My Second Doula Experience: A Precipitous Birth
- Zuri Sabir
- Dec 13, 2017
- 4 min read
After my first doula experience, I eagerly soaked up all the birth support knowledge I could while training to become certified. All the required reading felt like water to consume and I couldn’t wait to unleash my knowledge on clients. I was looking forward to a textbook labor to add to my repertoire. At the end of my intensive course a second chance to serve came my way when a fellow doula in training couldn’t make it to her client in time and called me in as her substitute.
Amber was a little past her due date and had gone in for a routine ultrasound and prenatal appointment. While in the ultrasound, doctors converged with comments on the size of her baby boy. Apparently his body was measuring smaller than his head than what is considered “normal” for her approximate gestation. The baby's vitals looked good, as did hers. However, “just in case” he had asymmetrical intrauterine growth restriction (AIUGR) doctors pushed for her to go right upstairs to labor and delivery for induction that same day. I’ll never forget the fear I encountered in Amber and her partner. It seemed I was walking into another toxic birth environment in the service of another (at the time) "lower income" client. I was again motivated to inform her of her options and reinforce her desires.
When I met her for the first time in labor and delivery, a teary eyed Amber looked small and bewildered as her doctors and nurses rebuked her desire to leave for food and a little time to make her decision. The birth team demanded she hand-write a note of desire to leave that had to include the statement “I understand that due to my choice to leave the hospital, my baby could die.” She looked to me for advice and I stated simply that she was under no obligation to stay and could come back any time she wished, even if it was in an hour after a good private cry.
Amber and her partner agreed to write the statement and leave the hospital that evening. Later over dinner, she, her original doula and I discussed her options. One option was to go back to the hospital for an induction that night, another was to do nothing and to wait for her body to go into labor on its own, and yet another was to naturally augment or induce her labor using homeopathy and energetic pressure points. Amber chose to try natural induction methods to speed up the onset of her labor and head to the hospital for the support of her baby and whatever help he may need. Together we researched her best options for natural labor induction and Amber settled on acupressure and homeopathy – caulophyllum. Amber took caulophyllum pellets in regimen for the additional four days her pregnancy lasted. We talked often to be sure she still felt secure in her decision to wait for her body to respond to homeopathy. Her intuition led her to feel that she and her baby were safe.
It being my first time on call for a client, I lived with my cell phone firmly plastered to my hand waiting for the signal to come running to help. I got THE CALL late one weekday night. Amber had been at a birthday party and was contracting for a couple hours before she decided she was in labor and to go on home and prepare for the hospital. Her partner contacted me for her because she was in the thick of laboring at home. When I say I ran across town to Amber, I’m lying. I flew. As in grew wings and took to the sky. In stark contrast to my entry on a tense atmosphere when I first met this couple, the scene in their bedroom was warm and peaceful. Amber looked confident if a little overwhelmed by the frequency and strength of her contractions. They had been laboring alone at home a couple hours before they ran out of coping strategies for intense contractions and reached out to me. “Oh, ok, that’s fine” I remember saying, “my training says first time moms can be in labor for hours and hours. I was in labor for a week… You’re really peaceful, so let’s pack up in an hour or so!”
We agreed moving to the shower for a change in scenery and some pain relief would be awesome and as Amber sat on the birth ball under its steady stream she rolled through several contractions with ease. Too easily. After those great shower contractions Amber started making some really interesting sounds that I remembered from my own birth, Jessica’s and my training. “Whoa, we gotta go y’all, I think you’re pushing, Amber!” We made it out of the shower, back to the room and into the bottom half of a dress before those sounds got even MORE interesting. We weren’t going anywhere. I now know that the first labors aren’t long for everyone, especially mothers with smaller babies.
I became so calm that I was again affirmed that birth is my thing! We all were super peaceful as amber moved to all fours over clean towels in her bed, and I called 911 to inform them of the precipitous labor. She was brave and patient as she followed her instinctive urges to move her baby down and in no time he was out! The room was warm and dim and the little family bonded in tranquility for about ten minutes before the paramedics knocked on the door. I answered and let them know that no one was afraid or in any immediate danger and that mom requested they enter serenely. At the hospital mom and baby boy checked out just fine, though she bled a little heavily, and the worry about AIUGR was dispelled. He was just a small 5 pound cutie!
I am grateful for stories like Amber’s because it reminds me that no matter what we expect from labor, we can count on a few surprises. We can also count on the wisdom of our bodies and intuition. Amber followed her gut understanding that her baby was healthy and could come in the way she preferred. Because of this she got the birth she’d hoped for.
Thank you for reading, much love always!
Zuri Sabir, CD/B-P
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