An Unmedicated Birth at Scripps Encinitas
Disclaimer: All names have been changed for anonymity.
OMG.
I am still in awe of this birth.
Allison and Xavier were repeat clients. I attended the birth of their first baby in 2019 and it, like this one, was an unmedicated birth at Scripps Encinitas. I was SO excited when they told me they were pregnant again and wanted to hire me that I was literally squealing in excitement.
due date.
When Allison initially reached out her due date was the 7th of the month. Her OB ended up changing it later to the 1st of the month and no one knew why. She said she was measuring a little ahead, but within a few weeks was back on track.
So everyone was scratching their heads wondering wtf happened.
In a turn of events, her primary OB ended up leaving the practice she was seeing. No heads up. No rescheduling. Just up and left. So Allison was scheduled with a new OB who upon their initial appointment together (at like 39 weeks) said she was totally fine with changing her due date back to the 7th and just keeping a close eye on her.
SWEET. It’s a good thing too since she went past the 14th (which would have originally been 42 weeks).
Allison reached out on the 16th to let me know they had scheduled her induction for the 21st, when she would be 41 weeks and 5 days. This was the longest she had been pregnant so far as her first came a little after 40 weeks.
But I reminded her that a lot can happen in 5 days. She went to acupuncture, had a chiropractic adjustment, and was working through lots of emotional hurdles that popped up.
early labor.
The morning of the 18th she texted about 9:30 am to let me know that she had been having contractions all morning about 7 minutes apart, only lasting about 30 seconds, with some bloody show, and losing her mucus plug (HEY NOW!).
At about 1:30 pm she texted me to say that they had bumped up to about 5 minutes apart but were still only 30 seconds long. And I reminded her that we want contractions at least a minute long to make any kind of real cervical change.
She texted me at 6:00 pm to say things were finally picking up! They were about 4 minutes apart now, lasting a minute, but that she hadn’t reached the hour long mark yet. After some back and forth in communication for a little while we both agreed that she would text me when they’re headed to the hospital after they put their little one down for bed at 7:30 pm.
Arrival.
I arrived at the hospital at around 9 pm. They let me know she was 3 cm dilated but that’s all the info they got. The contractions were there, but they weren’t all consuming. I could tell she was really stuck in her head, focusing on everything other than having a baby.
And I called her out on it. Because you need to be out of your thinking brain. We talked about all of her fears and anxieties. She was really nervous and just wanted to be at the hospital, so a lot of it was about reaffirming that she was in the hospital where she wanted to be. She was hooked up to the monitors and could hear how strong her baby’s heartbeat was.
Her husband was there. I was there. The nurses were there (albeit rarely in the room). And the doctors and OB’s were there when needed.
It was all about reminding her that she was safe and supported.
They did a vaginal exam again about 9:30 pm or so to see if she had progressed any. If she hadn’t they would send her home, if she had they were going to admit her. She was 4/4.5 cm dilated, 60-70% effaced, but baby was still fairly high in her pelvis at -1 to -2 station. But she wasn’t going anywhere.
And that seemed to be the thing she needed to hear. She could now focus on birthing her baby and let everything else go. Within 5 minutes of the nurse leaving the room she was in a hard active labor pattern.
a whirl wind.
From about 9:45 pm to almost midnight she was laboring hard. There were lots of moments of reminders to herself (with myself and her husband echoing) of “I can do this,” “I’ve done this before,” “It’s only a day.”
She was focused and in the zone, and just wanting to move her body. Between walking, counter pressure, the Captain Morgan position, toilet sitting, she was all over the room and listening to her body beautifully. She was doing exactly what she needed to do.
At about 11:50 pm a nurse asked if she wanted to be checked (we were all hearing some intense sounds at the top of the contraction so the nurse wanted to see where she was at). Allison agreed to it under one condition, that the nurse ONLY tell me and Xavier, and NOT her. She didn’t want to know.
At 12:00 am, she was checked and the nurse held up seven fingers to tell me how dilated she was. Xavier and I only said “awesome, progress! That’s what we want!”
12:02 am: The nurse left the room.
12:05 am: Allison had a contraction on the bed and began to involuntarily push. And I mean deep uncontrollable fetal ejection reflex push. I was shocked and confused. She was literally just checked 5 minutes prior and was 7 cm. I reminded her to breathe through her contractions and to send the energy down.
12:07 am: Another contraction with deep involuntary pushing. Struggling to breathe through it.
12:10 am: After another contraction, Allison sprints to the bathroom because she said she had to poop. I tried to keep reminding her that it was her baby’s head and not poop. The pressure was something we wanted! It was an awesome sign!!
12:11 am: Sitting on the toilet she begins to scream while pushing. I remind her to breathe through the contractions and I leave the bathroom to go to the hospital bed to push the nurse button. No one answers the call, Xavier tells me something happened so I run back to the bathroom to try and coax her in to getting up off the toilet. Her waters had released.
12:12 am: She continues to scream while pushing on the toilet. I run back to the other side of the hospital bed nurses button while telling Allison to get up from the toilet, we don’t want a toilet baby (if they slip they fall into water because someone doesn’t catch them they can aspirate the toilet water which is not something we want). And again I run to the bathroom to try and get her off the toilet.
12:13 am: Running back to the bed, I finally find the damn remote connected to the bedside and push the nurses button. The moment I hear a voice I’m yelling we need a nurse as Allison is ROARING in the bathroom, half stooped over, and Xavier is holding her up. As I’m walking back to the bathroom, a flood of 8 nurses and the midwife rush into the room. The midwife sternly tells Allison to walk to the bed.
12:14 am: After some back and forth of “I can’t do it” and “Yes you can” she very slowly makes her way to the bed as baby is crowning.
12:15 am: Allison crawls on to the bed on all fours (on her hands and knees) with Xavier at her head.
12:17 am: After one push baby’s head is born.
12:19 am: After two more pushes baby’s body is born (after some sticky shoulders).
holy fuck.
From 7 cm to baby in arms in 19 minutes. It was the craziest birth I’ve ever attended. And when I say craziest, I mean the most whirlwind, throw you for a loop, think on your toes, live giving, passion fueling birth.
Baby was 11 pounds 1 oz. Over ELEVEN POUNDS.
He seriously barreled down the birth canal. And I couldn’t have been more in awe of Allison and Xavier. She was seriously so fucking badass, so in tune with her body once she felt safe. And that is the perfect example of how IMPORTANT it is to feel safe when you’re in labor. How important it is for your birth space to feel comforting. YOU need to be able to forget about the outside world, and completely get out of your head.
Once Allison was able to do that, her body took over and did the damn thing.
And I couldn’t be more proud of them.