A Birth Story

I want to preface this birth by saying that most births are completely normal at the Paanakan and happen without any medical intervention, complication or having to transport. This birth is unique and gave me a new perspective, which is why I chose to write about it. Most births here, even for first time moms happen without a hiccup.

Racquel came in at 8:15 am on 4/15/10 at 4 cm. Her contractions weren't very strong and she was really calm. Through out the prenatal check ups that morning she walked around and hung out. This was her first baby and she and her husband are both 21 years old. She labored all day very calmly with her husband and her mom. She was really good-natured and sweet. At 4:16 pm Ate Grace, her midwife, and I checked her and she was 6-7 cm. Ate Grace advised her to take Caster oil. Later in the evening she rested on her left side (to ensure the most blood flow to the baby). At 10:15 pm I came into the labor room to find Ate Grace and the family looking kind of serious. Grace told me that the baby's heartbeat had been dangerously high for the past minute or so. We checked again and it was a little better but, still not normal. Ate Grace considered transporting her but when she checked Raquel's dilation, her water broke, she was at 9 cm, and she was having much stronger contractions. It was a little late at this point to transport. Then we had the mom change positions. This helped a lot, to bring the baby's heart beat back to normal. She labored on her hands and knees with Grace and I checking the heart beat every 2-5 minutes. At 10:59 Racquel was fully dialated and we moved her to a squatting position so she could push. She wasn't pushing very effectively and the baby was coming down crooked which only made it harder for her. She did make a little bit of progress while squatting though. The heart beat was still doing some funky things every once in a while, like going really high or really low. We moved her back to hands and knees around 11:30. This position did not improve her efforts so we asked her what she wanted. She decided to lie on the floor with pillows behind her head and her husband supporting her. In this position she slowly made some progress. At this point we could see a little bit of the head and it wasn't going back in anymore, which was great. At one point Grace turned to me and told me that Racquel couldn't push for more than two hours. I asked her what happens after two hours and she told me that they have to use the vacuum extraction and light fundal pressure. Grace was really reluctant to do it but knew that the baby would likely go into distress and the mom would get exhausted if she pushed for longer than two hours. By using fundal pressure (no vacuum yet) the baby was almost crowning. Then the midwives said that she had one more try to push the baby out without the vaccum. It was awful because she wanted it so badly and we all wanted it for her but she was too tired and had been trying for too long. This mom was so brave! She was willing to do whatever she had to do for her baby. Never once did she ask us to stop or tell us that it hurt (which I'm sure it did). I tried talking to the baby and telling him it was time to come out and that her belly wasn't his home anymore. I told him, "hindi mo bahay-it's not your home". I also let him know that despite what he might think, it isn't so bad out here. We used the vaccum to pull three times before the head was almost out and Racquel did the rest by herself. I caught the baby's body after Grace was done with the vacuum. The baby was born at 1:12 am on 4/16/10 and was put on his mom's belly right away. I told the parents, "it's a boy!". Right after the baby was born the mom was talking, smiling, and laughing. She was so happy to have him here. Until 3 am I checked the mom every thirty minutes and got to help her with nursing. They decided to name him Carl Andrew and he already responds to his name! When I told him to open his mouth (so that he could eat) he only actually did it when I said his name!!

While sitting with this mom for so long during her labor, I got really exhausted! Ate Grace was amazing! She was so attentive and never got tired. She was encouraging and very invested in this family. It was hard for me to watch a vaccum extraction, which is a procedure that I would never want to use. I was really upset that this mom had to have such a difficult and traumatic birth. Yet, as I journaled about this birth I thought back to the mom's reaction to all of this. Did she ever once cry or complain through all the fundal pressure and the vacuum extraction? Did she ever ask us to stop or tell us it hurt? No, she was so brave, much more brave than I ever could be. As soon as that baby boy was in her arms she was smiling and talking as if she'd just had the best birth ever. I realized that in fact she had! Her birth was exactly what it needed to be for her and through the whole experience she was joyful and diligent. She was so happy to have her healthy baby in her arms that she didn't care about all that she had to go through to get there. The care of these loving midwives and the fact that we did everything we could to let her have a natural birth before using the vacuum are what made her birth wonderful! Why should I be upset about her birth experience when she is happily feeding and enjoying her baby? I wonder if one of the reasons why this birth upset me was because it was so out of my control. Intervening in a medical sort of way is the last thing I want to do at a birth. Yet this birth showed me when it is necessary. I had to remind myself that it's not about what I prefere, it's about her! And about what she wants! From how joyful and content she was after the birth, I'm pretty sure she got the birth she wanted. In the end of the day, there was a beautiful, healthy mom and her beautiful, healthy baby who was born as naturally as possible, how amazing! I need to let go of my own idealologies about birth. My own theories and ideas become so umimportant in the face of these women and the kind of birth that they want to have. I cannot force what I want onto them even if I think it is best for them. Racquel was so grateful! She was just so blessed and happy to have her baby! And I realized that her birth wasn't traumatic, she was able to have a beautiful birth because of her great attitude and these attentive and caring midwivs. Racquel did an amazing job and was amazingly brave! This birth was difficult, yet it turned out to be a beautiful, wonderful, and satisfying birth! Welcome to the world Carl Andrew, I told you it's not so bad out here.