My story with birth village began almost 2.5 yrs back when Priyanka came to my workplace for an awareness session. At the time i was just married and not thinking about having a child. But as a person allergic to almost all common pain killers and a bunch of other medicines, I was always worried about this event happening in life. I din’t know how to manage the pain if I had to go through a c-sec. And avoiding unnecessary medicines were a requirement for me. So decided to just hear out the session and explore the possibilities. I must say, I was impressed. She knew exactly what she was talking about. There was no beating around the bush and no false hopes. She told clearly how birth is a psychological and social event rather than a mere physical event and how each and every thing we do or feel affects the birth of our child. She also talked about how BV helps the mother prepare herself for birth and how things are going to be in our control rather than a third person.
When I conceived, we were very clear on whom we wanted as our care provider. As soon as I reached 15th week, we called birth Village and scheduled our first appointment. The phase two of our journey started there.
In the first appointment I mentioned about having tonnes of supplements She suggested to have more iron rich diet, this changed a lot how my day went. Me and my husband went for every appointment together and attended every Lamaze together as suggested by BV. We went for workouts and couple workouts which used to fill some magical energy inside both of us and helped us feel that we can do this. Donna’s energy during each workout kept us motivated and focused. We were very much happy with how everything was discussed with us and our decision was important. By the end of each Lamaze class we both knew so much about pregnancy and birth, which we would have never known otherwise.
Everything was moving well and smooth, but suddenly something unfortunate happened in my family and drained all the positive energy from me . I should mention the special mental support My midwives gave me at this time. I went into a zone of doubts and fears and it was clearly visible in my appointments. They talked me through it step by step and gave me the strength to face it and kept reminding me how my mental well being is the most important thing for the lil life growing inside of me. For every small doubt I had, she would call me and explain the details and support me thoroughly.I finally overcame the grief with the incredible support from them and my husband.
Everything moved well from that moment. I continued to work till my 38th week. I crossed my expected due date without even feeling so much as a pinch. In my appointment at 39th week, Donna had confidently told me I could go upto a week over my due date and it was fine as things were moving as expected.
Finally at 40 weeks and 3 days, as we were driving home after a enjoyable drumming circle event at BV. I started feeling mild contractions, but I dismissed them as my ‘feeling’ as I was in total disbelief that it had started. Throughout the night I felt the contractions which reached 10 min apart for 40-45 secs. I thought ‘ok this is it’ but wanted to wait for interval to reduce further and I decided to try and sleep. By 6.30 in the morning I dozed off and I woke up at 8am only to find that my contractions were gone.. I was not feeling any pain anymore, but jus some minor discomfort at large,irregular intervals. I decided to message My midwives and check anyways .She said it was completely normal and my body was preparing for labour.
That evening we were in the mood for a drive and me and my hubby decided to go on a drive by 6.30. Midway through our calm drive, the discomfort got intense and changed to contractions and climbed to 15 min interval- 40 sec contraction in no time.
We reached back home in half an hour and called up Our midwife . She told to wait till the contractions were 7 minutes apart and call her back. I called her back in another hour and she asked us to start to BV. We reached BV in another hour. Our midwives was already there, welcoming me with a smile, asking me how I was feeling at the moment.
She took my permission before a vaginal exam and assured me it wudnt hurt… As promised, it did not hurt at all. I was six cm dilated. She asked me to take half an hour to walk around and climb the stairs a few times, which I did. This made my contractions more intense. We started trying different positions and both my midwives were there, waiting patiently through each contraction. Helping me through the pain, asking me how each one felt. They kept moving me around, suggesting different positions and holding my hands through the pain.
After almost 4 hours , They told me to push harder and push down. She understood that I was stopping the pushing midway and kept asking me to go all the way down, same time not forcing me to do something I cannot. When each contraction passed, she told me how well I was doing and that kept me confident that I could do this. I have to say that at some point of other I doubted myself and it was my husband and My midwives who kept me going with their words and confidence.
Finally by early morning 4.35 am, my little girl slid all the way down and in one final push, she was out.
I was so happy I chose BV, when my lil angel was given in my hand the moment she was born. As soon as she was out my excited husband asked “boy or gal”” and My midwife said ” see urself”. That moment was priceless for us. She was on my skin for two hours and then she latched on with perfect ease. She was happy and healthy and so were we.
After giving me sufficient rest, my midwives talked to me for some time, making sure I was ok.
The bond we had with the midwives was the most helpful thing throughout my pregnancy. It never felt like I have to think twice before asking a silly question. It was not just my physical well being that concerned them. They also made sure I was emotionally well and prepared. The various activities and Lamaze classes were all stepping stones to the final day. I cannot thank BV and My midwives enough
Also special thanks to each and every member in BV. Special Thanks to Bincy took care of me was waited on me whole day while I was resting.
Thanks a lot BV for making me special day even more special.
Bv notes
This mamma would often discuss about pain in labor and how she would handle it , she completly took a turnaround when she was super calm went mall through all her early stages of labor
Her husband a soft spoken man was the perfect labor companion as he knew what works best for her and was supportive from A to Z
She was able to open her darkest fears and able to let go and in the process emerged victorious herself .
Well done and congrats !