I just came across a very impowering homebirth story in pictures. The pictures are of the birth of a baby born in the caul, meaning he is born with the amniotic sac or membrane still intact around his body. The sac then balloons out around the baby at birth, covering his face and body as he emerges from the mother. When still inside the sac, a baby continues to be nourished through the umbilical cord and is not in danger of drowning and has nearly zero chance of neonatal infection. A baby born in the caul is very rare, especially in today's obstetrics, and children who are born in this way are considered, based on legend, lucky for life.
View Born in the Caul on homebirth midwife Beth Miller's website, Birthing Way to see this amazing birth.
Showing posts with label homebirth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homebirth. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
modern midwifery
In the United States, less than 1% of births take place at home. It is difficult for the other 99% of Americans to make the transition from believing that technology is the benchmark for establishing worldwide leadership to the understanding that, in reality, the human body is designed to give birth. Our bodies are generous and amazing in their abilities to give birth naturally.
The rates of surgical birth and birth intervention in the US have soared beyond those of other developed countries around the world. The rate of maternal and infant mortality is not only significantly higher in the US than that of other developed nations, but also has not improved in nearly thirty years. Despite a significant improvement in the US maternal mortality ratio since the early 1900s, it still represents a substantial and frustrating burden, particularly given the fact that essentially no progress has been made in most of the US since 1982. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that most cases of maternal mortality are probably preventable. Among the causal deaths that could be prevented were those that involve both underlying health issues such as poor nutrition and high blood pressure as well as those that are physician-caused, including infection and hemorrhage.
There are many preventable risks of placing birth in a hospital environment. To begin with, bacteria can be introduced, first by the mother arriving in an environment where diseases are being treated, as well as from
infiltrating the natural barriers we have against infection through vaginal exams and, of course, surgical delivery. Additionally, there are higher incidences of hemorrhage from forced delivery of the placenta (when a care provider intentionally pulls on an umbilical cord). Furthermore, injuries and deaths related to the physician’s care range from the off-label use of medicine for the induction of labor as well as the sanctified use of surgical delivery, which is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and a risk directly associated with cesareans and hospital births.
It is important to remember that pregnancy is a normal, low-risk, significant time in a woman's life. With knowledge of her body, a woman can interpret her body’s signals and maintain her own health. She can educate herself about care options and make good choices based on impartial and complete information because she knows her own body. Modern midwifery care is based on many concepts which are proven to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates and increase a mother’s joy in her birth experience.
Pregnancy effects and is effected by all aspects of a woman’s life: social, economic, professional, familial. A woman who knows about her body and how she gives birth is less likely to need medical interventions. An experienced midwife spends time with her clients. She gets to know them, teaches them and helps them think through their options to make reasoned decisions. She spends time with the client’s partner, observing the dynamics and providing holistic support. She helps identify how best to prepare the chosen space for labor and birth. Under a midwife's care, a typical prenatal visit lasts 30-60 minutes, labor accompaniment is consistent through the active labor and birth, and postnatal care includes several follow-up visits. It is estimated that midwives spend 10-15 times as many hours with a client as doctors spend--at about half the price! Midwives still do 70% of the births in the world and are experts not only at “normal” birth but at keeping infants normal around the birthing process. Midwifery care makes sense for normal pregnancies because midwives are skilled at keeping the pregnancy normal.
Women deserve knowledge to care for themselves before conceiving and during pregnancy and birth. Women gain the best birth knowledge from other women who have chosen natural childbirth with supportive birth care. Women are naturally intuitive and need not accept the negative images of labor that the media portrays. Women, their partners and their advocates can differentiate between normal birth and situations that may require medical guidance. Women want to choose important aspects of their birth experience based on credible information, not fear of litigation. The most favorable physical, mental and emotional birth outcomes for mothers and their babies are best supported by midwifery care.
Women have the right to choose a care provider and with whom and where to give birth. Every woman, and her family, must be recognized as being an individual with her own unique expectations for hers and her baby’s birth. It is a myth that women who seek a homebirth are willfully putting themselves at risk. Women are fully capable of considering their options and choosing how to care for themselves. It is not rational to say homebirth is never safe; saying so is the product of hysteria. All birth information providers must create a more personable environment for the woman to learn about birth, her body and her birth options. Protecting choice, not limiting choice, is good, no, GREAT health care.
