Prodromal labor & home birth: Rebecca’s birth story

We have been so honored to share home birth stories. Every birth story is different and we have enjoyed all submitted stories. If you know someone who had a home birth in Mississippi, send them our way. We’d love to share their birth story. Our friend, Rebecca, is next up in our series of home birth stories and although she did not give birth in our state, we loved getting a glimpse of her midwifery care with a CPM (certified professional midwife).

“Hello! My name is Rebecca, and I gave birth at home 11 weeks ago. My birth was in TN, but since then we have moved to MS and I have been looking for my options for when the next one comes along and that is how I heard of Better Birth Mississippi. Now for my birth story...

When my husband and I found out we were pregnant, we started discussing our options. For both of us, having grown up around home birth, it seemed like the best option for us to have the natural birth we were hoping for. And so we began the search for a midwife. I called several and after talking to them I settled on my wonderful midwife Erin, who is a CPM (certified professional midwife). She was amazing, giving me natural solutions to the different things you encounter in pregnancy, and encouraging me that I could totally do it. When the pandemic hit, I was so grateful that I was already set for a home birth because that meant that I could have my husband there, my mom who is a certified doula, and my mother-in-law who is a nurse. 

Labor started for me on a Wednesday at 6 am, when I woke up having contractions. I powered through them, doing my last minute things. I wasn't sure if this was going to be actual labor yet (even though I was 41 weeks and 3 days) since I had some serious prodromal labor over the past week or two. My mom was there, helping me to find positions and exercises that would help move things along in the right way. But when there was not really any progress according to the timing of contractions, we sent her home to catch some rest. In the middle of the night we sent for both mothers and they came and were with us, just waiting on the birth. At about 8am on Thursday morning the midwife came to check on me, and when she did we were excited to discover that I was fully effaced and dilated!  We were just sure that the baby would be here any minute, but I still didn't have the urge to push. I labored on, still with weird timing on contractions. Mostly they were 5 minutes apart and lasted for a minute and a half. 

I had the option to labor in a birth pool and it was a lifesaver, helping my muscles to relax. At this point, my midwife, who had been very hands off and was letting me labor how I wanted to, said we needed to get things going. So she took me in to the bedroom and helped me try some different positions there, finally settling on a squat with my sweet husband supporting me. She had me push hard with a contraction, and she popped my amniotic sack. That's when things began to finally happen. I didn’t have the energy to sustain a squat for any longer, so she got a couple of pots from my kitchen and turned them upside down for me to sit on. Finally his head was born, but then my body stopped contractions and I was given a shot of pitocin to keep things going. In the midst of all of this, my mom is using a manual breast pump on me to try and help strengthen the contractions as well. I ended up having to birth the rest of my son without a contraction. But I was so thankful he was finally here.

When they say that you forget all the pain associated with labor the moment the child is laid in your arms, I think they are wrong. For me, when they laid this angry, red-faced little boy in my arms it is not that I forgot, but rather that it was worth it. 

I rested for a few moments, then the midwife began to massage my abdomen to help me birth the placenta. I knew it was a thing, but I did not expect it to feel like that! Apparently, I threatened to punch my midwife. I didn't know until after the fact, that the placenta is the same weight as baby, which is incredible. Then we got to lay there, my husband and I, and stare in wonder at our little boy as we enjoyed the golden hour while the birth team cleaned up. 

For me, labor ended up being 34 hours, but it was so worth it.

Thank you guys for the work you are doing to make midwifery better here in Mississippi! I don't know when my husband and I will be looking to have another, but we understand the importance of midwifery and we hope to have a home birth for the next one as well. So thank you.”