As a mother of 3, I can honestly say that I have learned something valuable and important from each of my birthing experiences. With my daughter’s birth nearly seven years ago, I learned that regardless of whether you are birthing for the first time, labor can progress VERY quickly. Hospital staff may say “you will never make it without drugs”, “you will be in labor for hours”, however our bodies are uniquely designed to birth our babies without unnecessary medical interventions. My daughter was born natural two and half hours after I arrived at the hospital. I pushed three times!
My first son, born in 2005 was also a hospital birth and also progressed very quickly. My labor with him was two hours from the time I arrived at the hospital. While I was able to have a natural, drugfree labor and delivery again, this birth was not without unnecessary “routine interventions”. Despite the fact that I did not labor long, they performed an amniotomy (artificially ruptured the amniotic sac) with an amniohook (a long, crochet-hook like instrument with a hooked end). I was not allowed to get up and use the bathroom, so they put a catheter in, and when it came time to push, I was forced to lay flat my back, which I believe prolonged this part of my labor. While I did not push for a very long time, I found it considerably harder
to birth my son in this position, which works against gravity. After this birth,my husband and I decided if we were going to have more children in the future we would look into finding a great midwife and opt for a home birth.
When we found out we were expecting our second son, we began searching for a home birth midwife in our area. I came up with nothing. I was extremely disappointed at the lack of resources in my immediate area. I did not let this deter me. Eventually we found a wonderful midwife in Teaneck, NJ, by the name of Sakina O’Uhuru. We had to travel to find her. We are in Westchester, NY. But I was adamant on having a positive birth experience this time around. The limited resources and information in my area led to me to take a course to become a certified childbirth educator. I found that the hospitals in my area had very high C-section rates and I attributed this to unnecessary medical interventions. I took the childbirth educator course on-line through the Aviva Institute during my third trimester of pregnancy and all of the information that I attained was a God-send.
On August 18th, 2008 we had our home birth with my midwife, husband, and mother in attendance. My two older children were sleeping in their bedroom. This labor lasted longer than my previous two , about 12 hours. I realized that if I had I been in a hospital setting, without the comforts of my home, the freedom to move around, get in the shower/tub, eat and drink with the support of my midwife and family the experience would have been a profoundly different one. Most women get to a point in labor when they feel they just “can’t” anymore. Birth is going to happen regardless. Having my mom by my side supporting me and my midwife affirming that I was doing a great job, made all of the difference in the world! This is when I became aware of the importance of having a doula attend your birth. While my mom is not a “doula”, she has birthed four children naturally. She provided excellent support with life experience because she had been there before.
Currently I am taking a course to be a certified birth doula through the Aviva Institute, because I feel it will be a great addition to the childbirth education courses that I am offering in my community. My main goal is to arm women with knowledge and empower them by reaffirming their faith in their body’s abilities to birth their babies naturally, in a comfortable setting, surrounded by supportive, attentive, and positive people. The moments after your baby is born, holding them in your arms, having the option to breastfeed right away, and bond are priceless. These factors make all the difference in the birth experience for the mother and the ultimate outcome of the baby.
Article by Nubia Bowman a Certified Childbirth Educator and Certified Birth Doula. She will be giving a free workshop on the “Benefits of Childbirth Education & having a Birth Doula present during your labor and delivery” at the Yonkers Riverfront Library August 26th at 6:30 pm. She can be reached at nubowman@yahoo.com or www.birthfromtheearth.vpweb.com.
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