaah!!!!" Oh, boy, things have changed…I thought.
Doula: "Ok Josh, what I want you do to is get off the phone with me and call the birth center right now."
Josh:"Ok, got to go..."
12:15: Call from Doula...
Doula: "Did you call the birth center?"
Josh: "Yes....we're heading there now..."
Doula: "Ok, good, I'll meet you there."
Josh: "Ok, great. Got to go…"
12:35: Call from Doula: "How's it going?" A clear ‘transition’ sound of hitting the dashboard and grunting at the same time came from the background...
Josh: "We're almost there, got to go…" contractions were still right on top of each other, and I’m assuming an extreme amount of pressure…
12:55: Call from Josh: "We made it to the birth center; Bethany is 9 1/2 cm!"
Doula: "Awesome! I'm about 2 minutes away..." HOLY… WOW, transition in the car. OUCH. She is a rock star! I thought to myself as I sat at that forsaken light on NE 8th St. for a whole minute!!!!! GREEN LIGHT!!! I turned, pulled into the parking lot, parked, and ran into the birth center…
Midwife: "She's right there, Bethany...okay...breathe" (Crazy energy in that room)
Bethany, clear as a bell: "Oh…I'm going to die."
Kelly, Bethany’s Mom: “Bethany, Melly's here.”
Bethany – in between contractions: "I'm so glad you're here Melly."
Doula: "Me too. Breathe honey.” I stroked her hair and rubbed her shoulders.
Bethany: "Okay..." And as the first of two remaining contractions came on, she re-focused...and pushed once...
Midwife: "Okay, hold it…that's it… That's it, Bethany! Here she comes…"
Doula: "Baby's is right there Bethany, you can do this."
Bethany: "Okay…" SHE knew it – that last push WOULD do it – SHE did it!
Roxanne was born...
Doula: "Baby is out, Bethany. She's coming up to your chest."
Bethany: "Huh? What?" The Midwife brought baby Roxy to her chest!
Bethany: "My baby, here's my baby..." She looks at her baby then looks at Josh, then at me...
Josh: "You did it Bethany, you did it!" He was so amazed by her strength and accomplishment and relieved that they were both healthy and safe.
Doula: "You did it. She's here!" (Amazing energy in the room now: smiling, tears, hugs, kisses)
Bethany: "That was so hard...” She then immediately back at her baby, “Hi Roxanne! Hi Baby..."
Bethany was in one moment changed by her experience. In the minutes immediately following the birth she was amazed at how good and happy she felt and how perfect her baby was. To boot, Roxanne nursed like a champ right away - latched on and ate as if she had been doing it all along. Bethany's mom was there to witness her daughter do the unthinkable, deliver her baby in the water, naturally, with purpose, ambition, and confidence. As if the universe had known all along she would give birth at that very moment, her dad and step mom happened to be in the neighborhood and arrived at the birth center within Roxanne's first hour of life. It was beautiful to watch this family come together and celebrate the hope and wonderment new life brings.
I spent about 3 1/2 hours with her after the birth and massaged her and helped mom and baby get acquainted as we talked about the excitement they had just experienced, recounting all the little things that happened and changed so quickly. We talked about all the preparation we did, and how much time we spent understanding transition, as well as acknowledging the calm, resourceful, informative, consistent presence her strong husband was for her. It was at that moment, I realized something I had already known deep inside: Babies are a miracle. Birth is a mystery. It was at that moment, I felt changed by her experience, and remembered how much Life is a Gift.
Thank you Bethany, Josh, Hunter, and Baby Roxanne
Love,
Your Doula
Auntie Melly
Violet's Birth and Why I Heart Doulas
While it is a blessing to have a great nurse and an
attentive doctor, it is every woman’s right to have a Kind Doula. Before I was
pregnant with my daughter, Violet, my dear friend, Kristin, challenged my
husband, Scott and I to think about birth and how it matters. She wanted us to
do research about different places to give birth and what types of procedures,
policies, and statistics each have. She wanted me to figure out what type of
birth experience I would want and how I might go about making that happen. She
challenged me to think critically about these things and choose a path that
supported my desires and goals for my birth. She and I both knew that Scott
would support me no matter what.
