Birthing Goddess blog

I was just reading Michelle beautiful post about where she is at now on birth in her life. At the same time, I was browsing through The Unecesarean's open thread today.

I thought I would add a bit to my previous post, the one about my friend choosing to have an elective cesarean for her breech baby. I cannot honestly say I didn't feel a tad disappointed that she chose the cesarean over the vaginal birth. But because I know she took the time to weigh all the pros and cons and made her decision fully informed, I respect her choice. Before she found out about her baby's breech position, she had already chosen to give birth at the hospital, with a doctor. I should stress that her doctor is probably more of an advocate of natural birth than some midwives! He is quite a Doctor Wonderful himself! She felt safe to have her baby with him and we discussed at length interventions, means of pain relief and so on. She is a very educated women and certainly not clueless about the comings and goings of hospital births. Of course, women are able to birth breech babies vaginally but as an old midwife I know once said “breech babies can be cheeky troublemakers!”. So I try my best to understand my friend’s fears and concerns that a vaginal birth could have meant injuries to her of her precious little one. Like many advocates, biting my tongue and listening carefully before blurting out whatever goes through my mind has become a second nature.

The past few weeks have been pretty busy. I went back to work, and discovered my power-pumping possibilities, even when flying around the country attending conferences! At the same time, Liam started having some separation anxiety, which translated in him being very clingy in the day and more night waking, with extra-long nursing sessions... It did not help that we were in the process of trying to get him to sleep all night in his crib (up to now, he would start the night there and end the night with us, after his 3AM nursing session...). 

As new parents we are still struggling between our belief that cry-it-out is not an option for our family and the fact that nursing sessions that last more than an hour at night are just too much to handle for us as we are both back to work and I am still battling a virus that has lowered both my energy and my ability to cope with sleep deprivation... Anyways... We are still in the process of adjusting our schedules and our sleep arrangements to meet Liam's needs for more time with us and trying to help him regain his confidence and independance. My little boy is turning one in two weeks and getting big! 

This is him in Montreal, where he flew with his dad to join me on a weekend while I was away working:

The first birth I was supposed to attend as part of my birth education classes ended up happening very differently than expected. My friend discovered her baby was breech at 38 weeks. Her doctor attempted an external cephalic version, but to no avail. She tried a number of different techniques to turn her baby head down but the little cheeky one decided to stay buttocks down... Her wonderful doctor, who is a true natural birth advocate, offered her the choice, she could attempt a vaginal delivery as recommended by the Canadian Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, or schedule a c-section. Her doctor was upfront and explained the benefits and risks of both options. There are apparently doctors at BC Women's who still have the skill for vaginal breech births and would have been available for her birth. We also discussed the c-section and I provided her with all the information I have, without trying to influence her decision. After weighing the pros and the cons, her and her partner decided to go with an elective cesarean. Her doctor scheduled the cesarean on her due date and she had a beautiful baby girl yesterday! Because we were able to discuss at length cesareans and what happens in the OR, and thanks to the support of her doctor, she was fully prepared and was able to experience this birth in a loving and supported way. The first photo her partner sent us yesterday was of her and her beautiful baby girl skin to skin minutes after the birth!

My doula bag was all packed and ready but it'll have to wait for another beautiful mama... I wanted to share my friend's story because it shows us that choices in childbirth are possible and that if supported and prepared, parents can experience birth in a beautiful way, even when it turns out very different from what they had anticipated when they first learned about their pregnancy.

Now, if there are any Vancouver mamas out there who would like to have labour support but can't afford a doula, I'm still available throughout the summer free of charge! Don't hesitate to contact me!