Anusha’s Natural Birth Story:
‘It all started when my care provider said “your placenta is low and you are going to have to be very careful”. I was just into the 3rd month of my first pregnancy and this left me more tensed than careful. The ‘tensed me’ did all kinds of investigating about the whole placenta theme- from the web, from those who knew about it and some of those who knew nothing about it. It was during such a random browsing session that I came across the name Birth Village. I asked few of my friends in Cochin about BV and one of them gave me a clear picture about it as two of her cousins already had their babies there. I read the birth stories in their site and was really inspired – Natural Birthing !!! Sounded like a good idea to me; but not to my husband. An appointment with the midwives instead of a gynac sounded rather strange. Yet I could easily convince him to pay a visit.
Our first visit to birth village- it was intermittently drizzling that morning and the damp air suddenly turned warm the moment we entered this beautiful house which didn’t look like something that is even remotely close to a labour room/hospital/clinic. There was this air of pristine calmness. Our meeting with our midwife was a big sigh for both of us, as she gave us more information about the mighty placenta problem. I was asked to be more active – which I liked. The part I didn’t like was the diet she put me on – no sweets, no junk, no chocolates.
From that day on there were a series of things that made us stay with BV. The amount of time they gave us, the information/ education they provided and so on. Each visit helped us learn something new.
Donna’s was a towering presence supporting us with the work out classes, breathing techniques etc. The work out classes increased my confidence and I started believing my body and listening to it.
BV let us take charge of our pregnancy unlike the hospitals where you sit and wonder what happens next. Even when there was an early pain in the 33rd week which was suspected to be a pre term labour sign, or when the 35th week scan showed a possibly overweight baby, we had complete peace of mind. Because by then we were sure these people really know what they do and they are the best.
Late at night, 30th December, I started feeling my contractions. We tried to stay calm and get some sleep through the night as we were told by the midwife when we rang her. Early the next morning, we decided to call again and say that we can’t really handle it anymore (by that time contractions were every 3 or 4 minutes and I can tell you it was solid). We didn’t know at the time that our midwives had just finished with another birth hardly two hours before my call. She just said “you come around, we will have u examined”. We reached BV at about 6.30 am., and were welcomed with a charming smile. She examined me and informed me that I was 8 -9 cm dilated – which made me really happy. Next, she asked me to take rest for some time. Once I was back with the energy booster food kanji and payar, we tried different positions and finally my water broke. Soon after, I tried various positions for pushing. I was super excited when I felt baby head crowning. In a few hours after reaching BV, our precious little gift arrived well in time for the New Year. It was Sreejith’s birthday, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Needless to say, the rapport that we had developed with our midwives made us go through the labour way more comfortably than we ever imagined. They gave me everything from confidence to coffee (p.s- i never before wanted a coffee that badly 😀 ).
In a nutshell, it was one hell of an experience that we will cherish our whole life. Thanks to the whole BV team.’