I hadn’t quite figure out much about where I would want to deliver my baby so much as I had figured out I wanted an un-medicated birth when I found out I was pregnant with my first baby. So, like most people I thought I would go the hospital route. I found a lovely Family Practitioner/OBGYN. She did an ultrasound right away confirming our pregnancy, took a bunch of tests, and gave me some guidelines like don’t eat tuna more than once a week, it was very routine. With a smile on her face and a great birth attendance rate, I felt like I was in good hands. As the weeks went on, learning more and more about childbirth and what I wanted for my birth experience, I began to feel unsure about delivering a baby in a hospital with a 15% un-medicated birth rate. Although possible, I still wasn’t exactly sure how my goals of having an un-medicated birth experience would be supported in that setting and decided I wanted to interview a midwife at a free-standing birth center. We met the midwives at the Eastside Birthcenter, toured the facility, and changed care immediately. One of the first questions at our first appointment at the birth center was have you hired a Doula yet? We hadn’t, but of course were thinking about it.
The weeks went on and we attended Kristin’s 9 week childbirth education series, and about halfway through I decided I wasn’t about to labor without having a Doula with me. We hired Kristin. Not only did she know the ins and outs of labor and birth but she had attended hundreds of births, mostly un-medicated, but had had more than her fair share of variations – pitosin, epidurals, and c-sections, and had accompanied women in labor in birth centers, hospitals, and home births.
I went into labor the evening of March 17th. Contractions were about 20 minutes apart, and fairly light. They were easy to cope with, though I wasn’t getting much sleep, mostly because I was feeling excited. Finally around 4 AM on March 18th, the contractions were getting closer together, about 7 minutes apart lasting about 50-60 seconds, we called Kristin. She listened to my contractions over the phone at first. She was feeding me encouragement and complements with her loving tone. I asked her, so, what do you think? Am I in labor, are we getting closer? She said, yes, and you sound great. Why don’t you eat something and keep doing what you’re doing. I thought they were getting serious since I had never experienced anything like this in my life, but Kristin remained calm and politely suggested that we stop timing them and after I had a snack and to try and get some rest since I hadn’t been sleeping much. At about 6 AM, my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart and much more intense than before. I thought it might be time for her to come. She met us at our house. I felt this amazing amount of comfort wash over me when she arrived. We went for a couple walks, talked, laughed, listened to music, and snacked. Scott and I even got to take a nap. It was really nice to have her with me and still be in my own comfortable home. I labored for a while longer, my mom showed up and then at about 2:30 PM, I felt pretty ready to get going to the birth center. Contractions were happening every 3 minutes or so and were really intense. We hopped in the car and headed to the birth center.
I had 7 contractions in the car on the way to the birth center. Labor was not letting up, which was a great sign! We arrived at the birth center and hung out for about an hour while the midwife and assistant set up the room. I continued to labor, I was in good spirits, getting a boost of energy by traveling to my birth place! The midwife checked me and I was about 8 cm! The amazing thing for me here was that I had labored for a good long time at home with no interruptions, because my doula was with me in addition to my husband and my mom, I felt comfortable trusting my body and giving into labor, letting it take over, and I received huge confirmation with that 8 cm check!
