In 2006, when I was a few months
pregnant with Aparna, we visited the Birthing Centre in Santa Rosa. It was a
cozy little place run by some midwives. There was one doctor on call to perform
emergency Ceasareans. Having had a not-so-good experience at the hospital
during my first delivery, Dev wanted me to consider this option
seriously. I was hesitant because of the expenses involved. Our health
insurance was not going to pay for this. After a
few weeks of careful contemplation, I decided to deliver at the birthing
centre.
On March 13th, late in
the afternoon, my amniotic fluid started leaking. I called Dev at work to
update him and started making notes about the happenings. Dev got home in a
short while and wanted to make the best use of his time by giving Abhi a
haircut! Watching this process turned out to be a good way to labor at home. In
about an hour, we were ready to leave. We dropped Abhi off at a friend’s place
and headed for the birthing centre.
We reached the centre around 7:30
p.m. I was asked to sit on a rocking chair as one midwife brought a cup of
Chamomille tea. It was a cold evening. While I was sipping the hot tea, another
midwife brought a pair of warm, rice-stuffed socks to put on my feet. The place was dimly
lit and it had a nice calming effect on me. Dev was filling the bath tub with
warm water. As soon as it was ready, I got in. It was as if the warm water took away all my
pain. I remember taking some music CD with me and playing it there at the
centre.
As this was a small place, I
could easily hear screaming and moaning from the next room. Two midwives were attending to the lady next
door. Around 9 p.m. I remember going on hands-and-knees in the water and feeling
the need to push. In just a few pushes, I could feel the baby’s head with my
fingers. I urged Dev to get help.
Jennifer came just in time to hold the head that was coming out. It was
relatively effortless. Little Aparna was all covered in the amniotic fluid when
they wrapped her gently in a towel and handed her to Dev. There was no bath and
no soap.
I got out of the water, dried
myself and got dressed. The baby and I were still connected. I got into the bed
with the baby next to me. I was still getting feeble contractions. Jennifer
reminded me about the last strong contraction that will send the placenta out.
No one yanked the placenta; it made its way out naturally. The chord’s pulse
was slowly dying down. There was no rush to severe the connection. It probably
took an hour for the chord to stop pulsating. That was when it was cut.
At one point, Jennifer noticed
that the baby’s temperature had dropped. There was no panic though. Jennifer calmly
brought out a warm blanket and asked Dev to take off his shirt. She put the
baby to his bare chest and wrapped both of them with the blanket. In about 15
minutes, the baby’s temperature got normalized. She was brought to my breast
right away. She was a pro at latching and suckling.
Abhi came with our friends in the
night. He slept there with us and we left the centre as a family of four early
next morning. This way of natural birth paved way for a very quick
recovery. As there was no one to help
us, I had to start work at home – cooking, cleaning, baby care etc. – from the
very first day on wards. The baby’s skin slowly absorbed
all the creamy, residual amniotic matter (called “Vernix”) sticking on it. We
gave her the first bath after two or three days. During the initial days, when she developed mild redness in eye I was asked to use the breast milk as
eye drops. When she had nasal congestion, breast milk worked as nasal drops too!
She was a content baby who slept for 22 hours every day for the first six
weeks.
Even now, twelve years later,
every time I think of this birthing experience I feel happy and revitalized.
Childbirth is a natural process and keeping it that way works wonders both for
the mom and the baby. My friends and relatives, who had a spinal anesthesia,
either because they couldn't bear the pain or because they had a surgery, still
experience side effects of it. It breaks my heart to hear about little babies
tucked away in nurseries and ICU’s for very little medical reason.
Here is another water birth
experience, from my friend Venetia:
https://svargaonearth.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/birth/
