My birth story...

All my life, I knew that when I had a baby, I wanted to be as natural as possible. I did not grow up with the fear of birth and was always fascinated by it, kind of in awe of the whole process. When I found myself pregnant in 2020, I just KNEW that I would have a "natural" hospital birth.

Fastforward to December, in the middle of COVID, I found myself admitted to labor and delivery at 31 weeks gestation for pregnancy induced hypertension. This complication quickly escalated to HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver, low platelets) and I was told that I was having an emergency cesarean. Everything moved so quickly and I had no time to think. I remember asking if I could be induced instead and I was told, "no, you will die". Due to COVID, my husband and I were tested and came back asymptomatic positive. The hospital kicked my husband out and I was taken to the operating room...alone. [this all unfolded within about 45 min]

If my husband missing the birth of our first baby in the middle of a very stressful and uncertain event was not enough...we quickly found out that I would be isolated from my tiny daughter for 10 days post positive COVID test! I was DEVASTATED! Not only did I feel as though my birth plan was stripped from me, I felt like my baby was too.

For 10 days, I pumped breastmilk for my daughter that my mother delivered daily. My milk supply suffered, my emotions suffered, I developed severe postpartum depression and anxiety that lasted for MONTHS, and because of all of it...my family suffered too. For 4 years, I navigated the trauma of my birth and the postpartum period until we finally decided to try for another baby.

In September of 2024, I found out I was expecting again. We were so excited, but also, I had a lot of fears. Would I have the same complications I did last time? Would I have another cesarean? So many questions! I decided that I needed to hire a doula to help me process my past birth and advocate with me through this one.

At my first prenatal appointment, I told my obstetrician that I was adamant to have a VBAC this pregnancy, and thankfully, she was fairly supportive of my goals (though she did not hesitate to warn me of the risks). My pregnancy was WONDERFUL! I had very little complications, and not only did I go full term, I went to 40+4!

On the morning of May 2nd, I lost my mucous plug and began having Braxton Hicks contractions that lasted throughout the day. By around 8pm, my contractions were picking up slightly and becoming a little more regular. I notified my doula of the changes, and tried to get some rest, but was unable to do so. By 11pm my doula was on her way to meet me at home and we were on our way to the hospital by about 3am.

On the way to the hospital, contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute each. When I arrived at triage, they let me know I needed to have a cervical check to be admitted (this is actually not true, but I was unaware of this at the time so I consented). I was at 5cm and 70% effaced.

Labor continued as we got up to our labor room, but seemed like it may have been starting to stall. My nurse for the day came in around 7am to let me know that the OB on for the day was one she had not worked with, but had a reputation for being a bit abrasive. She reassured me however, that my midwife was amazing. When the OB came in for rounds, I found that she indeed was very abrasive. I was asked "why are you here?" and "what is your plan?" I let her know that my plan was to have a baby and that's why I was there. Ultimately, she felt that I had not progressed enough (I had only been in active labor for about 7 hours) and that I needed a cesarean. She forced me into agreeing to a time where she could do a cervical check (on my birth plan, it stated I wanted as few checks as possible) and let me know that if I had still not progressed, I would need augmentation.

It was about 12:30pm when the midwife came back in to check my cervix again, I let her know that I did not feel as though I had progressed and was declining the check at that time. The OB did not like that I was yet again declining to be checked and continued to come in offering further interventions, causing me more stress and making it impossible for me to progress. At one point, she was so pushy with "needing to know my plan", that I told her we would go home to labor and come back when I was further progressed if interventions continued to be offered to me - it was the education and support that my doula offered me that gave me this courage! After letting her know that was how strongly we felt about the interventions she was offering, she backed off and said that if we would agree to at least stay in the hospital, she would not offer any more. We agreed to stay and my husband ultimately fired her as my provider.

Despite everyone being on the same page about us remaining in the hospital with no interventions being offered, we still ended up agreeing to a cervical check an hour later at 1:30pm. I was 6cm. It was at this point that we tried a position change.

By 2:14pm I was back in very active labor. I labored in the shower and on the toilet until about 5:35pm when I was ready to push. We moved to the bed and I pushed my sweet boy out in 20 minutes.

The birth of my son truly was the redemptive VBAC that we desired. It had some hiccups here and there that I think could have been avoided, but all in all, it was beautiful and just what we needed. The unwavering support of my amazing doula (thank you Anna!) is what inspired me to begin my journey as a birthworker. I want to offer to other women the same support that was offered to me. Because without my doula, the birth of my son would have been an entirely different story, I know that full well.

I look forward to all the amazing mamas that I am going to meet on this journey and cannot wait to stand alongside them as they enter into motherhood, whether it is the first time, or they are seasoned pros.