I continued to labor for quite some time. I was in the tub, I was swaying back and forth and walking in the room I was doing squats and sitting in the bathroom. My family was there but Kristin was really my main support, walking with me, going to the bathroom with me, quietly yet powerfully encouraging me when I was experiencing challenging contractions, she knew just what to say and just what to do. It’s like she could read my mine. Meanwhile my midwife was next door delivering another baby! The mother had arrived after me, was only 6 cm and delivered her baby before me. Ugh. After about 7 ½ hours or so of laboring, I had progressed 1 cm. Feeling my frustration, my midwife offered to break my water. We talked about the risks and benefits, and I felt good about it, I was ready to get things moving again. Once my midwife broke my water, contractions came on strong – much stronger than before. I continued to labor for another 3 hours, and endured major back pain through transition. Kristin had me lie on my side and applied constant counter pressure to my lower back. I don’t remember how long transition was for me, maybe 30 minutes, but I remember feeling ‘out-of-body’, my mom saying “you can do this, you need to separate yourself from the pain”, and Kristin reminding me to breathe and touching me, and Scott leaving the room to eat. All of the sudden I felt like I had to pee and then bear down! I was complete and ready to push. The energy in the room was insane. Scott’s parents were outside the door of our room. My mom, my sister, Scott and Kristin, the midwife’s assistant and the midwife were all in this with me. I pushed in the tub for 2 ½ hours. Violet was born “sunny-side-up” or occiput posterior and acynclitic (Google it - it explains the long labor and difficult-lengthy pushing stage). Most babies in this presentation and position are born via c-section. Not my baby. She was born into this world, calm and alert, neither of us were medicated, and the amazing feeling I had being sober through the whole process, brought me to an elated, euphoric feeling for the hours following my birth as I held my baby close to me, looked at her beautiful face, and eventually nursing her. Though, it was always within me to birth her naturally without medication, given all of my challenges and my lack of experience at the time, I still feel like I could not have done this without the support, respect, and encouragement of my Doula, Midwife, Husband, Mom and Sister. Though, my Doula would say, “yes you could have,” and that is precisely why I love her.
Because of my experience, the difficulties, challenges, support and pain management offered by my doula and the ultimate positive outcome, I chose to become a doula myself. I believe that everybody has a purpose. Doulas purpose is different from any other role in childbirth. If we want more positive outcomes, I not only believe a Doulas presence is beneficial, I believe it’s necessary. The statistics show the positive benefits of having a Doula: 60% reduction in epidural rate, 50% reduction in cesarean rate, 40% reduction in oxytocin/pitosin/induction rate, and more: http://www.beginswithbirth.net/statistics.shtml , http://www.childbirth.org/articles/stats.html.
The last two years have been the most amazing years of my life with my sweet Violet and positive birth experience. Add to that the support of a loving husband and the beginning of a meaningful career as a Doula and my life’s path feels set. To those interested in having a positive birth experience, look into hiring a Doula. It might just be the best decision you make when planning for your new arrival. It was for me.
Kind Birth
Melissa Tuton
(Kristin Dibeh was my Doula with Kind Birth Services http://www.kind-birth.blogspot.com/)
I hadn’t quite figure out much about where I would want to deliver my baby so much as I had figured out I wanted an un-medicated birth when I found out I was pregnant with my first baby. So, like most people I thought I would go the hospital route. I found a lovely Family Practitioner/OBGYN. She did an ultrasound right away confirming our pregnancy, took a bunch of tests, and gave me some guidelines like don’t eat tuna more than once a week, it was very routine. With a smile on her face and a great birth attendance rate, I felt like I was in good hands. As the weeks went on, learning more and more about childbirth and what I wanted for my birth experience, I began to feel unsure about delivering a baby in a hospital with a 15% un-medicated birth rate. Although possible, I still wasn’t exactly sure how my goals of having an un-medicated birth experience would be supported in that setting and decided I wanted to interview a midwife at a free-standing birth center. We met the midwives at the Eastside Birthcenter, toured the facility, and changed care immediately. One of the first questions at our first appointment at the birth center was have you hired a Doula yet? We hadn’t, but of course were thinking about it.
The weeks went on and we attended Kristin’s 9 week childbirth education series, and about halfway through I decided I wasn’t about to labor without having a Doula with me. We hired Kristin. Not only did she know the ins and outs of labor and birth but she had attended hundreds of births, mostly un-medicated, but had had more than her fair share of variations – pitosin, epidurals, and c-sections, and had accompanied women in labor in birth centers, hospitals, and home births.
I went into labor the evening of March 17th. Contractions were about 20 minutes apart, and fairly light. They were easy to cope with, though I wasn’t getting much sleep, mostly because I was feeling excited. Finally around 4 AM on March 18th, the contractions were getting closer together, about 7 minutes apart lasting about 50-60 seconds, we called Kristin. She listened to my contractions over the phone at first. She was feeding me encouragement and complements with her loving tone. I asked her, so, what do you think? Am I in labor, are we getting closer? She said, yes, and you sound great. Why don’t you eat something and keep doing what you’re doing. I thought they were getting serious since I had never experienced anything like this in my life, but Kristin remained calm and politely suggested that we stop timing them and after I had a snack and to try and get some rest since I hadn’t been sleeping much. At about 6 AM, my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart and much more intense than before. I thought it might be time for her to come. She met us at our house. I felt this amazing amount of comfort wash over me when she arrived. We went for a couple walks, talked, laughed, listened to music, and snacked. Scott and I even got to take a nap. It was really nice to have her with me and still be in my own comfortable home. I labored for a while longer, my mom showed up and then at about 2:30 PM, I felt pretty ready to get going to the birth center. Contractions were happening every 3 minutes or so and were really intense. We hopped in the car and headed to the birth center.
