Zipadee Doula | Serving Portland, Oregon » Doula

Birth story | Amelia’s Unassisted Birth

Nicole Murray — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:13:55 +0000

I wrote a month ago about my experience at my first unassisted birth, and I was given permission to post a link to Laura’s personal story of the birth of her daughter, Amelia, here. Definitely check it out! I love reading uplifting birth stories, and they helped me immensely when I was pregnant with Oliver.

HERE is her story

Amelia’s Unassisted Birth Story

Nicole Murray — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:05:57 +0000

I am a big fan of unassisted births. Hey, I had my own! Many birth professionals look down on women who choose to go unassisted, believing them to be taking birth ‘too far’ or being selfish. I personally believe that every woman should be able to birth how she feels she needs to. I find it very sad that even those surrounded by birth, women who say that they trust birth, are so quick to call unassisted birth irresponsible.

All of the women I have come across who have gone unassisted know their stuff. I know I read a million books about birth before I had Oliver. Most of these women are not going blindly into birth. It is a tough road to travel; you must defend your choice to everyone who finds out about your “plan”.

As a doula, I am proud to say that I support any woman who wants an unassisted birth. Surprisingly, when I began researching doula work, I discovered that most doulas will not attend an unassisted birth. Most fear that if something goes wrong, that they will be prosecuted.

So, as I was saying, I love free births! I was extremely excited when I was asked to attend one in September.

I got the call early on September 25. She was in early labor, but definitely progressing. Once I got there mid-morning, I was really pumped! She was doing great, and her partner was there by her side. I was happy to be able to provide relief for him, so he could rest and take care of a few things. She was having back labor, and I was lucky to have brought along my new little massage ball.

It really helped, and through the rest of her labor, both her partner and I took turns massaging her lower back.

Although really tired from lack of sleep, she did so fantastic. She changed positions when she needed to, and was really amazing. I felt so lucky to be able to be apart of something so great

During transition, she thought she had more time to go, so she wanted to get in the tub. Before the water even rose high enough, the baby was crowning! She stood in the tub, and with the support of her partner, gave birth to their beautiful daughter.

I felt a bit useless at the time, so I did what I knew I could: take some pictures! She was kind enough to give me permission to post this:

Amelia was born at 3:15 in the afternoon, just a little under 4 hours after I arrived! It was a beautiful birth. Brought me back to that excitement and awe of having my own birth. I am usually not a gushy person, but I definitely had tears in my eyes when she was born.

Long labor.

Nicole Murray — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:38:09 +0000

I attended my longest birth so far last weekend. Twenty-nine hours. It was long and hard, but great practice for me. I ended up crying at the end, all alone in the cardiac department, because I was so exhausted and missed my family terribly. I wasn’t able to sleep for almost two days, and by the end, I was a wreck. I had never been away from my kids that long, and I didn’t realize how lack of sleep would make me feel.

At the hospital

It was also the first time I had a negative experience with nurses. They were very rude, and any time I walked by they glared at me. They were not welcoming at all, and when they were out at their station, they just sat and chatted. Many times when I walked by, I could hear them talking about the mom I was with. This was the same hospital I gave birth to my daughter at – St. Vincent’s in Portland. Brought back a lot of memories.