So, this one time at a birth…

Home birth gives you bunches of good stories. And, yes, we can find connections to these very vivid stories to the mundane life events. And, yes, we will dramatically reenact these stories anytime and anywhere.

I have one of those stories.

As the senior apprentice in our practice, I go to ALL of the births. It also means that I am actively catching babies and filling out tons of confusing paperwork (this paperwork comes from the NARM Portfolio Evaluation Progress). Catching babies definitely trumps the paperwork part. Catching babies is one of the most incredible things in the world. Gives me goosebumps every time. I also get the opportunity to meet, bond, and establish meaningful relationships with our clients.

All of our clients are great at expressing their appreciation for home birth and midwifery. Some are down right HI-lari-ous!

So, onto the story….

This one time at a birth. In a galaxy far, far away… well, actually just in a neighboring city, but I love that opening and am a huge geek.

This birth was lovely. The family was awesome (And just for clarification, they all are cause they choose us to give birth with at home). The mother trusted birth. She trusted her body. She felt loved and comforted by her husband and mother. And, she entrusted us with her care. She felt safe.

She worked hard during her labor. Even though this was her third baby, the baby’s position remained posterior throughout labor and birth. Posterior births are usually long; lots of prodromal labor. I have attended many posterior births, but this was my first posterior catch. This was a super cool experience, but not even the best part of this story.

The best part of the story was the next day. Postpartum visits are some of my favorites. You get to witness this new family in the glow of oxytocin. It just doesn’t get old. You can’t help but feed off the oxytocin and glow of home birth. And this mom was glowing more than any other mom! She was radiant and exuberantly complimenting her midwives. Her feedback to me, her compliments, and her joy made me feel like a “real” midwife. All this hardwork over the past four years felt vindicated by her simple words…

Yep. She said this to me. And, yep, as an apprentice, I took this as the epitome of compliments. 

I am still smiling thinking about this birth.