I had 7 contractions in the car on the way to the birth center. Labor was not letting up, which was a great sign! We arrived at the birth center and hung out for about an hour while the midwife and assistant set up the room. I continued to labor, I was in good spirits, getting a boost of energy by traveling to my birth place! The midwife checked me and I was about 8 cm! The amazing thing for me here was that I had labored for a good long time at home with no interruptions, because my doula was with me in addition to my husband and my mom, I felt comfortable trusting my body and giving into labor, letting it take over, and I received huge confirmation with that 8 cm check!
I continued to labor for quite some time. I was in the tub, I was swaying back and forth and walking in the room I was doing squats and sitting in the bathroom. My family was there but Kristin was really my main support, walking with me, going to the bathroom with me, quietly yet powerfully encouraging me when I was experiencing challenging contractions, she knew just what to say and just what to do. It’s like she could read my mine. Meanwhile my midwife was next door delivering another baby! The mother had arrived after me, was only 6 cm and delivered her baby before me. Ugh. After about 7 ½ hours or so of laboring, I had progressed 1 cm. Feeling my frustration, my midwife offered to break my water. We talked about the risks and benefits, and I felt good about it, I was ready to get things moving again. Once my midwife broke my water, contractions came on strong – much stronger than before. I continued to labor for another 3 hours, and endured major back pain through transition. Kristin had me lie on my side and applied constant counter pressure to my lower back. I don’t remember how long transition was for me, maybe 30 minutes, but I remember feeling ‘out-of-body’, my mom saying “you can do this, you need to separate yourself from the pain”, and Kristin reminding me to breathe and touching me, and Scott leaving the room to eat. All of the sudden I felt like I had to pee and then bear down! I was complete and ready to push. The energy in the room was insane. Scott’s parents were outside the door of our room. My mom, my sister, Scott and Kristin, the midwife’s assistant and the midwife were all in this with me. I pushed in the tub for 2 ½ hours. Violet was born “sunny-side-up” or occiput posterior and acynclitic (Google it - it explains the long labor and difficult-lengthy pushing stage). Most babies in this presentation and position are born via c-section. Not my baby. She was born into this world, calm and alert, neither of us were medicated, and the amazing feeling I had being sober through the whole process, brought me to an elated, euphoric feeling for the hours following my birth as I held my baby close to me, looked at her beautiful face, and eventually nursing her. Though, it was always within me to birth her naturally without medication, given all of my challenges and my lack of experience at the time, I still feel like I could not have done this without the support, respect, and encouragement of my Doula, Midwife, Husband, Mom and Sister. Though, my Doula would say, “yes you could have,” and that is precisely why I love her.
Because of my experience, the difficulties, challenges, support and pain management offered by my doula and the ultimate positive outcome, I chose to become a doula myself. I believe that everybody has a purpose. Doulas purpose is different from any other role in childbirth. If we want more positive outcomes, I not only believe a Doulas presence is beneficial, I believe it’s necessary. The statistics show the positive benefits of having a Doula: 60% reduction in epidural rate, 50% reduction in cesarean rate, 40% reduction in oxytocin/pitosin/induction rate, and more: http://www.beginswithbirth.net/statistics.shtml , http://www.childbirth.org/articles/stats.html.
The last two years have been the most amazing years of my life with my sweet Violet and positive birth experience. Add to that the support of a loving husband and the beginning of a meaningful career as a Doula and my life’s path feels set. To those interested in having a positive birth experience, look into hiring a Doula. It might just be the best decision you make when planning for your new arrival. It was for me.
