Birthing Better

Tomorrow I'm going home after one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of my life. This was the birth of our third baby and I wanted a positive experience for myself, my husband and our baby. IT WAS! I had done a lot of other mental and emotional preparation during my pregnancy because I had some issues about my other two births. After two 15 hour labors, my daughter was born in four hours and forty-five minutes from the first contraction to her birth. I absolutely KNOW this was because of the skills we learned and the fact I did not waste one contraction. After going through the pink kit we had such a clear understanding of the physical process and the skills to work with the most challenging stages of labor. I knew exactly where I was at every minute. This kept me focused, relaxed and feeling that I was 'equal' to the situation. As a result, transition was 20 minutes and second stage less that 15 minutes ... thanks to the internal work we had done together. I kept myself open the whole time. I wanted to encourage other families to get The Pink Kit Package. The skills are universal and will never go out of date because they are based on our human body. This meant my husband could easily learn and he really was able to help finally because we shared the same skills. I just want everyone to know that these skills made such a huge difference in a very special time in my life.

Recently I cared for Cindy who had a wonderful, powerful birth experience. I strongly feel without the skills she and her partner gained from working through The Pink Kit Package she won't have achieved a vaginal birth. I'm a hospital team midwife and when Cindy and David told me they wanted to use The PKP I was very enthusiastic. I like my clients to take a skills approach to their birth. Cindy's first birth had ended with an emergency Cesarean due to slow progress and a baby who didn't fully come into the pelvis. David expressed that he had felt unable to help in a useful way. As Cindy was using this resource late in pregnancy (35 weeks) she and David had lots to learn. They learned Directed Breathing skills, Deep Touch Relaxation, the Pelvic Clock and other wonderful ways to open her body. They learned to map her pelvis and where there was tightness in Cindy's pelvic joints and soft tissues of her vagina. Through this increased awareness Cindy became more self-aware and gained confidence that she hadn't had after her last birth. Cindy's labor took a while to establish but once it did her 10pound 6 oz baby boy with a 39cm head was born within 8 hours. Interestingly this baby was much bigger in weight and head size than her first and it had the same ridge of moulding as her first. Through using Kate's Cat and The Sacral Manoeuvre David and Cindy opened her pelvis where it was narrowest ... something we had identified through pelvic mapping. David was fantastic, providing physical, emotional and knowledgeable support and coaching. He knew he was useful! This birth experience was very positive for all of us involved and we're all sure that The Pink Kit was the most significant reason that led to a vaginal birth for Cindy. I can't say enough about the pleasure of working with such skilled families

Here is our birth story.

I was very determined to have a natural birth, I didn't want any drugs as I wanted to breast feed. Unfortunately I found out I had GBS and would need to be on antibiotics as soon as my water broke...I was heart broken but decided to not let it affect me. I kept in mind the verse Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." We had had a busy 2 weeks, trying to get the house ready, (couldn't before due to lack of finances). I was pushing myself, often working all day and evening with no breaks and I kept telling myself, on Sunday I could take a break and relax......so Saturday evening I snuggled into bed, dreaming about the wonderful day off I was about to have, where I could relax and catch up on some sleep. Unfortunately I kept waking up due to having to go pee a lot, in fact, I was pretty wet. I figured it was from the suppositories my natural doctor was having me take (to replace healthy bacteria in the vaginal canal)...but boy was I leaking a lot that night. Then at 7 am I had a bloody show so I phoned my mother in law to ask her about it. She said baby could come in the next few days so I was relieved. She wanted me to phone the hospital though to make sure they didn't want to check to see if my water had broke since I wasn't sure....well it had, which meant I had to stay at the hospital and my bag wasn't even packed yet! Since my water had broke already they wanted to start me on antibiotics right away so I had to drag an IV around the hospital for a while, then they induced me since baby couldn't be exposed for too long and my contractions were so small that I didn't really even clue in that they were contractions until they induced me and they got worse. To keep me upbeat I had my Christian hip hop playing while bouncing on the birthing ball. They had great lyrics like "stand soldier stand, I know you're feeling fatigued" which kept me happy and energized. Then when my active labour started I kicked the "moms" out and just had my husband and my good friend there. My husband and I had gone through The Pink Kit and boy did that help! My husband was an EXCELLENT coach! in fact, he was doing his job so well that he didn't think that I needed him that much and started getting into conversations with the nurse, asking her questions about the birth, etc until I had to say "help!" Then he understood that I was only making it look easy because of the job he was doing. My friend was great too! In fact the nurses all asked if she was a doula and she has never taken any training before. She would rub my feet and legs, could read me like a book and have things ready as if on cue. They made a great team! At one point, when the nurses switched out and then in again, the one nurse realized that the other nurse had left the inducing machine on even though my body had already taken over so I was having contraction upon contraction with no break in between which is hard not only on me but the uterus as well. They couldn't believe that I was ok and not needing any drugs. I just kept reciting the verse " I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" Phillipians 4:13 When I was pushing and just felt like I couldn't push any more (I was very dizzy and out of breath), during the rest period before the next push I sang a song to Jesus and then could push more. His hand was stuck beside his face so they had to cut me but he came out healthy and strong with a 9/9 rating. :) It was a great feeling as all of my family on both sides and friends were saying how I should take drugs, be open to it, etc, etc... By just sticking to my guns and trusting in my Saviour and using the skills we aquired through this site it was a very pleasent, joyful experience. I actually tell people I had fun :) The hard part was AFTER...which no one ever talks about....hemroids...yuck!

J! from Canada son Jamin Jace born 7lbs and 2.3