Artwork: Music by Katie M. Berggren
The rates of surgical birth and birth intervention in the US have soared beyond those of other developed countries around the world. The rate of maternal and infant mortality is not only significantly higher in the US than that of other developed nations, but also has not improved in nearly thirty years. Despite a significant improvement in the US maternal mortality ratio since the early 1900s, it still represents a substantial and frustrating burden, particularly given the fact that essentially no progress has been made in most of the US since 1982. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that most cases of maternal mortality are probably preventable. Among the causal deaths that could be prevented were those that involve both underlying health issues such as poor nutrition and high blood pressure as well as those that are physician-caused, including infection and hemorrhage.There are many preventable risks of placing birth in a hospital environment. To begin with, bacteria can be introduced, first by the mother arriving in an environment where diseases are being treated, as well as from
infiltrating the natural barriers we have against infection through vaginal exams and, of course, surgical delivery. Additionally, there are higher incidences of hemorrhage from forced delivery of the placenta (when a care provider intentionally pulls on an umbilical cord). Furthermore, injuries and deaths related to the physician’s care range from the off-label use of medicine for the induction of labor as well as the sanctified use of surgical delivery, which is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and a risk directly associated with cesareans and hospital births.
It is important to remember that pregnancy is a normal, low-risk, significant time in a woman's life. With knowledge of her body, a woman can interpret her body’s signals and maintain her own health. She can educate herself about care options and make good choices based on impartial and complete information because she knows her own body. Modern midwifery care is based on many concepts which are proven to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates and increase a mother’s joy in her birth experience.
Pregnancy effects and is effected by all aspects of a woman’s life: social, economic, professional, familial. A woman who knows about her body and how she gives birth is less likely to need medical interventions. An experienced midwife spends time with her clients. She gets to know them, teaches them and helps them think through their options to make reasoned decisions. She spends time with the client’s partner, observing the dynamics and providing holistic support. She helps identify how best to prepare the chosen space for labor and birth. Under a midwife's care, a typical prenatal visit lasts 30-60 minutes, labor accompaniment is consistent through the active labor and birth, and postnatal care includes several follow-up visits. It is estimated that midwives spend 10-15 times as many hours with a client as doctors spend--at about half the price! Midwives still do 70% of the births in the world and are experts not only at “normal” birth but at keeping infants normal around the birthing process. Midwifery care makes sense for normal pregnancies because midwives are skilled at keeping the pregnancy normal.
Women deserve knowledge to care for themselves before conceiving and during pregnancy and birth. Women gain the best birth knowledge from other women who have chosen natural childbirth with supportive birth care. Women are naturally intuitive and need not accept the negative images of labor that the media portrays. Women, their partners and their advocates can differentiate between normal birth and situations that may require medical guidance. Women want to choose important aspects of their birth experience based on credible information, not fear of litigation. The most favorable physical, mental and emotional birth outcomes for mothers and their babies are best supported by midwifery care.
Women have the right to choose a care provider and with whom and where to give birth. Every woman, and her family, must be recognized as being an individual with her own unique expectations for hers and her baby’s birth. It is a myth that women who seek a homebirth are willfully putting themselves at risk. Women are fully capable of considering their options and choosing how to care for themselves. It is not rational to say homebirth is never safe; saying so is the product of hysteria. All birth information providers must create a more personable environment for the woman to learn about birth, her body and her birth options. Protecting choice, not limiting choice, is good, no, GREAT health care.
Artwork: Music by Katie M. Berggren
Sunday, December 13, 2009
babies--a new film
The upcoming film by Thomas Balmes, Babies, which will be released in April 2010, follows the story of four babies in four very different cultures through their first year of life. Babies takes a look at the uniqueness and differences of this early stage of life in Mongolia, Namibia, Tokyo, and San Fransisco.
