Midwifery

I was able to deliver Spencer without an epidural, but it wasn't such a pleasant experience. I labored on my own, and it hurt! It wasn't a long labor, but I wasn't able to enjoy the delivery like I wanted. For Nathan, I switched doctors to one that was a little closer to my house, and in the practice they had a midwife. This caught my attention. I don't like putting all the medications in my body, especially having a needle inserted into my back. i wanted to have this baby medication-free, but I knew I didn't want to labor on my own like I had with the last birth. Plus, God gave me a body specially created for having children. I wanted to see what my body could do. So I met with the midwife and really liked her philosophy. It was my birth done my way. She only delivered at the hospital, she had been a labor and delivery nurse for ten years and then went to midwifery school for two more. She has had a lot of experience delivering babies. She was so calm. And, she wanted to do it my way!

When I found out Nathan was breech, I was 36 weeks. Danielle had been breech and I had to have the version done with her, so I knew what my choices were. A version that is risky, or a c-section. I remember thinking after Danielle had to be turned that I would not do that again. I would have a c-section. The risk was too high and I also had read too much on the Internet. So, when I had the ultrasound and then met with the midwife right after, I was of course bawling. She spent all the time I needed consoling me and putting my concerns at ease. She was so great. Of course now I knew that I couldn't have the baby completely natural because I would have to be induced or c-section.

The problem at this point was that my fluids were low. So, I was told be stay down and rest. My mom came into town for a week so that I could stay down. It was such a blessing because my fluids did increase, allowing a successful version.

Having a midwife deliver my baby was a wonderful experience. She stayed by my side (or at my back) the entire labor and delivery. She knew the pressure points to push to relieve the contractions, helped me with the breathing, showed me different positions, and made the delivery the way I wanted it to be. Heavenly Father made our bodies so amazing.

One of the things that my midwife is doing is making a book of all her deliveries. She has the mother write a message of what labor and birth mean to her. On the opposite page she has the babies feet prints. She is going to keep this in her office for other mothers-to-be to look at and also a way of keeping a journal of all her deliveries. She asked me to think about and write down what labor and birth means to me. While I spent the two days in the hospital holding this precious new baby, I thought a lot about what labor and birth mean to me. i am not very eloquent with my words, but this is what I came up with: Labor is a gift from God. Not only did He send us a precious baby, but He created our bodies as the tool by which He sends these miracles to us.

After having just gone through this amazing experience, I'm curious how you would answer the same question: What does labor and birth mean to you?