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My Body My Baby
my body my baby
Category:
Parenting
Publisher: Bookwhirl
ISBN-10: 2013949861
Pages: 257
Copyright: Sept 27, 2013
ISBN-13: 9781618563517
Price: $9.51 (eBook)
when Women know what is happening and know how to take care of themselves they can celebrate birth
Excerpt
It is with compassion, sharing knowledge, giving women choices, and a little tough love, miracles happen. I will share with you my lifelong experience and knowledge so you can enjoy and experience the miracle of childbirth, whether you choose to deliver at home, in a birthing unit, or in the hospital. You need to be exposed to care where you can be in charge of your birthing experience.
Taking Charge
Sarah was young, nineteen years of age; she came to my clinic excited but apprehensive. Sarah was born under the sign of Pisces; she knew what she wanted. She made it very clear to me that she had confidence and knew she could birth. She made it very clear she did not want any medical intervention. ‘I know my blood group, I am o positive. I do not want any blood tests,’ she said. I explained that we could enjoy a partnership but that she would have to work with me. That she would have to eat healthily, exercise, and be open to the use of complementary therapies that would be non-invasive.
She agreed to work with me. She looked radiant for the whole of her pregnancy. Her baby’s growth was normal. On every visit, I checked the rim of her eyes, which were red, showing good iron. At thirty-two weeks, her baby had turned into a breech position. We did a scan, and her baby was in a frank breech. ‘Have you been eating lots of fruits?’ I asked. It was strawberry season. ‘Yes, lots of Strawberries,’ she answered. ‘Okay, your baby is breech, and if your baby stays breech, you will probably have lots of intervention. We will have to work together,’ I insisted.
She worked with me; she cut down on the fruits and changed her slouching positions on the couch. She saw me two weeks later and said, ‘I feel my baby has turned.’ She declined further scanning. I felt her baby had turned into the correct position. Over the next weeks, she made contact with me on the phone; she declined to come to the clinic. ‘I’ve got good movements, and I am taking care of myself.’ I reminded her of the hospital protocols and recommended investigations, especially for diabetic screening. She declined all investigations. I kept my promise to support her wishes. She said to me, ‘This is my body and my baby.’ I replied, ‘Yes, and you have to take responsibility for maintaining health and producing a healthy baby.’
She came to me at thirty-six weeks; her baby was nicely down. There was normal growth, and she looked radiant and happy. ‘I’m not coming back until I’m due.’ She was firm with me. ‘I will let you know if I have a problem, I will know,’ she said. Her mother accompanied me on that visit.
I explained the contraction patterns of labour and how she would have to cope with them. They were on a very low budget and had no transport. I told her she would need to call for an ambulance once she was in active labour.
I had kept contact with Sarah over the phone over the next few weeks she was happy confident and enjoying her pregnancy. I asked if she wanted to visit me at the clinic. She was very clear she was not going to attend. ‘I am not sick, I am having a baby,’ she used to remind me.
By forty weeks, her baby had not arrived, and she turned up at my clinic. ‘I’m fed up,’ she said. It was the height of summer and very hot, sticky, and humid. She looked well. She allowed me to feel her tummy; her baby was lying in the right position and well down. Her baby’s heart rate was nice and reactive. ‘I’ve done some reading, and I know forty-two weeks is normal,’ she reminded me. I wanted to do a scan around 41.3 weeks to check her placenta and baby. She said, ‘Certainly not. Normal is forty-two weeks, and if my baby has not arrived by then, I will go for a scan.’
Sarah’s baby had not arrived by 41 weeks + 5 days, and she called me and said, ‘I’m ready for that scan now.’ I asked if she was feeling heavy. ‘Oh yes, very much,’ she replied and then said, ‘I’ve got this sticky discharge.’ ‘Good’, I replied, ‘Your cervix is getting nice and soft.’ She had taken the homeopathic birth mix from thirty-seven weeks and had been for a twenty-minute power walk every day. She started to take the evening primrose oil capsules (EPO), two daily, from thirty-nine weeks. We had a scan, and everything was wonderful: she had lots of fluid around her baby, her baby had moved well down into her pelvis, and her placenta was functioning well. She told me she had been having episodes of short and sharp pains over the last two days. ‘I know this is my baby’s head moving down, and I did all the exercises you told me to do, and I read your book three times.’ She told me her contractions were sometimes variable. I knew she was coping well. 42.2 weeks and I received a phone call at 1.30 a.m. ‘It’s me, Sarah. I have had pains for one hour, I can’t cope.’ She was panicking. I told her to do the breathing like blowing out a candle that keeps lighting. ‘Behave panicky, and you will end up with what you didn’t want, and that is lots of intervention.’ She had her mother and family coaching her. She waited, and at 8 a.m. I received a phone call. ‘My waters have broken, they are clear, and I’m coping with the pains. She moves a lot,’ she said. ‘Okay, it will take the ambulance about an hour to get to you, so I suggest you call them.’ She was confident. She called the ambulance, and we met at the hospital at 9 a.m. She had done a lot of work, walking, dancing, and squatting. She looked to be very busy, and her contraction patterns were regular and normal. ‘I feel so sleepy,’ she said. ‘Well, just have a sleep in-between the contractions. The more relaxed you are the more effective your pains would be,’ I replied. She did just that. At 9.30 a.m. she told me she felt lots of pressure, like going to the toilet to move her bowels when she had a contraction. I explained that that was great news. I told her I did not need to examine her vaginally as I knew she was progressing well. She asked me to examine her. She was fully dilated, and her baby’s head was well down. By 10 a.m. we could see a peak of her baby’s head. I said now was the time she could push her baby. I didn’t say a word, she pushed beautifully with every contraction. ‘That feels better,’ she said. ‘Of course, it does,’ I answered. ‘You are doing something with the contractions, you are using them.’
I gave her a towel to hold, and she pulled it away from me, her baby’s head turned. Her baby was born by 10.15 a.m. We waited for the cord to stop pulsating and then we put her beautiful daughter skin to skin. We waited ten minutes, and Sarah had another contraction. She delivered her placenta naturally. I left her with her baby, skin to skin, for an hour, and her baby began to suck her tiny hands; it was time to feed. She latched on beautifully. Sarah sustained a very small tear around her vaginal area and allowed me to put a stitch.
Sarah had a shower and a good breakfast. She went home within five hours of the birth. She was elated.
On reflection, she was in charge of her experience. I had coached her into eating well and exercising every day. I had coached her and her support persons on how to manage the day. This was a wonderful experience. We all trusted the childbirth experience. Just before she left, I said, ‘How about a homebirth next year?’ ‘Why not?’ she answered.
Sarah had declined the routine protocols of care. She made that informed decision, and I supported her choices. During my early years of midwifery practice, women like Sarah would have been called ‘non- compliant’ and ‘an inconsiderate patient’ for her baby. It would have been documented in her medical notes. Sarah had confidence in herself and childbirth; she took good care of herself, and even with a few visits, she listened and delivered her self-care. Together with gentle coaching to maintain health, she celebrated life.
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