Tag: natural birth

Claire

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Pre & Postnatal Educator, Founder/Host of The Natural Mama Podcast

New Orleans, Louisiana

I had mastered the whole living abroad thing, fully identifying as a “Forever-Expat,” with no vision of returning home (United States) anytime in the foreseeable future. Well, then comes baby… and “Pregnant-Expat” isn’t nearly as fun as the jet-setting, island-hopping lifestyle I once relished in.

After living in Barcelona, Spain for several years, my husband and I decided to move to Chile, his home country. The week we moved there; I became pregnant. Although we talked about having a baby and had even begun “trying”, we didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

We were truly overjoyed and incredibly excited. But fairly soon after finding out the good news, I realized being pregnant abroad presented a whole range of challenges that I never expected. The joy and excitement of having our first child was directly counterpoised by the stress and fear of giving birth in a foreign land, in a foreign language, and with foreign standards of medical care.

I always knew I wanted to give birth naturally – vaginally, unmedicated, with minimal interruptions/interventions. After searching for an OB who favors natural births, it didn’t take long to find out that my birth preferences did not fit into the medical system of Chile, a country with one of the highest cesarean section rates in the world. It’s common for a woman to go to her first prenatal appointment and leave with a c-section already scheduled for 38 weeks away. This freaked me out.

Well, the stars aligned (and my incessant searching paid off) because I found the one and only OBGYN, and her team of midwives, who are infamous for being balls-to-the-wall pro-natural. When I called to make an appointment, I was told she was booked for the next five months. But then the scheduler stuttered a bit and told me “Oh wait, someone literally just cancelled as we’re speaking. Would you be able to come in tomorrow morning?” This was a divine moment. I am sure of it, because this doctor was the only one I wanted. Turns out she truly lived up to her stellar reputation.

I was supported and comforted throughout my pregnancy, with very few interventions. I only had two ultrasounds, was weighed only when I asked to be, and was never checked for dilation. Honestly, I didn’t even know pregnancy check-ups were so procedural (weight, cervical exams, etc.) until my best friend told me what it was like for her in Texas.

My pregnancy was a breeze and I felt super prepared for childbirth. My midwife educated me on my own anatomy and physiology, taught me natural pain relief techniques, and continually encouraged me to stay in-tune with my body, trust my body, and be totally present throughout the experience.

On August 4, 2019 I was three days past my due date. I woke up to pee when I noticed I had lost my mucus plug. At 1:30pm my water broke, and I began feeling pretty gnarly contractions. Many of them were double-peaked contractions. I labored at home with my husband for as long as I could… probably too long to be honest. Because my son was almost born in the car on the way to the hospital.

I was unmedicated, I was fully present, and I was put into a euphoric state during labor. Yes, the contractions hurt. But in between each contraction, I was lifted into a state of bliss – the natural rush of oxytocin is INSANE and REAL. About 30 minutes before Mateo was born, we were walking to our car to head to the hospital and I just stopped and looked at my husband with a huge smile and tears rolling down my face. He asked “What’s going on? Are you okay?” I responded between sobs, “yes!!! I’m just so HAPPY!! We’re about to meet our baby!!!!” It was an unforgettable feeling. Thank god my husband kept me on track and ushered me into the car, because it was definitely time to go.

That’s when the fetal ejection reflex (Ferguson Reflex) kicked in. I had heard about how your body “does all the work” on its own, but it didn’t really make sense to me until I felt it first-hand. I was lying across the backseat of the car, and suddenly my contractions changed. My body was pushing out my baby and I had absolutely no control over it. I told my husband “He’s coming!! He’s coming!! My body is pushing him out and I can’t help it! I’m not trying, it’s just happening!!”

