I was called at 3:30am, to come to the hospital and be a doula for Consuelo, a third time mama in early labor. She had been checked at 2cm, some time earlier, but her baby was suspected to be posterior,since she was having pretty bad back pain. Consuelo is from Mexico and speaks mainly Spanish, but understands English fairly well. I got over my shyness and got to practice my Spanish with her and her partner.

       Her husband slept for a few hours when I first arrived, so I helped by pressing on her hips and sacrum, and massaging her shoulders.  The nurse and I rocked the baby in the rebozo, and I attempted the baby churn with my hands to try and encourage the baby to turn.  Baby seemed to shift some, and Consuelo said it eased the back pain a bit, but that didn't seem to last.    She dilated at about 1cm every 2 hours, which was steady, but a bit discouraging, as her last labor, eight years ago, had been only 5 hours long.

        Around 7am, I suggested she get in the tub, since labor seemed active and strong by then, and she was getting pretty uncomfortable. I went down the hall to turn on the water, and when I returned, the nurse was there helping her to quickly get on hands and knees. There had been a drop in baby’s heart rate that lasted a couple of minutes and was quite alarming, but it soon returned to normal. We decided to wait on getting in the tub to see what the doctor thought, in light of this occurance. He soon arrived, and told her that if baby’s heart rate kept dropping like that, she would need a c-section. He showed her the monitor strip and said to be sure and call the nurse right away if it happened again, and no she could not get in the water. He thought it was just to risky. He said that later, when the next doctor's shift began, he might have another opinion and let her get in the water. I was suprised and disappointed to hear him talking in this way to her, as though she should keep her eye on the monitor just to be sure, as though a c-section was on the horizon.

       After he left, all was well, and there were no more heart problems. A couple of hours went by and the next doctor on call did indeed say that with contstant monitoring, she could get in the tub. Her friend arrived and stayed about half an hour. She was very comforting and assured Consuelo that the water would be very helpful, so she decided to get in after her exam. She was dilated to 5 cm.

        She stayed in the water for close to an hour, half the time with the jets on, and then got out and back into the rocking chair. She did try the birth ball and hands and knees briefly, but seemed most relaxed in the rocking chair with a hot pack behind her low back. Around 12:00, she seemed to reach transition. Contractions were coming on quickly and strong, and she was starting to have doubts about going on, asking for pain meds. Her husband was strong and so supportive, and together we held her and encouraged her and got her to move a little bit, getting back on the ball, on the bed, in the chair.  She had a little medicine to ease the pain, but was reaching the end of her hope.

        She soon was having a hard time not pushing, but was only 9 cm, so we kept asking her to relax, breath, and don't push, so her cervix wouldn't swell. It seemed really difficult in the bed, but as soon as she was back in the rocking chair, she relaxed some.   After another hour went by, she suddenly was pushing again, this time very seriously, and she told us she had to go to the bathroom.  I asked her to wait until she was checked, because I didn’t want the baby born in the toilet! Once she got to the bed and the doctor told her she was complete, she started pushing and her baby girl was out within 15 minutes!

 While Consuelo was in the bathroom and Rodrigo was calling the relatives, I got to hold the sweet little bundle…. Mmmmm…..

Comment (0)

    I called in around 5pm, and May was just getting active, not yet needing much assistance. The hospital had called earlier in the day to tell me she was in early labor and requesting a doula. Around 7pm, the nurse, Joanne called and said to come as soon as possible. When I arrived a few minutes later, May was in the tub, had recently been checked, and was at 4cm. She was making sound and starting to get focused. John was right there with her, giving her an ice pack, telling her “You’re pretty” and rubbing her back.

    Her contractions were coming pretty quick and clearly intensifying. I put some pressure on her lower back, pressed on her shoulders, held her hand. She was getting hot in the tub, so we put some cooler water in. By 8:30, she was getting louder, and contractions were lasting longer. Joanne checked her, and she could “stretch her to 6cm.” I helped her breathe in a rhythm and she asked to be guided. We all breathed the rhythm together. I leaned over the edge of the tub with my hand on her sacrum, and the pressure felt good, helped her get through the contractions.

    She mentioned feeling pressure, like she had to poop. Joanne checked her again, “just to be sure the doctor [didn’t] need to rush in.” She didn’t comment and I assumed May was still dilated to 6 cm. It was 9pm. Soon after that, she got out of the tub and laid in the bed awhile. We tried a few positions, lying on her side, squatting, facing back of the bed on her knees... She was very uncomfortable squatting, but I encouraged her to try a few like that, since they were clearly more intense.

    Awhile later, back in the tub, she was starting to comment about not being able to do this much longer, feeling nauseous. Contractions were sometimes right on top of each other. We breathed together, she stayed on top of it. John was incredibly encouraging. I mentioned that transition is like this, that things were getting more intense because progress was happening, things were speeding up, coming to the exciting part. She said that if she was not more dilated, she was getting an epidural, and Joanne checked her and pointed between the 6cm circle and the 8cm circle on her chart, indicating that she was in between. Things were intensifying quickly; she was nauseous, feeling more pressure, still in the tub.

    A little before 11:00pm, Joanne checked her again, and said she was at 8cm. “Eight!” May exclaimed. I thought you said I was at nine when you checked me last! I want an epidural! I can't do this!” With the misunderstanding that she had been at nine when Joanne pointed to the chart earlier, she had been able to handle things, but now she started to panic. We assured her that this is what transition is like, and she can get through it, that things generally speed up at this point, that when she is focused on her breath and not caught in her mind and her worry about numbers and time, she is getting through it all with such incredible strength. I suggested a way that she could not "do this anymore," by getting out of the tub and going to the bathroom, or sitting on the birth ball. She could change her situation now, try something new. Joanne asked her if she could wait half an hour and check back in, rather than rushing off to call the doctor, requesting an epidural. May didn't respond either way, but said she would get out and try sitting on the toilet.

    She did get out of the tub and got to the bathroom, where she and John spent some time alone. When they came out, she stood by the tub and he squeezed her pelvis with contractions, relieving some of the pressure. She was handling things much better, had her second wind, was again with her breath and calmer. By midnight, it seemed like the contractions were coming one right after another, and when the new nurse, Liz, checked her around 1:00, she was almost complete. Liz thought maybe the doctor could stretch her cervix open so she could push the baby through, so she went to call her. By the time she arrived, May was having 5 minute long contractions, totally complete and ready to push. She pushed for maybe half an hour, then baby Lila was born! May said, " "Everyone said I couldn't do it, but I did! I had a completely natural birth!"

Comment (0)