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Liz's third hospital
birth
My third hospital birth was much better than
the first two. I changed to a different hospital, which was much
more mother and baby friendly. I also changed O.B.'s, although I
continued to have a female one. I helped myself by reading more
about the birth experience and mentally prepared myself in a way that I
hadn't before. I read a book by Michel Odent (I forget the title)
who pioneered the "new" concept of allowing the mother to
experience a quiet, gentle birth. I read a wonderful book called
"A Good Birth, A Safe Birth". I also read an out of
print(?) book which I found in my local La Leche League library called
"Home Birth". In short, I empowered myself for the next
birth.
As my due date neared, my O.B. decided that
I should have yet another induction as my blood pressure was beginning to
elevate and the baby was quite large. I was worried that I would
have a repeat of my first two difficult birth experiences.
Fortunately, all that was necessary to begin labour was the breaking of my
amniotic sac. I insisted on standing throughout my entire labour,
holding on to the back of a sturdy chair. I rocked and rocked on my
feet, counting throughout each contraction. While painful, of
course, my body was allowed to do it's job in the way nature intended.
My contractions continued to grow in intensity, but they were more
manageable WITHOUT the Pitocin. They were single-peaked as they
should have been and gradually intensified in a way that I was able
to cope with.
I laboured and delivered in the same room,
which was more emotionally comfortable. The room was kept relatively
dark and the sound was kept to a minimum. The O.B. seemed to be in
the room more often and for longer periods of time. They made the
odd suggestion to me during labour, but backed off when I refused.
This time, I decided to listen to my own body and follow what it was
telling me. Standing and rocking really helped me cope, so this is
what I continued to do. They didn't bother me with the foetal
monitor much. They just put it on me for short periods and then
removed it again. They monitored my blood pressure sporadically and
didn't keep me on oxygen. Thank God!
I was allowed to stand for as long as I
wanted UNTIL it came time to push. I was chagrined to discover that
I was expected to lie on my back and deliver in the lithotomy position yet
again. I wanted to remain standing, but it was not allowed.
Instead, I was forced to push out my POSTERIOR PRESENTATION 9lb. 6oz. baby
son whilst lying on my back and my legs up around my ears. This was
definitely not comfortable, not efficient, and definitely not pretty.
:) Finally, after about an hour of pushing UPHILL, my son James was
born.
The short hospital stay was fairly
uneventful. I was placed in a PRIVATE room this time (my choice to
pay the extra expense). It was a room at the end of the hall.
It was very quiet and I felt quite serene. I took my newborn son to
bed with me and was allowed to room-in with him. The nurses
occasionally tried to admonish me about keeping my son in bed but I just
nodded, and then did what I wanted.
The only "bad" thing that happened
during my stay at the hospital (except for the uphill delivery) was that
one of the nurses reached for my breast and squeezed it, looking to see if
my milk had come in yet. She did NOT ask me for permission to do
this. She did NOT ask me if my milk had indeed come in. As a
now third time mother, I would have been more than happy to share with her
the state of my milk production. This grabbing of my
breast was definitely an invasion to my body, and thoughtless thing
to do. It hurt too, as she was far from gentle. Fortunately, she only did
this once!
On the whole, I would describe this birth
experience as NEUTRAL. It was much better than the first two, but
not perfect.
Liz Fry
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