I had the honor of attending a beautiful birth on Monday.  Mama Sarah gave me permission to share her story. Sarah Sharp is a jazz singer and songwriter here in Austin – check out her website and go see her show sometime! Also, read Sarah’s testimonial about her birth experience.

Sarah called us at 4:30 am to let us know she was in labor. When I talked to her on the phone, she sounded happy and excited that she was finally going to get to meet her son Angus. I talked to her again at 5:00, and she was already heading to the hospital. Her contractions were fairly painful, and she was already 4 cm dilated before labor began. Since Angus was her third baby, she knew her labor would probably go quickly.

When I arrived at the hospital at 6:00 am, Sarah and her husband Andy were coping well with the contractions. Her cervical check showed that she was already 6 – 7 cm dilated. The contractions were short, but pretty frequent. Sarah liked to move around – she was constantly swaying, walking, and changing positions. She wanted suggestions for ways to move around that would make her contractions more comfortable and help the baby to descend.

The room was very bright when I got there – the fluorescent lights were glaring. We dimmed the lights, and when the sun came up we opened the blinds so that the natural light came in and we were able to turn the overhead lights off completely. Because the window looked out onto the roof, we didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing in. The view out the window was of some kind of weird boxy metal air conditioner thing. Andy took one look at it and said that if it was outside his window he’d put little arms and legs on it and make it into a decorative robot air conditioner thing. I liked Andy.

I asked if Sarah wanted to hear some music. She was up for it, so I played the Rachel’s station on Pandora with some little portable speakers I had. The mellow orchestral music and the lowered lighting really helped to change the atmosphere from a clinical hospital space to a serene, nurturing birth space.

I had brought my birth ball, and when I suggested Sarah try sitting on it, she found it very comfortable. I did the double-hip squeeze with the next contraction. It made a huge difference for Sarah; she said, “WOW! That REALLY helps.” I think from that point on, we did the double-hip squeeze on every contraction until the baby was crowning. Andy did most of the squeezing. After I had done a few hip squeezes, Sarah asked Andy to try. She gave very specific instructions for him as labor progressed, and he obliged for the rest of labor. By the time the baby was born, Andy was a pro. He swayed his hips when Sarah did, and he even climbed up onto the bed with her when he needed a better angle. Usually I’m the one doing the hip squeezing for hours at a time – Andy really made my job easy!

Sarah used the birth ball for most of her labor. We raised the bed and piled pillows on so she could sit on the ball and lean all her weight forward onto the pillows, concentrating on relaxing her entire body. She also liked standing next to the bed and leaning forward onto the ball. With Andy following Sarah’s strict orders about exactly how to do the hip squeezing, I sat on the bed by Sarah’s head and massaged her neck, shoulders, and hands. She breathed slowly and deeply with total control. When I noticed her clenching her teeth, tightening her shoulders, or holding her breath, I’d remind her to relax and inhale deeply.

At 8:00, Dr. Mingea did Sarah’s second cervical check. She was 9 centimeters dilated with a slight anterior lip, 90 – 100% effaced, and the baby was at +1 station. Her bag of waters was still intact. The nurse, Nancy, told us that we should call her as soon as Sarah felt an urge to push or her water broke, because once either of those things happened, the baby would be well on its way.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah’s contractions became very intense. She began trembling and had a harder time maintaining control during her contractions. I reminded her more frequently to breathe slowly and deeply and to keep her voice deep and low to encourage her cervix to open. At 8:20, Nancy checked Sarah’s cervix again because her trembling and vocalizations indicated that she was well into transition. Her cervix had not changed, and she still had no urge to push.

By 9:00 Sarah started talking to Angus, asking him to come down. She felt like he just wasn’t quite low enough. I suggested positions that would encourage her pelvis to open so that he could move into the proper position to fully descend. We tried marching with giant open steps, and we tried lunging. But Sarah didn’t like standing positions because during contractions she wanted to be seated on the ball with Andy doing the double hip squeeze. The seconds that it took to recognize the contraction coming, sit down on the ball, and order Andy to work his magic were simply too excruciating. Sarah wanted to use gravity to get Angus to descend, but none of the upright positions were working for her.

