I met Ashlee and Andrew for the first time via a 20 minute ZOOM call on her due date with her 2nd baby.
There were a lot of things at play in the universe that brought us together and I am so glad that it did.
During our interview Ashlee verified that I had a very robust doula bag full of tricks, asked what coping techniques I was trained in, because she wasn’t budging on an unmedicated birth.
While Ashlee had previously had a vaginal birth, arriving to the hospital well into active labor, it came with a lot of trauma. Many interventions and included a malfunctioning epidural which led to full body numbness that lasted into the beginning of her parenting journey. (Most people who have an epidural are capable of walking just a few hours after the birth of their baby)
While I have all of the tools she was hoping for, I knew this was going to have nothing to do with her body’s abilities. YOUR BRAIN WILL GIVE UP WAY BEFORE YOUR BODY EVER WILL. And while that’s true for almost every birthing person, it’s even more present when trauma exists.
Andrew also expressed feeling helpless and not knowing what to do the first time around and that he “sat back while the experts handled it”.
My goal for this family was clear: Help Ashlee feel safe and regain trust in her body; and help Andrew be an active and confident participant in the birth of their beautiful baby.
And it would all have to happen during the birth!
Ashlee’s labor would be short and intense, but calm and without incident. Andrew’s hands lovingly placed upon her body offering comfort and my voice reminding her of her strength, her ability and that she was safe.
Ashlee had a beautiful, unmedicated birth, healing birth. Bringing their amazing daughter, Aurora, earthside by allowing her body to control the process. The whole room welled up as Ashlee pulled her baby to her chest.
I later heard her nurse exclaim “I just saw the most rad birth!” And I was in full agreement 💕
Comments