"All of the work I did during my pregnancy helped me to have the best birth experience I could" - Margie's very quick birth story!
Margie gave birth at a birth center in the Philadelphia area in June 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Her labor lasted just four hours from beginning to end.
In writing my birth story, my hope is that other women who may be squeamish or fearful of birth feel a little less so after reading my experience. I am about as squeamish as they come, especially in regard to blood, and over the years I developed a specific phobia around childbirth. This was my first pregnancy experience, and I spent much of it learning about strategies for managing anxiety during labor, in the hopes that I wouldn't go into a total panic. I attended a hypnobirthing workshop with Anna from This Mother Can read “The Calm Birth Method” by Suzy Ashworth among other books, and listened to the guided audios every night as I fell asleep. I felt good about my decision to have my baby at a birth center, where the environment was more comfortable for me than a hospital.
I went into labor two and a half weeks early, which perhaps was for the best since I really wasn't expecting it yet and hadn't had time to fret about an approaching due date.
On the Saturday when my labor began, I had been feeling a little off all evening but wasn't having noticeable contractions. Around 1 a.m. I was laying in bed restlessly when I felt a pop, and stood up to realize my waters were releasing. I called the midwife on-call and she asked me to monitor the baby's movements for an hour and then try to get some rest if there were no concerns. My husband Ben went to bed to try and sleep before what we expected would be a very long day ahead.
Pretty quickly the rushes became more intense and were only 2-3 minutes apart. I wasn't able to feel the baby's movements at all because of the intensity and frequency of the rushes. I called the midwife back and she asked me to come to the birth center for a non-stress test, reassuring me that I would likely be sent home afterwards to ride out early labor.
Ben and I arrived at the birth center at 3 a.m. and were met by another midwife, Aleeza, and nurse, Robin. My sister, Laura, was also on her way, as she was my other birth support person. This was during COVID times, and I was so grateful that the birth center was allowing both Ben and Laura to be there with me. We completed the non-stress test which showed no concerns, and by then the rushes were very intense, close together and longer in duration. Aleeza checked me and I was already 5 centimeters dilated!
From that point, everything went incredibly fast. Aleeza showed Ben how to put pressure on my back to relieve the intensity of the rushes, which really helped a lot. Laura arrived at 3:30am. I spent some time on the bed leaning over the birth ball. Robin asked me whether I wanted to get into the jacuzzi tub or use the nitrous oxide and I said “BOTH”, not realizing I couldn’t use the gas while in the tub! So I chose the nitrous oxide--I think I had the feeling there wouldn’t be much time for a bath anyway.
I should probably mention that I was not the calmest laboring person. I had planned ahead so well: created affirmation cards, packed lavender spray, and put together a labor playlist. All of that went out the window due to the swiftness of my baby’s arrival. I remember trying to picture a flower opening in my mind, and repeating a phrase in my head that I had heard Penny Simkin say in one of her videos: “Strong like a mountain, flow like a river”. But I also did a lot of loud groaning, yelling, and cursing. The midwife and nurse were amazing, offering humor as well as strategies to get through each rush (both of which I had requested on my birthing hopes and dreams document).
I had a moment of fear, coupled with nausea, as I transitioned. I found it helpful to speak my fear out loud and receive reassurance from everyone in the room. The midwife checked me again at 4:30am, only an hour later, and announced that I was fully dilated. I felt joy but was also very surprised to hear that. Laura and Ben were on either side of me, encouraging me and comforting me the whole time.
Another part of my birthing hopes and dreams had indicated that I did not want to be encouraged to push before I was ready, and that I wanted my body to lead that process. And lead it did. Without any conscious decision on my part, my body started bearing down and pushing my daughter into the world. While laying on my side in the bed, I pushed for 30 minutes, and had glorious moments in between, where Robin encouraged me to really notice the relief between rushes/pushing. When I tuned in, it really did feel amazing to have those little breaks!
At exactly 5:00am, my daughter Evelyn was born, weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces. Aleeza had coached me with my pushing and breathing to reduce the tearing. Evelyn was placed on my belly, where I half-jokingly exclaimed “Ew, gross!” while simultaneously feeling amazed that I had just birthed this tiny little human. A few minutes later the placenta was delivered, and when Aleeza asked, “So you don’t want to see the placenta then?” she was met with an emphatic “NO!” from me.
I was surprised by how things went from incredibly intense during the labor and birth, to incredibly calm in the moments that followed. It was so surreal to hold my tiny baby in my arms! I felt the biggest sense of relief mixed with pride that she was here and that I had gotten through the labor and delivery without panicking or fainting. Aleeza and Robin had been so wonderful through the whole experience, making sure my birthing hopes and dreams were fulfilled as much as the situation allowed.
While I had imagined that I would have loads of time to listen to my hypnobirth recordings and run through my affirmations, I don’t feel like those preparations were a waste of time. I believe that all of the work I did during my pregnancy helped me to have the best birth experience I could have. I did it (unmedicated aside from the nitrous oxide)--someone who literally used to faint when others merely talked about childbirth--and it was an empowering and amazing experience. Given that it took only four hours from beginning to end, someone later advised me to camp out in the parking lot of the birth center if I decide to have a second child!
Thank you so much to Margie for sharing her awesome story with us!
If you’re interested in finding out more about what’s involved in hypnobirthing preparation, or what’s covered in a This Mother Can course, take a look at the links or feel free to reach out for a no-obligation chat.
