"Baby's Choice" Story

A "Baby's Choice" birth story:

One of the many couples I taught HypnoBirthing to (this one took the class this past spring) didn't have a doula. I was already contracted with the other couple from the same class, so after their baby was born (before their guess date), I said, as I say to most of the couples in my classes, "Call me when you're in labor. If I'm available, I'll come." That was the arrangement. I was thrilled because they planned to birth at the West Suburban Hospital ABC, one of the most natural-birth-friendly environments in town and only about 20 minutes from my new home.

So, they called one night around 6:30pm. Labor was starting; Dad said, "We're either experiencing some really intense practice labor, or things are starting," and surges were about 7 minutes apart. He said they didn't quite want me there yet, but we agreed that we should touch base by 10/10:30 if not before.

So, Dad called at 9pm. Things were really intense, he said--surges 2 minutes apart. TWO MINUTES APART??! There was blood. Okay, I said, that's totally normal, what has the midwife said? He said the midwife told him that she was in early labor and it could take a while. I suggested he talk to them again and said, "You should probably start thinking about going to the hospital". I asked if Mom was staying calm, and he hesitated. I saw this as a sign that things were intense for this normally very laid-back couple. I assured them that it can be very intense when things start happening fast (as it sounded like they were). I told him to help her focus on her breathing, relax her belly, take a shower, take it step by step. We hung up as Dad was going to call the midwives.

20 minutes later, another call...Dad said they were headed to the hospital. I agreed to meet them there.

Exactly 7 minutes later, while I'm in the car with my sweetheart (who agreed to give me a ride), heading to the hospital, Dad calls and says he can see the baby's head (and he said it was pointy). He's definitely nervous. Wow! I said, that's fine, just stay calm--it's normal for the head to be "pointy" (it's the molding, of course). At some point he put me on speakerphone. I say to mom, "Just keep doing what you're doing, you're doing great!" Next thing I know, he says something about the baby's eyes. She says the baby is coming out. I say something about "just let him come" (all I could think to say), and while whispering expletives ("The baby is being born right now!") and slapping my chauffeur on the arm, I hear mom grunting and the baby being born. I hear, "What is it? It's a boy! Oh, baby..." and then I hear the familiar cries of a newborn baby. Dad asks what to do, is he okay? I said as long as he is breathing and crying and turning pink, he is fine. We talked briefly about what to do next (Call 911? Call midwives?) and I told him to call his midwives. This was a 5-minute conversation!

Since we didn't get far from home, I dropped my chauffeur and went directly to their house--a 20 minute drive. Baby looks amazingly good (pink, calm, cozy), still connected to the cord, and mom is lying in bed in a mess of blood and tissue! And all I can think about is getting a bowl for the placenta (which had not appeared yet)--I was obsessed with getting a bowl. I found a pot. About 5 minutes after I arrived, the paramedics arrived. Mom & Dad went to the closest hospital (not where they were planning) and the placenta was soon born, breastfeeding initiated...and all was well.

Wow. Really, there are no other words.

I am in total awe of this amazing woman who felt her own baby emerging between her legs and was able to follow her body and birth the way she & nature intended.

And I just can't express fully how much joy I feel when I realize that this wonderful man was this Mom's sole birthing attendant...and that he received his own baby!

Now, I just want to add that, after speaking to this couple a few weeks after the birth and reminiscing together, that Mom now knows that she was laboring all day long. As is common with HypnoBirthing moms, she just chilled out and didn't think much of it. When they called me, things really started getting intense. Their midwives did not believe them, that labor was really moving as fast as it was. They assumed their calm demeanor and lack of discomfort or drama could only mean very early labor. Boy, were they wrong!