Kind Birth
Melissa Tuton
(Kristin Dibeh was my Doula with Kind Birth Services http://www.kind-birth.blogspot.com/)
Friday, February 1, 2013
What I Offer as Your Doula
My Role as Your Birth Doula: I will accompany you in labor, ensure a positive birth experience, and provide physical, emotional, and educational support. During labor, I can help with relaxation, massage, positioning and other pain management and comfort techniques. I can provide encouragement, reassurance, and perspective to you and your partner, and make suggestions for labor progress. I can help inform you so you are able to make decisions and advocate for yourself.
My Commitment: As your birth doula I provide two prenatal meetings, a two-week slot I am on-call for you surrounding your "due" date, and two post partum visits. During our prenatal meetings we will discuss the details of your pregnancy, your expecations and desires for your birth experience, your fears and concerns and prepare for labor and create your birth plan. We will also talk about how to know when to call and when and where we will meet when you are in labor. I will join you when you are in labor and remain with you until your baby is born. After birth, around the third or fourth day, about when your milk comes in, I will visit you in your home to admire your baby of course, see how you are coping, how breastfeeding and care of your newborn is going, and provide any referals that might be needed. At our last post-partum visit, about three weeks after the birth, we will discuss your birth experience, talk more about how things are going and changing, how you're sleeping, and of course more baby admiring! :)
Labor: I prefer that you call me when you think you are in labor no matter what time of day or date it is. When you call, I will help assess where you are in the labor process through questions and listening to how you cope with contractions. I can offer suggestions over the phone to help you relax and keep perspective. Once we decide together that you are ready for me to join you, I will head to where you are so you can continue laboring in comfort. Sometime after I arrive, you will be ready to be in your birth place, when that happens, we will make the calls and head in that direction. I will make every effort to accompany when you go into labor, sometimes this is impossible due to illness or other extreme circumstances. I work with other doulas and have back-ups available in this case, or you can choose a back-up doula of your own choice. When labor occurs outside the two-week on-call slot, I will still make every effort to accompany you in labor, however, I may be attending another birth, illness, or other circumstances and a back-up of your choice may attend in my place as well if you so desire. I will do everything possible to keep you informed of any issues that arrise.
Fees: My full fee for doula services is $600. I request a $300 deposit fee to ensure we are committed as doula and client. This covers prenatal meetings and secures the two-week time slot I will be on-call for you surrounding your due date. The remaining $300 birth fee is due at the first post partum home visit.
I also do private childbirth education classes upon request for an additional fee.
Coming soon - group childbirth education classed.
My Commitment: As your birth doula I provide two prenatal meetings, a two-week slot I am on-call for you surrounding your "due" date, and two post partum visits. During our prenatal meetings we will discuss the details of your pregnancy, your expecations and desires for your birth experience, your fears and concerns and prepare for labor and create your birth plan. We will also talk about how to know when to call and when and where we will meet when you are in labor. I will join you when you are in labor and remain with you until your baby is born. After birth, around the third or fourth day, about when your milk comes in, I will visit you in your home to admire your baby of course, see how you are coping, how breastfeeding and care of your newborn is going, and provide any referals that might be needed. At our last post-partum visit, about three weeks after the birth, we will discuss your birth experience, talk more about how things are going and changing, how you're sleeping, and of course more baby admiring! :)
Labor: I prefer that you call me when you think you are in labor no matter what time of day or date it is. When you call, I will help assess where you are in the labor process through questions and listening to how you cope with contractions. I can offer suggestions over the phone to help you relax and keep perspective. Once we decide together that you are ready for me to join you, I will head to where you are so you can continue laboring in comfort. Sometime after I arrive, you will be ready to be in your birth place, when that happens, we will make the calls and head in that direction. I will make every effort to accompany when you go into labor, sometimes this is impossible due to illness or other extreme circumstances. I work with other doulas and have back-ups available in this case, or you can choose a back-up doula of your own choice. When labor occurs outside the two-week on-call slot, I will still make every effort to accompany you in labor, however, I may be attending another birth, illness, or other circumstances and a back-up of your choice may attend in my place as well if you so desire. I will do everything possible to keep you informed of any issues that arrise.
Coming soon - group childbirth education classed.
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