I look forward to seeing this film, especially learning about the other cultures. It also reminds me of one of the most interesting and refreshing articles, “Breastfeeding in the Land of Genghis Khan,” published in the July-August issue of Mothering Magazine, in which Canadian-born Ruth Kamnitzer writes about Mongolians’ distinctly different attitude toward the practice of breastfeeding. Living in Mongolia while nursing her son, she soon learned she did not have to take pains to be discreet:
Kamnitzer still felt a bit out of step with cultural norms—but this time, roles were reversed. She had to learn to become comfortable with much looser standards about who should be drinking breastmilk:In Mongolia, instead of relegating me to a 'Mothers Only' section, breastfeeding in public brought me firmly to center stage. Their universal practice of breastfeeding anywhere, anytime, and the close quarters at which most Mongolians live, mean that everyone is pretty familiar with the sight of a working boob. They were happy to see I was doing things their way (which was, of course, the right way). When I breastfed in the back of taxis, drivers would give me the thumbs-up in the rear view mirror and assure me that Calum would grow up to be a great wrestler. When I walked through the market cradling my feeding son in my arms, vendors would make a space for me at their stalls and tell him to drink up. Instead of looking away, people would lean right in and kiss Calum on the cheek. If he popped off in response to the attention and left my streaming breast completely exposed, not a beat was missed. No one stared, no one looked away--they just laughed and wiped the milk off their noses.
Not only do I look forward to the segment on Mongolia, I am also very curious about birth and nursing practices in Namibia, a culture where parenting is natural and nurturing, but the risk of illness from HIV, malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia is dangerously high. Namibia already had high rates of infant death and illness due to perils like HIV, malaria, and imposed pressure of powerful corporations to artificially feed babies, even amidst the poor water conditions common in this part of the world. In this case, artificial breast milk substitutes greatly increases malnutrition and diarrhea in infants and leads to higher instances of infant death. However, when Americanized birthing styles and mass immunizations (sometimes with good intentions but outdated ingredients or 'left-overs' from the U.S.) began to be imposed on mothers/babies in Namibia, rates of morbidity and mortality started to climb even further.If weaning means never drinking breastmilk again, then Mongolians are never truly weaned—and here’s what surprised me most about breastfeeding in Mongolia. If a mother’s breasts are engorged and her baby is not at hand, she will simply go around and ask a family member, of any age or sex, if they’d like a drink. Often a woman will express a bowlful for her husband as a treat, or leave some in the fridge for anyone to help themselves.
Japan, on the other hand, currently has the fourth best rate of infant health and survival in the world, drastically different than that of the United States, which does not even compare, sitting behind 44 other countries in infant mortality and morbidity rates--and, sadly, is continuing to fall farther every year, according to the CIA infant mortality statistics. It is interesting that, even though Japan has started to adopt many of the birthing and baby care trends common in the United States, they still maintain far better rates for infant survival then we do, although their rates did fall slightly after they began adopting these trends.
Infant morbidity and mortality statistics will exist no matter what we do--it is an inescapable part of nature. However, there are varying reasons for these statistics to exist as they do. We can learn from the birthing and infant care practices of countries with the lowest infant mortality and morbidity statistics, such as Singapore, Bermuda and Sweden, and make positive changes in our own practices as a result. I look forward to seeing the film Babies, and I anticipate that it will be both delightful and insightful. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
misrepresenting homebirth
I am outraged that such a misrepresentation of birth options was presented by The Today Show, a show that I once respected and admired, in a story titled, "The Perils of Home Births," originally captioned, "Extreme Birth." While my prayers and sympathies do go out to any family who loses a child, it is important to consider that tragedies do happen in childbirth, no matter the location or attendant. Birth tragedies do not solely take place for women who choose to homebirth. It is also important to note that the United States has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the western world, after all, and one of the lowest percentages of homebirth rates.
I encourage the producers of The Today Show to air a more unbiased story of the importance of birth choice and birth options, the wonders of midwifery and homebirth, and how homebirth can be a safe alternative for many healthy, normal pregnancies and deliveries. I signed the petition Demand Accurate Reporting of ALL Birth Options. I am asking you to sign this petition to help reach the goal of 5,000 signatures. I care deeply about this cause, and I hope you will support their efforts, as well. The petition will be presented to the producers of The Today Show next week.
