Kate

A couple months ago I had the honor of attending the labor of a woman named Kate and the birth of her beautiful little girl. Kate and I had been chatting throughout the day about ways to encourage her labor as she was overdue. I was making dinner for my family, and lets call it doula intuition, made me reach out to Kate again. After a quick conversation, I immediately ran out of my house and hurried to hers. When I arrived, Kate was inactive labor, but handling her contractions well. She still seemed unsure if this was "real labor". She was in her bedroom, with dim lights on, and alone. It was a very peaceful place to be laboring in. After a bit of watching over her process, her contractions increased quickly and she was no longer able to engage in conversation with me. At that point she agreed with me, that this was "real labor". We waited for her husband to arrive (she was passive about labor with him as well and so he stopped to get gas!) I called her midwives, the always wonderful With Women Wellness, and told them it was time. I helped her crawl through her house and down the stairs, and that's when her husband arrived. As you can imagine, he was surprised to find us on the floor in the hallway, and that it was time to hop back in the car and head to the hospital. After our arrival at the hospital and a bit of monitoring we headed to the spa tub room. Water was a game changer for Kate, as it is for most women. Once she entered the tub, she looked at me and said "Why doesn't everyone get in water? This feels amazing!" She took a bit of a rest, became relaxed again, and then said "I feel like I could push". Suzanne encouraged her to do so, and Kate appeared shocked and asked "Are you sure?". Within minutes and a few guided pushes later, Kate reached into the tub and pulled her new baby into her arms. She wept with joy and it was one of the most beautiful birthing moments, I have ever witnessed. Thank you so much for letting me be part of such a special moment ❤️ I'm sharing this story, because what every woman needs from their birth team is very different. Kate went inwards and only needed verbal encouragement and confirmation to trust her body. Kate also hired me in her last month of pregnancy. There is no wrong or right time to decide that you need birth support. #worlddoulaweek #honored #mamawarrior#wateristheliquidepidural