On the midwifery front, I was part of an amazing birth last night. I got to watch a fantastic doula in action and help out here and there with a little Reiki and massage during the labor at home. And then we left for the hospital. I was very skeptical of what would take place when we got there. We were greeted exactly the way I had assumed. The anxiety level went up about 8 notches when we got there. Bright lights, lots of people (5 in addition to the 4 of us) 3 offers for a heplock, lots of monitoring and I think a partridge in a pear tree. During that time, the doula was great. She stayed in the moms face and helped her tune it all out and focus her back. The feeling had changed dramatically from what it had been at the house.
And then something entirely unexpected happened. A nurse-midwife was attending the birth, and as soon as she got there things began to change. She turned the lights WAY down, took the monitors off to respect the mom's wishes for intermittent monitoring and had a nurse hold it on every other contraction. She brought the level of the room way down. She did the most amazing instruction and perineal support during crowning that my jaw literally dropped. I might even have said "Holy shit!" under my breath. The baby got to go right to mom's chest where she was left for at least an hour. It was the closest thing I have ever seen to a homebirth in the hospital. No meds, no wires, no harassing of the mom. I cried as usual and was just grateful that I got to be there and help out in whatever minuscule way I could. Births make me outrageously happy. School administrators are a whole different story....
2 comments:
I'm so excited that you're updating more often...I don't do it as often as I should either...we're busy. I'm so happy that you're still pursuing your dreams. You truly are a Phoenix.
I am so happy to hear that you are moving along and coping so well. Much luck with the IRL meeting with Mr. Dallas! He may just be the guy that you couldn't find in your home state!
I am also very happy to hear about the good birth experience at the hospital. Since I've been attending some births in the hospital, I've found that there is a lot a CNM does (and that presumably an OB can do but rarely does) that can make the birth really great in this location. It still transfers a lot of power from the laboring woman to the CNM, but the CNM is less likely to abuse that trust.
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