Here is a link to the video "The Perils of Home Births" presented by The Today Show.
I encourage the producers of The Today Show to air a more unbiased story of the importance of birth choice and birth options, the wonders of midwifery and homebirth, and how homebirth can be a safe alternative for many healthy, normal pregnancies and deliveries. I signed the petition Demand Accurate Reporting of ALL Birth Options. I am asking you to sign this petition to help reach the goal of 5,000 signatures. I care deeply about this cause, and I hope you will support their efforts, as well. The petition will be presented to the producers of The Today Show next week.
Here is a link to the video "The Perils of Home Births" presented by The Today Show.
Monday, March 9, 2009
remembering esme's homebirth
I love love love Esme's birth story. Since her birthday is upon us, I found myself flashing back to my last couple days of pregnancy, how exhilarating it felt to meet our new baby girl for the first time, in our living room. After she was born, I had a lovely book printed with the following story along with the beautiful photographs David's mother took of the event. I pulled the book out this evening to reread by myself, which always makes me tearful. We will enjoy it again, as a family, on Tuesday night, as part of our birthday celebration.
Enjoy our story and take pride in your own birth experiences. I would love to hear them, so please share them.
From the beginning of our pregnancy in June of 2006, we planned for a homebirth. We found a fabulous midwife, Debby, who would provide us with prenatal and postpartum care, as well as help us through labor and delivery in our home in Racine, WI. We met with her several times in the months and weeks leading up to Esme's birth. In the fall, we went to a dinner event sponsored by Dr. Renee Welhouse, David's mentor and former employer, in Madison, WI. Skilled in many of the naturopathic arts, Dr. Renee announced to us that we were having a girl. Soon after, we visited Dr. Bates, an obstetrician who supports homebirth, to confirm Dr. Renee's prediction with an ultrasound. He agreed. We were pregnant with a girl. After throwing a few names around, we decided to name our baby girl Esme Victoria.
The last few months of our pregnancy were spent in preparation. David began remodeling the upstairs bathroom in hopes of finishing it in time for the delivery. We wanted the opportunity to have a waterbirth in the claw-footed tub. Since we were not sure if the upstairs bathroom would be finished in time, and because it would be difficult for me to walk up and down the stairs to use the toilet during and after labor, we did not know if the baby was going to be born up- or downstairs.
As we got closer to our due-date, March 17, work became more and more exhausting for me because I spent most of my days on my feet. Though I still felt energized, by the end of the day, I was ready for a massage from David and a good night sleep. I planned on working until I had the baby, and work was what helped me keep active. On March 8, David received a phone call. Dr. Renee had died the day before in a car crash. David was devastated. When we found out the memorial service and funeral was to be held on Saturday, March 10, in Madison, we decided we would drive up for the morning if I was feeling well enough. On Friday, David took Evelyn to drop her off in Indiana for a weekend visit while I went to work.
I felt normal all day--good even--though a little tired. Around 6:00, I started getting cramps in my midsection. In the meantime, David was stuck in Chicago traffic on his way back from dropping Evelyn off. He was in the process of making arrangements for Dr. Renee's funeral the next day. About halfway through my dinner break, I went to the restroom to find bloody show in my underwear. David insisted I call Debby, though I was hesitant. I was not due for another week, still felt fine, and David was stuck in Chicago. I could not be in labor yet! But he convinced me--I called Debby, and she said the baby would make her appearance within the next 24 hours. She suggested that I go home from work and get some rest before active labor kicked in. I told Franz, the manager on duty, and then headed into the storm outside. One my way home, I began feeling contractions. Some were long, some short, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to thirty seconds. There was no pattern.
