A COVID change in Birth Plans | Tampa Bay Home Birth Midwifery

In community midwifery we build our care around the relationships we grow with our clients. This is really what sets midwifery care apart from traditional obstetric care. With that being said, when clients want to transfer their care to us late in their pregnancy we are always hesitant. Typically we have full books and clients who have been with us for months to see to. Add a global pandemic to that and we are even MORE trepidatious about taking clients on late in the game. Are the clients choosing home birth for the right reasons? Is their decision making totally fear based? Are they aware of the intense catch up game we will need to play together to get them prepared for a 180 in change of plans? Sometimes the answer is a resounding Y E S! Divine intervention where we can both confidently say LETS DO THIS! This is one of those stories and we are so grateful- pandemic or not!

“I’d like to start by saying that I am so fortunate to have had the birth experience I did considering the circumstances. Having a home birth was not in the cards for me just three months before. I hadn’t even considered it - I didn’t think it was for me or that I would be able to do it. There was nothing wrong with the care I was receiving. If there’s one good thing that came out of the Coronavirus pandemic, it was the decision my husband and I made together to keep our baby safe. I was already planning on using Hypnobirthing to help me through labor, which promotes a non-medicated birth without intervention, when possible, so making the switch to a home birth ultimately made the most sense for us. We weren’t sure if we would even be able to find a midwifery that would take us on such short notice. I have to say it must’ve been fate that Barefoot Birth was just a few minutes from our house and that, when we called and met Charlie via FaceTime, they had only one opening left for May. And after we spoke with her, we knew that we just had to commit to protecting our daughter as best as we thought we could. In the end, it all fell into place just as it was supposed to and we are absolutely in love with our child. 

My due date was 5/13. It was a Wednesday. It came and went without a sign of labor. I woke up around 1 in the morning Thursday morning with some waves after using the bathroom. They were random and unorganized and I was able to sleep in between them. They seemed to fade a little throughout the day. I would experience stretches of feeling them every 15 mins or so then nothing. I decided to just keep things as normal as possible, getting plenty of rest. I did order some pineapple from Publix which may have made a difference but who knows for sure. We called our midwife on Thursday night just to let her know that something was going on but we weren’t exactly sure if it would turn into anything. She suggested I focus on rest, in between short activities. 

That night we went to bed and around 12:45 I woke up to more waves, stronger this time. I started timing them. Still coming and going with no consistent pattern and lasting anywhere from 1-2 mins. I had to wake up my husband for one because it was really powerful. I told him he may not be going to work the next morning. 

He left for work in the morning just to wrap up some loose ends. By the time he came home for lunch, the waves had spaced themselves out a bit. I remember at one point I was laying in bed and repeating to myself “my body thins and opens to ease my baby downward.” It helped me get through some of the stronger waves. I told him to go back to work and I’d call him if I needed him. 

I checked in with the midwife during the day and she suggested that it could be prodromal labor. Not false because it was still having some effect. She recommended I try to take a short walk, do the Miles Circuit, and possibly spinning babies if I could manage it. I listened to my hypnobirthing meditations as I worked through the Miles Circuit and an abbreviated spinning babies flow, and hoped they’d bring about labor. 

My husband came home for the day around 3:45. Things started to ramp up after that point. He positioned himself behind me through each and every surge and made sure to use light touch massage to keep me calm. We decided we would go on a short walk. We walked down one street where a neighbor asked excitedly “when’s the big day?” I looked at her as I shuffled down the street and coped with the wave and said “right now”. Her face was surprised and she comforted me by telling me it would be the best day of my life. We continued our walk down a second street. This walk route was familiar as i had walked it regularly with our dog almost every day and sometimes twice a day in my final weeks of pregnancy. We passed by a house that normally would have a family of parents and two young girls outside of it. Today, the yard was empty with the exception of a sign that read “Happy Birthday Aurora”. I got my husbands attention and pointed to it. We were both in shock. Aurora was the name of our baby girl. We knew it was too coincidental to not mean something. 

