Birth story - Miriam and baby boy

I’m writing as an English woman who lives in Florida, USA, and this is my second pregnancy navigating the American healthcare system. I hope it’s helpful for others in this situation… you can do it! My first birth story is posted from 2021 if you’d like to read about how a delivery in a US hospital with no midwives went (still positive thanks to the PBC & prayer 🙏🏼 )

This time around, my husband and I were able to change our health insurance and also our provider of care for me in pregnancy so that we were working with a practice that fully supported natural birth and was “very European” in their approach (their words). Huge help to not feel like I was talking a foreign language when I explained our birth preferences.

I had a complication-free pregnancy so we were able to go for a midwife-led birth centre, with a pool, yoga balls, mats, squatting stools and all the jazz that was made for serving natural birth, fairy lights and diffusers and all. And then we had no time to use any of it 🤣🤦🏼‍♀️

🌺Early Labour:

I woke on the morning of the 4th and felt a trickle that wasn’t usual for me in pregnancy. It wasn’t my waters but it made me think, something has changed today. I had low-key period-like-pain but more in my back and it didn’t go away all morning and so I causally suggested to my husband and mum (who’d thankfully arrived from England the previous night) that I may in fact be in early labour.

I used the Freya App to track surges from about midday to see what was happening and as with my first baby, my surges were both consistent and yet never consistent enough to stay in “established labour”. Like last time, I went in and out of the app telling me I was in established labour for the whole day , so if that’s you, and your body doesn’t follow the exact rule of surges per ten minutes of the right length… it doesn’t mean you’re not meeting your baby soon!

Basically boring story short, I bounced on my yoga ball in my living room, through highly uneventful surges from like midday to 8pm. I had a lavender salt bath, I walked around a bit, I watched crime tv series, I ate three good meals, and I sent my family out the house to enjoy 4th of July celebrations whilst I wondered if anything was ever going to ramp up.

Fast forward to 8pm, I’d spoken to the birth centre midwife and kept her updated and she suggested another bath. After my bath things intensified a little and I rang our doula who had also been following our progress and she came over to see at what point I should head to the birth centre. It was honestly hard to judge as I was chatting away through surges and only maybe 1/3 I had to stop and breathe through.

Then 9pm, I was describing the surge I was having as more intense and that was the one that broke my waters! Husband grabbed every towel he could find as I sat on my yoga ball gushing water, saying “finally, we are moving!” And then we really did have to move. The birth centre was 30 mins drive away, the city fireworks displays were going to end and the roads fill with traffic within the next 30 mins too, and the surges had definitely ramped up once my waters went.

🎆Journey to birth centre:

Not the most fun car ride of my life! I sat on towels, tried to relax my body as much as I could in the passenger seat when nothing me wanted to be sat down. I hugged my pillow and focused on up-breathing. I tracked with the Freya app the whole way and could see things were continuing to progress. I didn’t say it out loud to my husband but in my head I did wonder how far off pushing my body was as we hit every red light going on the drive 🤦🏼‍♀️

🌊Birth centre & fast delivery:

We arrived to the birth centre as I was breathing through a surge. I said to my husband to get the door open and as soon as this one ended I would use the minute or so break to waddle myself inside! So I waddled in at 9.55pm, soaked from my waters (so much more water than you realise!) and basically took my trousers off and before I knew it I was pushing. No time for my hopes of a birth pool (it was still filling), no time to go to the toilet (that was me transitioning to push!) I just got on the comfy kingsize bed, on all fours, and my body pushed. 10 mins of very quiet, focused down-breathing into my husband’s chest or the pillows and I couldn’t believe it but baby boy arrived. Fast and yet it felt slow, unrushed, peaceful and powerful. Remarkable.

👶🏻Afterwards:

This time was so much more chill and I can honestly say that had a lot to do with not being in a hospital environment that was so panicked about natural birth. Yes I needed stitches for a second degree tear, which was zero fun but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and the midwife did a great job. No panic about blood loss this time, just a normal amount even though I had been slightly anaemic in third trimester. Four hours later, once they’d seen me eat something proper, and I’d showered and successfully gone for a wee, they sent us home and we were in bed by 3.30am with our little boy!

Second time parents, it’s hard to predict if you’ll be faster than last time and how. I was half the time of my previous labour even though it felt mainly slow in the surges stage, and my pushing was obviously surprisingly fast, but it also all worked out and my body just did what it knew to do again I guess. I will continue to share the PBC as a great resource, it has been a game-changer twice for us now. Thank you! 🩵