Since David was still battling traffic in Chicago, his parents met me at home around 7:30 to help prepare for the birth. Mom washed dishes while Papa timed my contractions--still no pattern--and I cleaned, changed the sheets on the guest room bed (the upstairs bathroom was not done yet, so we would be laboring downstairs), and gathered supplies. David was still in Chicago, canceling plans for attending Dr. Renee's funeral the next day. Finally arriving home at 9:30 pm, and he and Papa took Minnie and Sonny to Betty and Ray's house for a few days. Sonny ended up coming home because he and their new puppy did not get along. David's folks went home to get some rest while we finished some last minute preparations around the house. David set up a futon mat on the living room floor for comfortable laboring, and then we went to sleep at about 11:00 pm in the guest room bed. Around midnight, we woke up to strong, patterned contractions. After timing a few, we called Debby and our folks to let them know labor was picking up. I had a feeling the baby would be here within two or three hours. Debby arrived at 1:00 am, and Davids parents shortly thereafter.
Labor was progressing quickly. I spent some time on the futon in the living room. I found comfort in rocking back and forth on my hands and knees during contractions while moaning softly, and lying down between contractions to catch my breath.
As labor pains picked up even more, I had to use the toilet frequently. David helped me walk there and back again. With David holding me, we swayed back and forth, doing a type of slow dance to make it through the contractions.
My clothes began feeling uncomfortable and restricting and I shed them one item at a time. Soon I began feeling the need for a bowel movement, but had no luck in releasing. Christy said the pressure was from the baby's head moving lower. Debby checked my cervix at that point and found I was nine centimeters dilated. The baby was dropping rapidly. She gave me the thumbs up to begin pushing when I felt ready. I could not sit or stay still. I continued to rock in David's arms, chanting, "Baby, baby, baby," through contractions.
Esme's Arrival
I had to keep moving. I leaned into David and we slow danced through contractions until Debby suggested I turn around so she and her assistant, Christy, could monitor the baby with the fetal Doppler without disrupting me. They listened to the baby frequently between and during contractions.
Soon, as a reflex, I felt myself pushing. I leaned back into David while I squatted, still upright. He balanced me and held most of my weight while I squatted through contractions while pushing. I
began to feel burning at my perineum as the baby's head crowned (burning is a sign of tearing). I tried to push a little at a time to ease the baby's head slowly down and give my perineum time to stretch and accommodate her head. Debby used a warm compress and massaged with olive oil to help my perineum stretch as the baby moved lower still.
After another slow and gentle round of pushing, and with a giant GUSH! my water broke. I immediately felt the baby's head as it crowned. In the blink of an eye, her head was out, the rotation, and Esme Victoria Renee was born at 2:43 am on Saturday, March 10, 2007.
Welcoming Esme
We planned for David to catch the baby as she was born, but she came so quickly that we could not rearrange ourselves in time. He was too busy holding me instead. After Esme was born, Debby and David eased me back onto the futon so I could lean against David. Debby set Esme on my stomach so our family could begin bonding. David and I held our new little bundle close in those precious moments after her birth, on the futon, in the living room of our home.
In the moments after Esme was born, so many thoughts swarmed through my mind. Esme was beautiful and soft, like butter or water, smooth and warm. Her fingers were long and slender and she had a head full of dark hair. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. I was overjoyed, relieved, in love. I felt thankful for the strength present in the room, the strength of my husband, myself, and our new little girl.
Esme was not interested in nursing right away. About twenty minutes after her birth, I worked with her to latch on, and when she finally did, she nursed well for about twenty minutes.
Our midwife, Debby, was amazing. I was relieved to have her as a part of our birth experience. She mostly allowed me labor how I needed to, and her expert guidance helped me to concentrate through pushes, communicate the burning sensations, and prevent my perineum from tearing. Debby helped to make our homebirth the meaningful experience that it was. Debby's assistant, Christy, was just as amazing. At Esme's birth, Christy did most of Esme's examination and filled out the paperwork. Because of our conflicting schedules, she could not make any of our prenatal appointments at Debby's house. I met her for the first time that stormy evening.
Christy examined Esme after she finished nursing while Debby checked me over for tears and skid marks (no tears, but a few skid marks). Esme looked good. She measured 21 inches long, had good coloring, and was relatively alert.
Debby cut the cord and Christy clamped it. Then, Christy gently loaded Esme into a cotton sling. She attached the sling to a fish scale to weigh the baby. Esme weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces. After the weight was recorded, Christy dressed Esme, then swaddled her snugly in a receiving blanket and handed her to a beaming grandmother.