My husband drove the car up to the automatic doors of the emergency department of the hospital. The front bumper was literally in the doorway and he hollered at someone to get a stretcher for me. Someone brought a wheelchair and I yelled at them in Spanish that the baby’s head was hanging out of my vagina, there’s no way I can sit in a wheelchair. The stretcher arrived and I was rushed through the hallways towards the labor and delivery section. I was lying on my side, demanding my top leg to be held up in the air as we zoomed through the hallways. The guttural, savage sounds coming from deep within my soul echoed throughout the halls of the hospital until we got to my delivery room. I pushed twice and Mateo was born at 7:39pm.

Once the birth was over, and my doctor’s job was basically done, the lack of medical care became present. We have no idea how much our baby weighed at birth because the scale was broken. They injected him with a Hepatitis B vaccine without my consent. When I got up to use the bathroom for the first time after giving birth, a nurse escorted me to the toilet and walked away, leaving me unattended. I got super dizzy, everything went black. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor covered in blood, with cuts on the side of my head. I had passed out, by myself. The event was brushed over and ignored by the medical staff as if nothing had happened.

I learned so many valuable things from my experience of being pregnant, giving birth, and becoming a mother in a foreign country. Knowing that I was living in a place with out-of-date medical practices and a complete language barrier, I took it upon myself to research the ins and outs of all things baby-and-birth-related. And I became obsessed.

This is how “The Natural Mama Podcast” was born. A project that embodies and expresses my deepest passion. It is my goal to educate, empower, and encourage women to choose the most natural route possible throughout pregnancy, childbirth and beyond. I believe that when women are properly educated on the design and function of their own bodies, fear of the unknown dissipates, and confidence takes ahold. I began to gather the latest information from peer reviewed medical journals, experienced midwives, OBGYN’s, lactation consultants and fellow mothers.

There was no reason to keep all this valuable information to myself when so many women around me were struggling and desperate for answers. I began recording podcast episodes to share my acquired knowledge with as many women as possible. The Natural Mama Podcast evolved from there into a very active Instagram community and now an official blog-style website.

Women deserve to give birth with dignity. This is something that is so often disregarded in our society’s modern, over-medicalized approach to childbirth. The Natural Mama Podcast is an informational source for women to learn about their own incredible bodies, fully understand the sacred event of childbirth, and confidently make informed decisions to take control of their birthing experience. If I can help just one woman transition into motherhood at ease, I will feel genuinely fulfilled.

How to connect:

Podcast episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Please follow @naturalmamapodcast on Instagram and visit www.thenaturalmamapodcast.com to learn more.

Hi, my name is Kim & I love birth.
I have been a Registered Nurse for ten years, with the last five specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I love human connection & the art of story telling. I believe it can be a major catalyst for change.
I would love to help you share your story or advice so that we may better support each other and the people we care for. 

Do you love birth? Heck yeah you do!

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Rebecca

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Founder of Iris Doula Care, Birth Doula

Griffin, Georgia

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be involved in birth work. At age 10 years old I was able to witness the birth of my younger sister. It was not the plan for me to attend. My mother’s quick labor, lack of babysitters and wildly different hospital policies than today made this possible. And while this experience would have scarred some young people, it lit a fire inside of me.

I found my passion early and began to pursue it, serving expecting women. It was not until the births of my own children that I realized how proper support is vital during birth and postpartum. You see, each of my births were vastly different. This has allowed me to view birth, postpartum and even loss in multiple lights.

  My first born came earth side at 40 weeks and 4/7 days. We attempted natural induction methods at home and we tried all the things. I mean ALL of them! From my experience, castor oil was not the best route to take. While it did kick start labor, I was not effaced enough for things to progress smoothly. About mid-way through my labor, we discovered that he was occiput posterior or “sunny side up” which contributed to progression being slow and painful. After thirty long hours of contractions, I chose to have an epidural and it picked up quickly. I mean, I still pushed for two hours, but in spite of the ups and downs, I was able to birth him OP after thirty-eight hours of labor.

