When Kristy - a dear friend I've met through MommyLife - had her baby last November, I asked her to write about Waterbirth.
I'm not surprised it's taken a while since this is Kristy's fourth baby :) And happy to share this with anyone who might be considering Waterbirth themselves:
The Home WaterBirth story of Our Fourth Child.
At 40 weeks and 3 days I felt huge. I walked and swayed those early contractions away for almost 23 hours. I couldn't sleep through them, and they kept me on my feet. Although I was growing tired, it gave me time to mentally prepare. I always felt confused to hear other mothers say they went into their birth "not ready." I could never understand that. "Don't you have 9 months to prepare yourself? It isn't like it snuck up on you," I would think to myself. Heh heh. God has a way of humbling you doesn't He? For the last 2 months of the pregnancy we had lived in temporary housing, and 2 months after the birth we would be embracing a military move for our family, including 4 young ones under the age of 6, from England to Germany. A lot occupied my thoughts those 9 months other than the impending birth... which brought me to 3 days past due bouncing on a birth ball in early labor thinking, "I'm not ready, I'm not ready, I'm NOT ready!!" *grins. God is a funny sort of guy.
Around 1am the day of the birth I finally bounced myself out of denial enough to call our midwife and have her come over. We were doing well coping, bouncing on the birth ball, listening to a Hillsong playlist I had made, and also playing with the TeNS machine Jo, our Midwife, had let us borrow. (TeNS stands for "Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation." It is a small, battery operated box with 2-4 small electrodes on sticky patches that you apply to the mid and lower part of your back. You can control small doses of electrical pulses to the nerves under the skin. It is safe for both mother and child, and a somewhat effective method of pain control with no side effects.) Although the TeNS did more for the pain in early labor than in active labor, it was a great distraction to play around with. *Smiles.
Not too long after Jo arrived the contractions grew intense enough to get into the birth pool. At first I hesitated. It was the notion of giving up the control the TeNS machine offered for the warm comfort of the pool. The "pool" where there would be no birth ball to bounce on, no TeNs machine to play with, just sitting...it didn't seem "enough." This train of thought surprised me! I hadn't stopped singing the praises of laboring in water since my second daughter was born in 2003, and the praises of birthing in water since my son was born in 2006! And yet here I was actually pondering if it'd be "good enough!" Again, God has a way of humbling you!
I asked our midwife to check my dilation and found I was 5-6 cm's and 75% effaced, baby still a bit high, -2 station. Since I already had the TeNS machine off for the check and I knew I only had 2-3 minutes at best before the next contraction hit I figured "What the hooey?" and made a mad dash for the pool!! I was so thankful I had. It felt wooon-der-ful! Like a long awaited sigh, I was relaxed against the side, engulfed by warm, comforting water. I once heard the doula from my second birth refer to water therapy during labor as the "Aqua-dural" instead of epidural. (I had chuckled inside when I heard her say this, as having had 2 epidural births with my older girls I thought, "yeah right!")...But it is true! Just like the epidural it provided instant relief, although unlike the epidural it was a natural relief that aided my body in birthing this baby. Instead of adding time to my labor (the epidural would add 2 hours to my land births) it shaved time off, as I relaxed deeply in the water, my hormones were able to kick in, which resulted in a better rhythm to my contractions, which gave a more efficient labor. I progressed quickly and within 2 hours of being in the pool, our baby would be born.
Transition commenced very soon after getting in and lasted longer than with any of my previous 3 births, over an hour! I thought I had this birthing thing down pat having already done it 3 times in the last 6 years, but this one was different. Just as I had coined this pregnancy my "wild card" being completely different than my others, so this birth followed suit. This was my longest lasting birth, longest lasting transition phase, and the only natural birth I let labor "get to me." As making low sounds help the cervix dilate, and higher pitch tones cause fatigue only, I try hard to aim for good, low, moans. In this birth however, the normal, good, low toned birthing sounds from active labor, soon turned into something that put trumpeting, stampeding elephants to shame!
Seriously, just ask the neighbors. They seemed to have both the kids and themselves out the door for school and work by 5am! When our friend Sarah arrived to take pictures for us, the first thing I said upon her arrival was, "Hi Sarah, Welcome to Transition." She later told me she felt she'd walked into an infomercial, when really I was just trying to warn her we were entering a very intense part of labor and she was about to get A LOT of Kristy that she hadn't had before!
Everyone in the room knew it was time to push before I did. I kept mentally comparing this birth with my previous ones, when I really just needed to trust God and trust my body's ability. Leaning on your own understanding doesn't get you very far, and for me trying to "think things through" almost became a hindrance to my labor. I do not think my transition phase would have been the hour long it was, had I let go and trusted earlier on. (Baby having a chin tilted up may have had something to do with it too!)
At the time though, I couldn't figure out why things were so magnified. My son's birth was very peaceful, rhythmic, and fluid. I would think to myself, "Why is this one so intense? Is something wrong?" I would reach to feel for a head and not feel a thing, which confused me as I could feel Joey's head at around my second knuckle at this point. I would get discouraged and begin thinking I must have a long way to go still, so I'd say things over and over like, "I have to get grounded...I have to get grounded. I feel so out of control, I feel like I'm flying away." To which Jo responded by limiting my gas and air intake. *Laughs. (Which, for the record, did help a little.)