We decided to give Esme a second middle name of Renee in honor of Dr. Renee Welhouse, who influenced David's life so significantly. In addition to David and myself, Daivd's parents, our midwife, Debby Studey, and her assistant, Christy shared our birth experience. While Minnie (our Blue-tick Coonhound) was hurried off to Betty and Ray's for the week, Sonny (our English Mastiff) remained upstairs during the labor, birth, and immediate postpartum (he kept sticking his nose in the sterile supplies). Sandy (our mellow Yellow Lab) was actually only about five feet away from us when Esme was born.
Enjoy our story and take pride in your own birth experiences. I would love to hear them, so please share them.
From the beginning of our pregnancy in June of 2006, we planned for a homebirth. We found a fabulous midwife, Debby, who would provide us with prenatal and postpartum care, as well as help us through labor and delivery in our home in Racine, WI. We met with her several times in the months and weeks leading up to Esme's birth. In the fall, we went to a dinner event sponsored by Dr. Renee Welhouse, David's mentor and former employer, in Madison, WI. Skilled in many of the naturopathic arts, Dr. Renee announced to us that we were having a girl. Soon after, we visited Dr. Bates, an obstetrician who supports homebirth, to confirm Dr. Renee's prediction with an ultrasound. He agreed. We were pregnant with a girl. After throwing a few names around, we decided to name our baby girl Esme Victoria.
The last few months of our pregnancy were spent in preparation. David began remodeling the upstairs bathroom in hopes of finishing it in time for the delivery. We wanted the opportunity to have a waterbirth in the claw-footed tub. Since we were not sure if the upstairs bathroom would be finished in time, and because it would be difficult for me to walk up and down the stairs to use the toilet during and after labor, we did not know if the baby was going to be born up- or downstairs.
As we got closer to our due-date, March 17, work became more and more exhausting for me because I spent most of my days on my feet. Though I still felt energized, by the end of the day, I was ready for a massage from David and a good night sleep. I planned on working until I had the baby, and work was what helped me keep active. On March 8, David received a phone call. Dr. Renee had died the day before in a car crash. David was devastated. When we found out the memorial service and funeral was to be held on Saturday, March 10, in Madison, we decided we would drive up for the morning if I was feeling well enough. On Friday, David took Evelyn to drop her off in Indiana for a weekend visit while I went to work.
I felt normal all day--good even--though a little tired. Around 6:00, I started getting cramps in my midsection. In the meantime, David was stuck in Chicago traffic on his way back from dropping Evelyn off. He was in the process of making arrangements for Dr. Renee's funeral the next day. About halfway through my dinner break, I went to the restroom to find bloody show in my underwear. David insisted I call Debby, though I was hesitant. I was not due for another week, still felt fine, and David was stuck in Chicago. I could not be in labor yet! But he convinced me--I called Debby, and she said the baby would make her appearance within the next 24 hours. She suggested that I go home from work and get some rest before active labor kicked in. I told Franz, the manager on duty, and then headed into the storm outside. One my way home, I began feeling contractions. Some were long, some short, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to thirty seconds. There was no pattern.
Since David was still battling traffic in Chicago, his parents met me at home around 7:30 to help prepare for the birth. Mom washed dishes while Papa timed my contractions--still no pattern--and I cleaned, changed the sheets on the guest room bed (the upstairs bathroom was not done yet, so we would be laboring downstairs), and gathered supplies. David was still in Chicago, canceling plans for attending Dr. Renee's funeral the next day. Finally arriving home at 9:30 pm, and he and Papa took Minnie and Sonny to Betty and Ray's house for a few days. Sonny ended up coming home because he and their new puppy did not get along. David's folks went home to get some rest while we finished some last minute preparations around the house. David set up a futon mat on the living room floor for comfortable laboring, and then we went to sleep at about 11:00 pm in the guest room bed. Around midnight, we woke up to strong, patterned contractions. After timing a few, we called Debby and our folks to let them know labor was picking up. I had a feeling the baby would be here within two or three hours. Debby arrived at 1:00 am, and Davids parents shortly thereafter.