Since Sarah’s labor had been progressing so quickly until she reached 9 centimeters, I began to wonder if perhaps Angus needed more help rotating in order to move down. Around 9:30 I suggested Sarah get into a knees-to-chest position on the bed, which is one of the best positions to allow a baby to rotate. After about 5 contractions, Sarah felt the urge to push. We called Nancy immediately, and she stayed with us for the rest of the time. It became clear that Angus was definitely on his way.  Soon Nancy had Sarah panting in an effort to resist the overwhelming urge to push for as long as possible so that Dr. Mingea could get there in time to catch the baby.

When Dr. Mingea came in, Andy finally got to climb down off the bed and rest his arms. Sarah moved from hands and knees into a sidelying position. At 10:00 am, she pushed Angus out slowly and gently, with great control.

This was a lovely, calm, serene birth. Dr. Mingea and her team were always there if Sarah or Angus needed anything, but they were also happy to leave Sarah alone to create her own birth space and labor her own way. It was a delight to see how Sarah and Andy made their birth happen just how they hoped it would.

Sarah, Steph, Andy, and baby Angus, born 8/2/2010

Release: Immediate

Date: March 2, 2010

Contact: Get Babied! (661) DOULA-61

Meet the doula: the new must-have accessory for moms-to-be

Austin, (Texas) — Arriving at the hospital in labor can be an exciting but scary moment for many first-time parents.  Even though mom may have an excellent, trusting relationship with her doctor, the reality of modern hospital delivery is that the doctor is not called upon until the final throes of labor when the baby is about to be delivered.  That leaves the other 12-24 hours in the hands of the nurse that is assigned and with the ongoing shortage of nurses in most hospitals, patients end up sharing nurses with one or two other laboring mothers.  Instead of leaving the experience of childbirth to the fate of the quality of the nurse, a growing number of women are engaging outside help from doulas.

No doubt the new popularity of doulas owes something to celebrity endorsement. Nicole Kidman had a doula at the birth of her baby, Sunday Rose, last year. ‘I’d heard horror stories of 40 hours of labor,” she said, ”and I was sure that would be me, but I had a very easy labor” Nicole reported to Oprah when discussing the effect of a doula at her birth. Kelly Ripa had a doula.  So did Demi Moore, Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Garner and Ricki Lake. Doulas are the latest Hollywood “pregnancy essential” and moms all over Austin are following their lead.

Ricki Lake’s doula-assisted birth (ABC television)

Doulas are professional childbirth assistants who offer support and information to pregnant women in areas such as prenatal care, breast feeding, mother-infant bonding and postpartum care.   They also provide continuous emotional, physical, and information support to parents during labor and delivery.

Research indicates that mothers who used doulas during pregnancy are healthier, more satisfied with their birth experiences and more likely to breast feed.  Some studies even suggest that if all pregnant women used doulas, childbirth costs could be dramatically reduced, because women who use doulas tend to have shorter hospital stays and fewer complications, use less medication and are less likely to need caesarean sections.

The Get Babied! Doula Collective (www.getbabied.com), the first and only practice of its kind in Austin, takes the role of doula to a higher level of service and professionalism.  The four doulas in the collective share a 24/7 on-call rotation for assisting their clients in labor.  As soon as a mother goes in to labor, she calls the 24/7 on-call number, (661)DOULA-61, and the doula on-call for that day will be at the mother’s side within the hour.  Applying a traditional on-call concept to the practice of doula birth assistance ensures that Get Babied! doulas are well rested, and available any time of the day or night for their clients.  In addition to their unique on-call rotation they also offer many full service packaged childbirth experiences including pregnancy massage, childbirth and breastfeeding classes, lactation consultation, meal delivery, photography, pregnancy bookstore, prenatal and postpartum support, and monthly seminars on pregnancy and childbirth topics.  Get Babied! hosts a “Meet the Doulas” night the last Monday of each month where moms-to-be can meet and get to know the doulas in the collective and the various services Get Babied! provides to ensure a pampered pregnancy and blissful birth.

Get Babied! Doula Collective doula Stephanie Scott applying massage and counter-pressure to comfort her laboring client Manue Reynolds.