On October 19th at 11:23pm, a sweet angel baby boy was born
This first time mom. Her devoted husband. Grandma. Their birth team. Two doulas. The nurses. Everyone supported this amazing warrior mama so much through her very first baby’s hypnobirth which started intensely in labor and delivery security check in, progressed through to her labor room shower and finally resulted in them meeting their sweet boy.
This mama spent her pregnancy energy focusing on hypnobirthing, concentrating, focusing, calming, relaxing, embracing every wave of labor that was to come.
Her team knew how important an unmedicated as natural as possible birth was to her and her husband and they did everything to support and encourage her through every contraction closer to meeting her son.
She arrived in labor and delivery with her husband and her doula from Orchid’s Nest. She breathed and relaxed and let her muscles melt as each new wave of labor crashed over her body. She had prepared to do j-breathing during this earlier part of active labor, a breathing technique that is used during labor to help release (soften) your pelvic floor which gives your baby the space to move down the birth canal, effectively shortening labor.
The simple steps to J-breathing is
inhaling through your nose
hold your breath for a moment if you want to work with a natural surge (contraction)
exhale through your mouth while focusing on your baby moving down and up into your arms
and when you are ready to repeat, repeat at a slow pace
try to visualize the breath traveling down your body and out your bottom
remember: it is absolutely okay and expected for j-breathing to be very noisy
I loved witnessing her focus despite the bright lights of the hospital, the noises, people asking her questions. It was evident she had practiced this amazing focus her entire pregnancy.
She held onto her husband’s back as they traveled from the lobby onto the elevator and upstairs to their labor and delivery room, while her doula supported her back for those intense contractions.
It’s vital that you mentally prepare yourself for when you arrive at your labor and delivery room, you will need to spend about 20-30 minutes back ridden in the hospital bed while the nurses get a tracing on your baby’s heart rate and your contractions before you are able to move freely during labor. While I am not 100% sure if this rule can ever be deviated from depending on your obgyn or midwife, I have seen every client (except those already crowning when they get into their L&D room) have to go through this process. It is vital when your goal is hypnobirthing and unmedicated birth, to not let this medical intervention break your focus through your visualization of your baby descending so you can continue laboring your baby down once you move through this stage.
As soon as my client was able to get out of her hospital bed, her other doula from Orchid Nest, Samara, arrived and quickly stepped in to give my client even more support. The room’s vibes and energy shifted from ‘hospital admittance’ to sacred birthing space.
My favorite photo from my client’s labor is where she is leaning over her hospital bed, with her husband and her mother at her side, and both of her doulas at either side of her, doing the double hip squeeze and the photo is from above. I think this photo is the epitome of supporting the mother and the baby through their journey earthside.
To do a double hip squeeze to relieve the intensity of pressure during labor on the back, having the laboring mom position herself comfortably either sitting, standing, leaning over a bed or ball like my client or on all fours. Place your hands on her hip bones in a W shape and with your thumbs pointing toward her spine. Ise the heels of your hands to squeeze and rotate toward the center and up slightly toward the shoulders. Hold the pressure for the duration of the contraction, and slowly release.
They slowly moved over to the shower where my client used the natural resource of the warm water from the shower to work through what ended up being final stages of labor.
At one point during a surge, it became clear we could see the very top of baby’s head. But remember, with many (and often most) first time moms, there is still a pushing stage. Not all (and not most) first time baby’s quickly slide out so this isn’t always the case of a precipitous delivery, though its important to prepare as if it were so baby is caught (delivered) in a safe manner.
She emerged from the hot shower and baby boy was crowning
She made her way to the delivery bed
As soon as she was on the hospital bed, almost simultaneously in this moment my birth photography client’s OBGYN, Dr. Arcelin, from Women’s Health Partners in Boca walked into the delivery room…
…and with a few pushes, sweet boy was born onto mama’s chest.
You were such an inspiring warrior mama. You are such a strong woman. Your doulas and I were so incredibly proud of you! And your husband was your steadfast rock. If he was nervous at all, we were never able to tell. Your constant and relentless encouragement and being at her side was awe inspiring.
And her team... Her OB Dr. Arcelin of Women’s Health Partners, her amazing doulas Elle and Samara from Orchids Nest. She had the dream team. But then again, everyone at Boca Raton Regional Hospital comprises to make a dream team!
