A Health Foundations Birth Story
I knew that with my third and final pregnancy that I wanted a different birth plan. From the first days of knowing I was pregnant, I chose a family doctor who was friendly toward the idea of Hypnobabies and water birth. Even when I was put on bed rest, I continued with activity and hypnosis, trusting my body and my baby in the process. During my final weeks, COVID-19 tore through the world and my doctor kept me appraised of what the hospital was mandating until we both realized that my carefully laid out plan was not going to be carried through in the hospital. With two weeks to go before my “guess date,” she suggested I call over and ask if Health Foundations would be able to take me as a patient.
From the moment I met the midwives and staff at Health Foundations, I felt at home and at peace. Rachel was the first midwife to meet with me and coincidentally, the midwife who delivered my baby. The midwives took care of me with a combination of thoroughness and gentleness. They provided advice that was focused on what my body and baby needed and understood my desire to have a mother-guided, hypnosis-led labor and water birth, as it was considered quite normal at Health Foundations. Though COVID-19 was new to all of us, I never felt fear during the pandemic while working with the midwives; instead I felt focused on keeping my body and baby calm as we prepared for delivery. Just a few days over a week of being in their care, I felt my birthing waves intensify and I called the midwife, just past 10 p.m. My previous two births were at hospitals, and I had spent my early pressure waves wandering hospital hallways until I was dilated enough to have a room. Water birth was not an option for me with my previous births. With Health Foundations, I was able to move through pressure at home with my family around me until Rachel and I both felt that it was time for me to come in. We got a babysitter in place, left a note for our sleeping children, and headed to Health Foundations in the silence of the night.
Once we arrived at Health Foundations at 11 p.m. and my health was checked, I continued to move through my pressure waves while working with my hypnosis plan. Rachel and her assistant checked me and remained very calm, watching for my needs and speaking in a gentle voice. The environment was peaceful and I felt cared for and trusted as I let my body move through the stages of birth. The room was lit with blue lighting, the water in the tub running softly, all quite spa-like. At times, the midwife would provide suggestions to help the baby progress, but more often she stepped back and allowed my husband and I to work together.
By midnight, a nurse was called in and before she could introduce herself, my water burst and I felt the final stages of pressure. My baby was coming! As Rachel knew how important water birth was to me, she and her assistant gently guided me into the tub and poured water over me as my baby made her way into the final stages of birth. My husband was able to attend to me at my side, as a sense of peace surrounded the room. As I felt my baby’s head make her way down my canal, I breathed “peace” as I had practiced with Hypnobabies, intensifying with each movement. At 1:00 am, and three “peaces” later, I felt my baby’s head and then shoulders emerging. Rachel reached out and caught my baby, gently guiding her body out and to my chest. We sat in silence, my sweet newborn baby staring at me as I held her, umbilical cord still pulsing. With time, I was gently guided out of the tub and the three of us were left with time to bond and cuddle. Our midwife and nurse attended to my body and the baby, checking to deliver the placenta and make sure that my body was doing it’s job post-birth. There was no feeling of hustling or busy noise, they trusted me and I trusted them to care for us.
By 2 am, all signs were good and they reviewed our home health plan until the nurse would visit the next day. We drove home, baby Elsie with us. We giggled as we drove home, joking that we went out and brought home a baby.
Between the time spent with Health Foundation’s midwives and the physical therapy suggested afterward, birthing my third baby was a truly healing experience. Now three moths old, Elsie is a giggling part of our family and the COVID quarantine has made her birth and early days much more of a family experience. I am truly grateful to Health Foundations for bringing such a peaceful moment in the midst of anxiety. What a perfect final birth for our family!