Labor was progressing quickly. I spent some time on the futon in the living room. I found comfort in rocking back and forth on my hands and knees during contractions while moaning softly, and lying down between contractions to catch my breath.
As labor pains picked up even more, I had to use the toilet frequently. David helped me walk there and back again. With David holding me, we swayed back and forth, doing a type of slow dance to make it through the contractions.
My clothes began feeling uncomfortable and restricting and I shed them one item at a time. Soon I began feeling the need for a bowel movement, but had no luck in releasing. Christy said the pressure was from the baby's head moving lower. Debby checked my cervix at that point and found I was nine centimeters dilated. The baby was dropping rapidly. She gave me the thumbs up to begin pushing when I felt ready. I could not sit or stay still. I continued to rock in David's arms, chanting, "Baby, baby, baby," through contractions.
Esme's Arrival
I had to keep moving. I leaned into David and we slow danced through contractions until Debby suggested I turn around so she and her assistant, Christy, could monitor the baby with the fetal Doppler without disrupting me. They listened to the baby frequently between and during contractions.
Soon, as a reflex, I felt myself pushing. I leaned back into David while I squatted, still upright. He balanced me and held most of my weight while I squatted through contractions while pushing. I
began to feel burning at my perineum as the baby's head crowned (burning is a sign of tearing). I tried to push a little at a time to ease the baby's head slowly down and give my perineum time to stretch and accommodate her head. Debby used a warm compress and massaged with olive oil to help my perineum stretch as the baby moved lower still.After another slow and gentle round of pushing, and with a giant GUSH! my water broke. I immediately felt the baby's head as it crowned. In the blink of an eye, her head was out, the rotation, and Esme Victoria Renee was born at 2:43 am on Saturday, March 10, 2007.
Welcoming Esme
We planned for David to catch the baby as she was born, but she came so quickly that we could not rearrange ourselves in time. He was too busy holding me instead. After Esme was born, Debby and David eased me back onto the futon so I could lean against David. Debby set Esme on my stomach so our family could begin bonding. David and I held our new little bundle close in those precious moments after her birth, on the futon, in the living room of our home.
In the moments after Esme was born, so many thoughts swarmed through my mind. Esme was beautiful and soft, like butter or water, smooth and warm. Her fingers were long and slender and she had a head full of dark hair. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. I was overjoyed, relieved, in love. I felt thankful for the strength present in the room, the strength of my husband, myself, and our new little girl.
Esme was not interested in nursing right away. About twenty minutes after her birth, I worked with her to latch on, and when she finally did, she nursed well for about twenty minutes.Our midwife, Debby, was amazing. I was relieved to have her as a part of our birth experience. She mostly allowed me labor how I needed to, and her expert guidance helped me to concentrate through pushes, communicate the burning sensations, and prevent my perineum from tearing. Debby helped to make our homebirth the meaningful experience that it was. Debby's assistant, Christy, was just as amazing. At Esme's birth, Christy did most of Esme's examination and filled out the paperwork. Because of our conflicting schedules, she could not make any of our prenatal appointments at Debby's house. I met her for the first time that stormy evening.
Christy examined Esme after she finished nursing while Debby checked me over for tears and skid marks (no tears, but a few skid marks). Esme looked good. She measured 21 inches long, had good coloring, and was relatively alert.
Debby cut the cord and Christy clamped it. Then, Christy gently loaded Esme into a cotton sling. She attached the sling to a fish scale to weigh the baby. Esme weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces. After the weight was recorded, Christy dressed Esme, then swaddled her snugly in a receiving blanket and handed her to a beaming grandmother.
We decided to give Esme a second middle name of Renee in honor of Dr. Renee Welhouse, who influenced David's life so significantly. In addition to David and myself, Daivd's parents, our midwife, Debby Studey, and her assistant, Christy shared our birth experience. While Minnie (our Blue-tick Coonhound) was hurried off to Betty and Ray's for the week, Sonny (our English Mastiff) remained upstairs during the labor, birth, and immediate postpartum (he kept sticking his nose in the sterile supplies). Sandy (our mellow Yellow Lab) was actually only about five feet away from us when Esme was born.
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