Ivette and Steve were considering switching to a home birth late in their pregnancy and after coming to the fall potluck for Motherland families, they were convinced this approach to not only birth, but prenatal care, parenting and community was what they were seeking!
Like almost every first time mother, Ivette was surprised by the intensity of the rushes of labor but with support from her husband Steve, and Meredith and Christy, Ivette was able to shift in her experience of the rushes and draw upon her meditation practice to help her ride the waves of her labor.
Ivette shared with us that "your invitation to talk about my feelings and fears, was very important as well as the massages, the tenderness from all of you, your care in cooking meals, offering drinks, all of that was amazing!"
She and Steve were so beautiful in their connection and in their intention to be present in welcoming their daughter. Labor had begun with her water bag breaking and it seemed like the baby's head wasn't in an optimal position for stimulating strong contractions for that last few centimeters of dilatation. After more than 30 hours at home in the tub, out for walks, salsa dancing with her midwives, resting and doing some home approaches to increasing the frequency and duration of her contractions, we all decided it was best to go to the hospital for some rest and the judicious and appropriate use of Pitocin to help Ivette have a vaginal birth. We were blessed to be able to transfer to an area hospital under the care of the Certified Nurse-Midwife on-call who is an old friend of Christy's. The midwife gave Ivette a big hug and a smile as we arrived and we all knew it was going to be ok. Ivette got some rest and with the pain relief and Pitocin quickly proceeded to being fully dilated. We asked for the epidural to be turned down and Ivette was amazing at pushing her baby. It was so wonderful when Ivette exclaimed, "I can feel her moving down!" as the epidural wore off and she could really connect with the pushing and fully experience the gentle birth of her baby girl. Tara Alegría weighed 7 lb 12 oz and was present and alert from the first moments of her life. As we do with all our clients who have to transfer from home, we did all our home postpartum care and it was a true reminder of how wonderful it can be when homebirth midwives and hospital midwives, nurses and doctors can collaborate for the health and happiness of the mother, baby and family!