It took a long time to realize that waiting for the same things to happen now, that did during my son's birth, just simply wasn't going too happen. This wasn't my son's birth! It was a new baby, and a new birth. This baby deserved that respect. I had to let go and stop comparing. This was my epiphany moment and with it came the realization that I did have to push and everyone around me was right! So I stopped the stampeding elephant sounds, focused inward, and took hold of the contractions with a vengeance. Somehow I had a vision in my head of a large angry bull ramming into me, and this time I grabbed his horns and flipped him to the ground! As silly as that sounds, somehow it helped me. (It helped me so much that my pushing phase was recorded in our records by Jo at "3 minutes!")
Although it was hard and at times intimidating work, it felt good pushing baby out. I followed her head with my fingers the entire distance, until finally to exclamations and cheers from everyone around, my husband delivered our 4th child gently into the water! I breathed a huge sigh of relief, turned around in the pool, sat next to my husband (who was also in the pool) and lifted the child to my chest, discovering and announcing for the first time, "It's a GIRL!!" (Which surprised everyone! I had just moments before been referring to baby as "he!") It was one of the single most gratifying, emotionally charged moments of my life. A gift I can tuck into my pocket and relive again and again.
Charlotte "Charley" Rose7 pounds, 1 ounce
20 inches long
November 18, 2008
at morning's first light,
6:02 am England time
.
After a few minutes of laughing that she had hair (all our babies have been baldies) and how chunky she seemed (that's my wild card alright!) we retreated from the pool and introduced nursing while waiting for the placenta. After half an hour we cut the cord, delivered the placenta, and weighed our new daughter (our biggest baby yet!)
Soon we made the phone call for our sitter to bring the older children over to meet their new baby sister. I dressed baby in a white sleeper with tiny, dainty, pink bows embroidered from head to toe and the words "Daddy's Little Girl" written near the chest. It was the same "coming home outfit" my older girls had worn from the hospital.
When the children arrived they rushed over, giggling to see the baby, asking "Is it a boy or a girl?!" to which I replied, "Is the baby in blue or in pink?" Our 5 year old daughter yelled "PINK!" and the 6 year old daughter replied, "A GIRL! a SISTER!!" Our 2 year old son was a little taken back. Seems he really believed mommy was going to give birth to a ball. (Which is his all time favorite toy in the whole world!) He looked at his new baby sister skeptically, then back at me, then pointed at my belly, then looked at me again. By day two he understood and asked to hold her. Poor boy! All these months he really thought mommy was baking the best ball ever for him! Today she is the sweetest little thing with blue eyes, blond hair that sticks straight up like a cockatiel, and a slightly timid smile.
As for the water births of both my son and Charlotte's, the most common question I get is the concern of the baby drowning being born into water instead of into air. There is no need to worry as the child has been encased in warm water for the duration of the pregnancy so the transition into a warm pool of water at birth is much the same. To which we can ask ourselves, why haven't babies drowned in the womb? They are receiving oxygen with their cord, so as long as the cord is intact baby will continue to receive oxygen until the breathing reflex begins, which usually happens when their heads are stimulated by the introduction of cold air or when the placenta separates. I have seen and heard of babies beginning to breathe when only their head has been born on land births, but I have never heard of this happening with water born babies.
We do play it safe though. We do not stimulate the child's head anymore than necessary during the birth while they are under water, and we don't hesitate to bring their head up to air. Once they are brought to air we wait for them to breathe on their own. We don't suction, throw a cap on their head, or rub them down to "stimulate" them. We cradle them, kiss them, keep them well within the warm water so they don't chill, and wait for them begin to breathe on their own.
Water birth gives many great benefits for both mother and child. I have personally experienced a greater sense of relaxation and pain relief, which made my labor progress faster. The Birth Pool was also my comforting, "safe" place. The water was my own. No one was crowding me, no one in "my space" unless I invited them in. It was a safe, quiet, place that was all mine to focus all my energy and prayer into bringing forth this sweet child.
The warm water also enables tissues to be softened and increases elasticity of the skin. I have never torn with any of my water born babies. I have greater ability to move and change positions as gravity is minimized, which also saves energy. My body works harder, yet I work less. Baby is given a very gentle introduction to the world, body temperature is maintained easily, and one of my favorites is the easy cleanup. I immediately have a clean baby to cuddle! (With the exception of vernix if present) It doesn't take anything to siphon the water out, throw away the sterilized liner of the pool, deflate it, fold it up and put it in a closet! This is all I can think of off the top of my head, but I wanted to leave you some of my favorite links for more information on water birth and my favorite resource sites for buying pools, liners, and other equipment. I will keep an eye on comments or questions regarding my own birth story and experiences as well as I can. If you have other questions, you'll probably have a better bet at coherant answers from the links below, than from me, but I'll do my best. If I don't know the answer, I'll again suggest the links! ;)
A special thanks to Barbara for inviting me to share my story and offer a special opportunity to learn more about the benefits of water birth! Thanks Barbara!!
These are some of my favorite sites regarding risks, benefits, and common myths of water birth:
Waterbirth International
American Pregnancy Association
Giving Birth in Water
The first site also sells the "Birth Pool in a Box" which is the pool we bought and used for both my son and daughter's home water births. We just used new liners for each birth. Now that the births are over, all the kids can use it as a paddling pool in the backyard! (Oh, by the way, here is a link to my son's home water birth story, also with pictures, for those fellow "birth junkies" who can't get enough stories!)
Yours sincerely,
Kristy in England Germany.
Joe, Kristy, Julia age 6, Megan age 5, Joey age 2, and Charlotte 12 hours after birth.
When Kristy - a dear friend I've met through MommyLife - had her baby last November, I asked her to write about Waterbirth.
I'm not surprised it's taken a while since this is Kristy's fourth baby :) And happy to share this with anyone who might be considering Waterbirth themselves: