Consumers Supporting Midwifery Care

Terra’s birth

Pregnancy
I conceived in England and promptly was assigned a midwife. That’s the standard of care for all low risk women there. You are seen by your community midwife and, optionally, your family doctor. When you deliver, it is a hospital midwife who cares for you. My midwife was a bubbly redhead who was full of encouragement about my morning sickness not lasting for ever!

When my husband got a job in Ottawa, Canada, I decided that I was not sick so did not need the special medical attention of an obstetrician and would prefer a midwife. I emailed several places only to be told that they were full. It was the last place left, the Midwifery Collective of Ottawa that accepted me. “We have a UK trained midwife that would love to hear about the homeland,” they said.

What struck me about the midwife’s office as soon as I got there was that something different was going on in Canada than in England. I could tell by the posters on the wall that this was not the humdrum, average Jane way of going about prenatal care as it was in England Something else was going on, something very women-centered, family-centered: informed choice and natural were words of the day.

I liked Agnes Fitzgerald’s no nonsense, witty personality immediately. Before I got there, I had a vague thought in the back of my mind that I might like a home birth. My husband was a bit worried about the idea. Beyond safety issues, which he had, it was the mess that concerned him. As soon as he met her, he had the same reaction as me. This woman is a competent professional who will take good care of us during the birth (and maybe it won’t be so messy).

As my pregnancy progressed, I found her and our student midwife excelled at knowing which of my symptoms to worry over and which not to. Best of all, they took my concerns seriously. When I had heart palpitations, they checked my iron levels and then treated my anemia, not as a matter of course but because I had indications of anemia. When I was measuring small, they reassured me that as long as I felt like I was getting bigger and that the baby was moving around then I was almost certainly fine. Pregnant women aren’t like the model T motorcar, they come in all shapes and sizes.

Labour
At 37 weeks, the contractions started. These were not going to lead me to labour soon but were rather practice contractions, or preparatory contractions. Late pregnancy carried on in this way until 39.1 weeks when I called over the midwife at three in the morning. Real labour? No… Agnes, I’m sure, can still remember my husband’s special Spanish coffee that left her jittering the rest of that early morning. 39.3 weeks? Yes! I woke up in the morning, oozed my lumbering self out of bed and heard a trickle hit the floor.

My water had broken. I was stunned, confused. The liquid was pink, not a colour mentioned in the textbooks. Agnes came over to see how things were going and told me it was just a little blood from popping blood vessels in my cervix.

Contractions had started right away after my water broke, gently but unmistakably in my back. When Agnes came round, she chatted with me awhile and decided that I wasn’t quite ready for her yet and said she was heading for the office but to call when things got intense. As if that were some kind of suggestion, as soon as she left, they became more difficult. I leaned against the railing and let my husband rub my back. After a short while, this wasn’t cutting it anymore so I called Agnes (who was really just down the street having a coffee not all the way back at her office). She suggested the bath but the contractions were coming hard into my back and the bath just wasn’t deep enough to make any difference.

When she got there, she had another ‘remedy’: sterile water injections. This baby was clearly posterior (back of her/his head against my spine) and for optimal birth, we needed to turn him or her. Not only would the water injections in my lower back take away some of the pain, she said it often turned the baby. “They hurt like a bee sting.” I got to say, I didn’t complain. Immediately, the pain in my back disappeared. I hopped up, as much as 9 months pregnant woman can hop up, and sat on my birth ball. I had three glorious contractions that rose in intensity nearly pushing me over but each time I could ride their waves. Then the back pain returned. Not fair, I thought.

She looked at me. “Something’s changed.”

With the next contraction, I had the urge to push. The second midwife arrived. I asked if she needed to check to make sure that I was fully dilated and she smiled and said no.

As I pushed, I could feel my baby’s head slide down into my vagina. Felt the baby’s head as it started to appear at the perineum. Lots of hair. I had no ‘ring of fire’ but some serious back ache as the baby twisted inside of me to make its way out. Then in one fluid motion, the baby’s head followed by one shoulder, the next, and the rest of its body, slipped out the right way round. I don’t know if it was the sterile water injections but the baby had turned to the anterior position.

She was here! Terra. All 8 pounds, 2 ounces, 21 inches. Chubby like an older baby. I had only gained 21 pounds, measured at the most 36 cms but you would have never guessed it looking at the size and health of the baby.

The placenta came five minutes later with one squatting push. The house was as clean as a whistle with barely any blood loss.

We all settled down for tea.

Someone said, “Looks like she has red hair.” Impossible, I thought, must just be the light in here. My husband and I have dark hair. But to this day, her hair is a rich, light auburn. We’ll say it’s in honor of our first midwife who led us to this wonderful homebirth.
Luna’s birth

Pregnancy:
Immediately, I called Agnes. I came in around 10 weeks for my first appointment and we tried to pinpoint my due date. This second baby was a ‘surprise’ though not unwelcome. Curiously, I was due approximately 2 days after my first daughter’s birthday. We laughed about the possibility of having them on the same day. What would be the odds?

Other than morning sickness again, the first part of my pregnancy was uneventful then a list of little problems came up. I developed an inguinal hernia. I was faint again and had heart palpitations. Our student midwife ordered a blood screen. It came back with a surprise. I had B12 deficiency which was underlying my iron deficiency. Immediately, I was put on supplements. And almost immediately, I started to feel better. This time, it was even harder to gain weight. By the end of my pregnancy, I had barely managed to put on 18 pounds, but I was not worried about the baby’s health.

37 weeks passed with lots and lots of practice contractions but no baby. 38 weeks passed with days where contractions were every 20 minutes but not progressing. 39 weeks passed with a couple of days where I had moderate contractions every 5-10 minutes. Agnes kept predicting that it would be any day now. Our student midwife, Corey asked if there was any reason that I might want this baby to stay in a little longer. I said that it would be really convenient if the baby stayed in until Monday as my husband would have most of his work tasks completed and could be more of a help with my toddler.

Though our daughter’s birthday was on the Monday, we decided to have a party on the Sunday. It was a nice evening with a few friends, and her favourite chocolate cake. That night, my husband and I said that ‘now the baby can be born’.

Birth:
At 3 am, the real contractions started. By 10 am, I knew that this was going to lead to a baby today. It was my daughter’s second birthday. I sent her off to a friend’s house.

At first, the contractions were moderate, more intense and less gradual than with Terra but still easy to cope with. I rocked on the birth ball then got up, tidied some toys, or did some dishes. The student midwife came by at around 11 am. By now, I had gotten into the bath which I found much more helpful in this labour than with Terra. I asked her to check my dilation. She said that I was 6 cm. Yippee, I thought. I had pain in my back again but I figured that it wouldn’t be long now. By noon, I had the urge to push. I got out of the bath and went downstairs where I intended on giving birth. After one push, my water exploded on the blue pads placed under me but that was it. The urge disappeared.

The other midwives had arrived. The urge returned, disappeared, returned. Cory checked me again, I was still only 7 or 8 cms, something was holding this labour up.

“The baby’s head is transverse (sideways across the pelvis) and deflexed (not tucked under).”

They suggested walking up the stairs, changing position. I looked at them like they were crazy. The contractions were much harder now and what I was doing was helping me cope. I did not want to change that but I tried some different positions anyhow. Then Cory suggested the sterile water injections again. Since it seemed to work to turn Terra, I agreed.

They pain disappeared… for one whole contraction. I don’t know why it did not work but instead I just lay on the air mattress we set up and tried a new coping mechanism. Before, I had always used movement to flow with the intensity of the contractions. This time, I sank deep into my mind. In fact, the midwives did not know I was even having contractions I was so still.

Finally!! I had the urge again. This time it was not going away. The baby came. First a head, hanging in space for a few seconds then the body in one push. Another girl! She had a mess of dark hair, was smaller than her sister by a whole pound but just as pink and healthy.

When Terra came home, I told her that she had a birthday present: a baby sister. My two girls were born 2 years and 3 hours apart.

Thanks to all the midwives that were part of my care at the Midwifery Collective of Ottawa!