Jan 21, 2022
Amanda had the shock of a lifetime when she unexpectedly found out she was pregnant. Being a nurse she chose to birth at a local hospital because that felt most comfortable for her. She did decide to switch OB’s at 30 weeks due to the lack of care. Her now husband was a railroad engineer and for him to be present they opted to be induced a day before her due date. Although all of her births were less than 8 hours she felt this birth was intense, full of verbal insults and threats. She felt traumatized specifically from an episiotomy that was done without consent. She knew she wanted to do it differently the next time and focused not just on the physical aspect of birth but her mental state as well. She found a midwife she fully trusted and decided to birth at her house instead of her own because her husband still wanted to be close to the hospital. Ten days after her expected due date her second baby boy was born in the most loving and magical environment at her midwifes home. For her third pregnancy her midwife had retired so she had to find a new one all while dealing with the complications of birthing during a pandemic. At the time of her third birth they were fostering 7 kittens, had two small kids, and she just felt like their home was too cramped. She knew she would need peace and quiet to focus on working through the birth process so she decided to again birth at her midwifes home. During her third birth she took things slow during the pushing phase and waited until the fetal ejection reflex took over. Her third son was born en caul within two hours of arriving at her midwives home.