Great Births are Planned - heres a great one!

"Kathy

I just wanted to send you a quick thank you. Yasmin has said to me that
she was so glad you were there and I couldn’t agree more. We are so glad
that you were there to share in the birth of our BEAUTIFUL little girl.
You really made things easier for Yasmin and I can’t express my
gratitude enough.

Kind regards,

Duncan"

*** My review of the birth:

At 6am Friday her water broke and her husband called me. I spoke with the mom and we did a few surges together over the phone. They were present, however, she was talking about going off to Safeway, so I said, "lets chat later".

At 12:28 I called again, and this time mom didn't want to speak with me, so I said, I'm coming now!

I arrived at just a little after 1pm.

After arriving, it seemed things were progressing nicely and when the tub was filled enough we got mom into it. It definitely makes the early labour move quickly and also relaxes mom so much so she can really have her space and remain focused. The water was very warm, and so a fan was called for as was the breezes from the open door. Her Mom was amazing preparing food and carrying water, as was Dad, and gradually the tub filled.

At about 2pm another Doula arrived and began to worry that the MW was not returning her calls. She finally tracked her down after expressing concern this mom was in active labour with ruptured membranes and no MW on site or responding to our calls. The MW was in Coquitlam and we were in Kits!

We kept all that "excitement" away from mom, and just kept doing the deep breathing and relaxing through each surge as they were coming closer together and a feeling of them lengthening some of them one on top of the other. Perfect Labour… truly! And perfectly managed by Mom using her breath and her focus taking her inward with each surge.

Finally at 3pm MW arrived and called it in "A home birth in progress" and all was well…we kept moving forward not knowing where the end was. A few trips to the bathroom, and finding other positions to labour in. We were starting to see some good "birthing show" as mom progressed doing her deep breathing, and relaxing while breathing deep into baby. Checking the cervix the MW wanted the intensity to slow down so she guided mom in blowing off the surges, delaying any pushing from mom's body. Finally the cervix was fully dilated and the MW gave the go ahead to follow her body's lead.

Fluids into mom whenever we could, and finally Dad climbed into the pool at 4:01pm. From here on in, he could really support mom during the surges by doing the pressure on the hips and relieving her back strain, and also some Light Touch Massage and even when she left the tub, he remained waiting until she returned.

At 5pm mom looked up at the MW and asked how much longer? The MW said, maybe 3-4 hours more once she reached the "pushing" stage. Somewhere we have to find a new term for the "pushing" stage because that just seems to get it into everyone's head it has to be so intense, when really the body will just do it, and all mom really has to do is co operate with it and help it with her breath and her voice and her body…which was exactly what this mom was doing, perfectly! Mother Directed means she follows her body's lead without any outside directives or instructions. Well we try!

And yet between the surges mom would "sink in" into the inner places, inward, resting her body and her baby, and waiting on the next surge, knowing it would bring her back "out" and up and she would manage it just as she had all the rest of them. That deep sinking in during the last stages of birth really allow moms to rest and recapture their space, prepare for the next one, and take deep rests, almost falling deep into sleep. It's perfectly ok as it allows the whole process to slow down, slowing the inner body systems, resting them, allowing for baby to rest in the birth canal, and allowing all the muscles to rest and relax.

It's really perfect if moms will let this happen and let go of any anxiety or stressors here, it's just the best for opening and letting baby move down. Now is the perfect time for parents to begin to "see" their baby out in the water. This is the use of the mirror neurons and these parents started to do this too.

Mom came out of the water, and the MW could see babies head emerging, so could Dad from inside the pool as mom bent over. Mom opted for returning to the pool and baby was emerging into the pool, surges were intense now, and the stretching can be challenging here, however, as mom, waited and was careful listening to her body and her baby, and gently opening to allow baby to emerg.

It was three more connected surges and baby had negotiated her way out of mom, and the MW placed her up on her chest and baby was giving mom and dad a loud greeting! Dad was immersed in the emotions of the moment, and Mom, now fully returned from her long passage in and out of her trance states, now bright eyed, smiled at everyone and said "we did it, I did it, I didn't think I could do it, but I did it". A delighted grin on her face, that kind of grin that's as pleased as one can be with her work!

She then checked and surprised everyone with "it's a girl". It hadn't taken 3 more hours at all…it was a really done so quickly Baby had lots of vernix, the very best for them is to let the vernix sink right into baby's skin - if the pharmaceutical companies could get a hold of this stuff they surely would, it's just the best for skin softening and I'm sure anti-aging!

From there we helped baby and mom out of the tub and onto the bed. They elected to do the Stem Cell Blood Banking and so the cord was cut very shortly thereafter, however, the MW mentioned that it was almost stopped pulsing when she clamped it. Then she retrieved the blood and mom birthed the Placenta and it was done!

Baby was delighted to be on mom, breathing easily and quiet now, she was with her mom and dad, and all three delighted with the new family. A new mother was born with this infants arrival as was a new Grandmother born, as this was her mothers first grandchild.

Dads words were "Another Princess in the house" Perfect! Just like her sweet little pink toes and fingers…Perfect!

It's just a day later and thinking tonight as I write this new family are either feeding baby, changing her, or trying to get some rest themselves…no matter the time of day or night, for the next few weeks it will be pretty solid focus as the family adjusts …

So all in all, active labour start to finish, was from 1pm to 5:49pm ---

Great stuff, and yet speed is the least on the list of importance to this process when considering the positive experience of the mother, the empowerment of the father, the health of the infant and the intact perineum!