Exclusive: My birthing experience
By Fatima B Shah
Discussions are held many times on the question of childbirth and everyone has their own story to tell, though do these accurately describe the positive side of childbirth?
What people forget is that the pain of birth has a positive side, in hat it makes woman strong. Looking at the whole experience holistically, my midwife explained how those pains which make up the contractions are good signs that everything is going according to plan, and that even though they seem hard at the time, are soon forgotten once the child is born. Labor is labor of love and the hard work taken to produce a child and to bring it into the world is rewarded a million times over when you get to hold that child in your arms.
There is actually a positive side to chidbirth pain and women need to make each other aware of this. There are many women who are afraid to give birth after hearing these stories and many times leave decisions regarding their bodies in the hands of others. Take the power back
Positive perspective is only gained by preparation for that day that the birth is going to take place, and realistically approaching the pain as being a very temporary pain, which is soon forgotten after the birth of the child. What those people that discuss the pain of labor forget is that each individual has their own strengths, and scare others into believing that labor is too hard to bear and that the options available are better for them.
MY EXPERIENCE
After doing research and having a very bad experience with a woman gynae, who made me think that surely there is more to childbirth and pregnancy than this, I found a group of midwifes called Growth Spurt. They were extremely patient and helpful as I had 101 questions. They did advise me to have a back up gynae and recommended Dr. Boris Jivkov who was ‘’ midwife friendly’’.
Linkwood Hospital at the time was a birthing unit which allowed you to have the birth you wanted in a homely environment as well as having the peace of the mind that if things did not go as plan they had operating rooms and trained staff.
Unfortunately this is not the case today as they were taken over by Netcare.
Having a water birth was not I had intended. I wanted a natural birth without drugs. That was in my birth plan. I was going to use the water though as a pain reliever. The midwife mentioned that sometimes it is not always easy to get out of the water when you are in the throes of childbirth. After talking to my husband we decided to have the water birth. My contractions started at 5 am and I continued to dilate normally.
By 9am the midwives put me in the water by then I was 8cm dilated. Immediately I felt a sense of relieve. It also helped me to relax more. I liked the fact that my mom and husband was constantly encouraging me while rubbing my back and giving sips of Energade. An hour later our son was born. My husband and I were totally in awe of the whole process and the fact was that I was in control all the time.
I believe that woman should be given the choice on what kind of birth they want. I just love the whole holistic approach to birth as oppose to it being so clinical. We are also lucky now in Gauteng to have a birthing centre like Genesis where woman are given that choice. This centre was opened by clients of Growth Spurt when the thinking at Linkwood had changed and they gave preference to Caesars than natural births. Genesis is amazing facility and very homely.
Tips for Labour
1. Read and research everything that you can on the labour you are choosing whether waterbirth, elective ceasar etc. People are more relaxed when they know what it is coming.
2. Aquaint yourself with other options.
3. Be flexible when it comes to labour. Be prepared for the unexpected.
4. Pain is linked to stress and anxiety and it’s more intense when you are frightened.
5. Get someone whom you trust like a husband, mother and sister to be a birth partner. When you are in labour you need to trust the people you have chosen to help you. With them you can find ways of working with your body during contractions. Your body will then release endorphins (a natural morphine like hormone) to help you cope with the pain.
6. Co-operate to the fullest PUSH when you are instructed and PANT when you have to wait.
7. Stay calm between contractions, take small sips of water and refocus your energy into the next contraction.
8. With the right midwife, and confidence in the pre-birth classes, a woman can give birth naturally provided there are no medical reasons why not, and as a mother, my experience is something I would never wish to have taken away from me, even though the experience of labor was hard. What made the whole experience positive was seeing the end result and knowing that by natural childbirth, I had done all I could to bring a healthy and happy baby into the world.
A big thank you to Fatima for kindly sharing her experiences with us