We got back home and looked up some places to order in. It was our Friday Night Quarantine tradition to order UberEats on Friday nights so we didn’t want tonight to be any different. We got steaks from outback. I sat on my birthing ball while we tried to keep things normal, watching something random on Hulu, enjoying our meal. I wasn’t able to finish the whole thing because my contractions started to get much stronger. I had been timing them since the late afternoon. I remember them feeling like really strong menstrual cramps that really did feel like a wave that washed over me. It would start in my back and in my low hips, then rise up in intensity into my abdomen and then subside. I would moan through them. my back was pretty tense the entire time which made me worry that I was experiencing some sort of back labor. We called the midwife at 9:30 to let her know what we had managed to get done throughout the day. My waves had not conformed to any particular pattern so we agreed the plan would be to drink some magnesium, take some Benadryl, and go to bed. If she didn’t hear from me that night, we would touch base in the morning. 

We laid down and the waves immediately increased in frequency and intensity. I found a spot on my couch where I was able to bend over and lay my upper body and rest on my knees. My husband knelt behind me, massaging my back and breathing through the waves with me. The next hour, the waves were starting to conform to the 5/4-1-1 pattern. We called the midwife around 10:30 and she arrived at 11:30. Right before she got there, my mucus plug had released and there was some blood in my underwear to which I felt so much relief because now I knew for sure this was the real thing. She checked my vitals and I slowly positioned myself for a vaginal check. In the back of my mind I really had been doubting myself that I’d be able to really go through with this at home and if I wasn’t far enough dilated, I’d have to be transported to the hospital. She checked and calmly mentioned I was probably 8cm dilated and she could feel my bag of waters. I cried with relief. I knew I would get to see my baby so soon. 

At that point she recommended we fill up the tub and prepare to hop in. I walked to the toilet because I felt like I needed to pee. I sat down and immediately felt the urge to push. I screamed it out loud and my husbands eyes almost popped out of his head. 

I got into the tub on my hands and knees and started to push. I remember pushing my knees out against the tub, squeezing my husband wherever I could latch on to him, and feeling the midwife push down on my hips to keep them in the water. The light was warm and we had some music playing in the background. 

After trying to push a few times in this position, my midwife suggested I flip over and put my knees up. I had one foot against the faucet and she held up the other as I tried to just let my body take over. I remember my husband holding on to me and breathing with me in order to keep me focused. My midwife had to give me some direction on breathing and pushing as I was starting to get tired and I wanted to make the most of every push. I started visualizing my J breath from hypnobirthing and would hold on to the energy just longer than I could bare. I was full on primal yelling at this point. I could feel my baby as she made her way down the birth canal, closer and closer to crowning. 

I could feel the dreaded ring of Fire and knew the end was near. It honestly wasn’t that bad . Nothing worse than what I had already been experiencing - just a new sensation. Once she crowned my midwife told me I could reach down and feel her. Her head felt squishy and soft but I didn’t even notice that she had hair on her head. 

After a few more pushes her head was completely birthed and I remember my midwife coaching me through what would happen next - I started to feel my baby twist and maneuver her shoulders to slip out. My midwife reached down only to break my bag of waters which was still intact and move the cord. I reached down and grabbed my baby and immediately placed her on my chest. Her eyes were wide open and her tongue was sticking out at me. The first and only words I could say to her were “I love you so much”. The time was 1:24am. 

We stayed in the tub just soaking in the moment while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and for the placenta to be birthed. Rory latched pretty immediately in the tub. My husband cut the cord and got to spend some time with the baby while I got cleaned up and got in the shower. He jokes that she tried to latch on to him too. 

The midwives checked me for any major tearing which they said I only had a first degree tear of the perineum and that I ultimately wouldn’t need stitches. 

We got settled in bed and chatted with the midwives for a little bit. They wanted to make sure we had the hang of breastfeeding and didn’t need anything else. They were so kind and told me that I made the whole thing look so easy and that I did such an amazing job, especially for a first time mom, and late transfer who was not considering a home birth at all until we were in the midst of this quarantine. 

I know this experience has brought me and my husband so much closer too. We were already close to begin with but I am just so much more in love with him and am so grateful he is my partner in raising this child. I know he will father Aurora like no other. Having a home birth has made me feel like I’ve leveled up in life. I trusted my baby and my body to do what they were made to do and they took care of me. There is nothing that could bring me more joy or happiness than my baby in my arms right where she’s supposed to be. 

I cannot thank Bennett and Erica enough for their support for the few weeks we had together and during my labor. It didn’t seem to matter whether I had been a patient with them for my entire pregnancy or not. I felt as though they were there to make sure my delivery was as safe, smooth, and as natural as possible. I know my next baby will absolutely be a home birth and with their help, I know I can do it!”