My Birth Story
(written December 2011)
After having a C-section with my older brother three years before, my mother was determined to have a natural birth, or rather, a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) with me. The day her water broke when she was pregnant with me, she immediately went to the hospital with my grandmother (my father was not available at the time). After a series of examinations and check-ups, she expressed her wish of natural birth to the doctor, he responded with reassurance that she could indeed have a natural birth.
But a few hours later after examining the vaginal fluid, the doctor had noticed meconium (feces/waste that is stored in the infant’s bowels until after birth). Typically meconium is expelled from the infant after the first few hours or days after birth. The indication of meconium before birth must have caught the doctor’s attention and he immediately informed my mother that I had ate too much in the womb and “pooped” too early. He informed her the dangers of going into labor if I had already expelled the meconium from my system and into the womb. He said that I could potentially inhale the meconium during contractions and I would suffer and die. The only option, he said, was to have a cesarean.
With much reluctance, it seemed like my mother had no choice but to heed to the doctor’s precautions and follow his advice. My mother barely went into any sort of labor before she was taken to the operating room. And on July 6th, 1987 at approximately 2:30am, I was “born”. She says all she remembers was awaking to find me lying there and was shocked to see how tiny my eyes were and how much hair I had. After unsuccessful breastfeeding with my brother, my mother was thankful to be able to breastfeed with me.
Twenty-four years later, I find myself in a classroom full of midwifery students in Maine with the prospect of becoming a midwife. I asked them all, including the midwife instructor, if they had ever experienced deliveries where they have seen meconium. They said many times. They said indication of meconium is usually a sign of infant stress and typically happens with overdue babies. I briefly told them my birth story and many of them said it’s a common C-section procedure and that often times, with careful monitoring, the mother can still have a smooth natural birth. Though there is no doubt about the possible dangers of meconium being expelled before the infant is born as well as the dangers of performing a VBAC, I had discovered years later that there was a possibility my mother could have gotten her wish of a natural childbirth if only she had the information and the support she needed.
After having a C-section with my older brother three years before, my mother was determined to have a natural birth, or rather, a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) with me. The day her water broke when she was pregnant with me, she immediately went to the hospital with my grandmother (my father was not available at the time). After a series of examinations and check-ups, she expressed her wish of natural birth to the doctor, he responded with reassurance that she could indeed have a natural birth.
But a few hours later after examining the vaginal fluid, the doctor had noticed meconium (feces/waste that is stored in the infant’s bowels until after birth). Typically meconium is expelled from the infant after the first few hours or days after birth. The indication of meconium before birth must have caught the doctor’s attention and he immediately informed my mother that I had ate too much in the womb and “pooped” too early. He informed her the dangers of going into labor if I had already expelled the meconium from my system and into the womb. He said that I could potentially inhale the meconium during contractions and I would suffer and die. The only option, he said, was to have a cesarean.
With much reluctance, it seemed like my mother had no choice but to heed to the doctor’s precautions and follow his advice. My mother barely went into any sort of labor before she was taken to the operating room. And on July 6th, 1987 at approximately 2:30am, I was “born”. She says all she remembers was awaking to find me lying there and was shocked to see how tiny my eyes were and how much hair I had. After unsuccessful breastfeeding with my brother, my mother was thankful to be able to breastfeed with me.
Twenty-four years later, I find myself in a classroom full of midwifery students in Maine with the prospect of becoming a midwife. I asked them all, including the midwife instructor, if they had ever experienced deliveries where they have seen meconium. They said many times. They said indication of meconium is usually a sign of infant stress and typically happens with overdue babies. I briefly told them my birth story and many of them said it’s a common C-section procedure and that often times, with careful monitoring, the mother can still have a smooth natural birth. Though there is no doubt about the possible dangers of meconium being expelled before the infant is born as well as the dangers of performing a VBAC, I had discovered years later that there was a possibility my mother could have gotten her wish of a natural childbirth if only she had the information and the support she needed.
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