  My second pregnancy, unfortunately, did not come to full fruition as I miscarried at 10 weeks gestation. I went to my local ER around 10:00 pm after speaking with my midwife about spotting I was having. We waited to be seen for hours. My spotting changed drastically to large amounts of bleeding while waiting in the ER. When I asked for assistance the staff offered me nothing, not even something that I was able to change into. I was told, “we see blood all of the time. It’s not an emergency”. The intake nurse also told me that she had personally had multiple miscarriages and that they were “no big deal”. I’m uncertain as to why she thought that was appropriate to say to a mother who was terrified about losing her baby. If that was not enough, I was also trying to contact my boss who was out of state on vacation. When I finally reached her to let her know what was happening she said, “I’m on vacation. You will need to find someone to cover your shifts”. At the time I worked for a maternity clothing store. I never returned to work.

The ER doctor conducted an ultrasound that showed the baby only measuring 6 weeks and I had likely lost it weeks ago. I was able to leave the ER after that traumatic experience and release everything in the comfort of my home. Though I would come to conceive my rainbow baby, the baby I lost that night forever remains in my heart and will never be replaced.

   My third pregnancy and second full term birth was a whirlwind. I chose to be cared for by a midwifery group during this pregnancy and was pleased at how attentive they were to me. They found my baby to be OP (again!) around 37 weeks gestation. I spent the next few weeks trying all the tricks in the book to get baby in prime birthing position. It was not until I visited the chiropractor, whose adjustment immediately provided me relief, that baby moved into the occiput anterior position. I was had my adjustment at 9:00 am and by 2:00 pm contractions began. They continued on into the night and gained intensity with every hour. We made our way to the hospital when I began groaning that was coming from deep within. I was sure I was going to have him in the car.

We arrived at the hospital and I was 6 centimeters dilated. I begged the midwife for an epidural and she informed me that I most likely did not have time. As I moved from the triage room to the birthing suite and was transitioning on the walk over. When the midwife broke my water, my baby decided he wanted to come too. The midwife began to yell for assistance, basically holding him inside until she had an extra pair of hands in the room! Moments later and medication free, I delivered our second baby boy. My labor time was drastically reduced by my baby being in the correct position for delivery. I always recommend people seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy for this very reason.

My fourth and final pregnancy was quite an adventure. I had a tougher time with morning sickness and fatigue, but attributed it to being a mother of two young boys. After finding out we were having a girl, our hearts were filled with joy! The rest of the pregnancy moved along smoothly until I had an ultrasound during my 35-week appointment. I had never had this done with my previous pregnancies, but they were concerned about the presentation of my belly upon palpation. I am so very thankful that an ultrasound was performed because it was found that our baby was in the frank breech position and that my amniotic fluid index was exceptionally low, (4 on a scale of 1-10). My midwife sent me to the labor and delivery unit to be monitored and receive fluids two days before Thanksgiving. Thankfully, my baby was showing no signs of distress during our stay. I was released to home in the morning to continue with rest and increasing my oral fluids. The plan was for me to return for a follow-up on Saturday to have another AFI and NST.

I rested as much as I could over the holiday and even able to squeeze in an appointment with my chiropractor who attempted to assist baby into optimum positioning. When I returned on Saturday, which also happened to be my birthday, baby was still in a breech position and my AFI had decreased again. Because of the findings, it was recommended that she be delivered that day at 36 weeks gestation for her wellbeing. I immediately began being prepped for a cesarean delivery and while unexpected, received the most wonderful birthday gift in my arms a couple hours later.

I found my c-section birth to be my most difficult for various reasons. The ones most prominent in my mind are the spinal tap caused me to itch uncontrollably all over my body and was quite painful. I also had a skin reaction from the steri-strips along my scar line. While I am thankful for modern interventions in times like these, I was disappointed with how difficult my recovery was. It was so different from my vaginal births. I had not realized all the different struggles that can come along with birthing this way.

My variety of births has given me perspective that no everyone possesses. And while I did not plan it this way, I consider it to be a privilege. My stories can help past and future mothers, and/or families who are experiencing a similar situation. I hope to use my personal experience in providing the most exceptional care for the birthing community.