My Birth Story by Y

In this, my third pregnancy, I decided I want to make a change.  I wanted a better birth and better preparation for it so that I can be as relaxed and free as possible and in so doing I believed that I would have an easier birth.

My previous births were also easy but still my inner feeling about the birth was fear of the unknown and apprehension about the pain, especially about the pushing stage. Therefore I went to a spiritual workshop for childbirth and I checked out all sorts of ideas regarding a birth assistant or doula.  The aim was that it would be someone that I would feel as comfortable as possible with, totally free from an emotional connection with her that could restrict me from being freed up and relaxed during the birth.  A friend told me of women who are in training to be doulas and take on births as part of their training.  She recommended that I search for one on the “Doula” site. A few hours before I started my search, Penny advertised her services, I got in touch with her and we arranged to meet.

From the start Penny seemed to be the person I had been looking for: relaxed, pleasant, and most importantly someone who wants to help me but not in a way that would be threatening to the midwives.  It was very important to me that the atmosphere would be pleasant and calm in the delivery room and I feared that bringing a doula would make the midwife feel threatened. Penny seemed, on one hand, to be a person that would not take control of the room and would know how to integrate herself. On the other hand she made the impression that she could gently make sure I got what I wanted, and could guide me as much as possible to a natural and easy birth. And, really, that’s exactly how it was.

After we met, I was at a workshop for spiritual preparation for childbirth. I told them there that now I have met Penny, I am ready to give birth!

The first contraction arrived at 4am.  A small contraction, and after that came another.  I woke my husband and told him that the contractions had begun but that he should continue to sleep because it wasn’t anything serious yet.  At 4:45am I woke him and said that in fact it was serious indeed, we got organised, I called my mother at 5:30am so she could come and be with the children and called Penny to tell her it had started and we were on our way to Jerusalem. (The travel time to Jerusalem is an hour, an hour and a quarter and so we had to leave quickly so there wouldn’t be surprises along the way…) I wasn’t sure regarding the strength of the contractions but we thought it would be good to be in Jerusalem and close to the hospital.

When we arrived in Jerusalem we decided to drive straight to the hospital because the contractions really did seem serious and frequent.  We arranged with Penny to meet her at the entrance to the hospital. Penny was waiting for me when we arrived.  I told her that I think I am not dilated that much and she reassured me that at most we would walk around the hospital a bit.  My husband went to park the car and Penny and I went into the hospital.  The contractions were about every minute (in my estimation) and Penny encouraged me to stop for each contraction and receive it with my breath and with movement. During each contraction Penny massaged and rubbed my back, which really helped and relieved me.

When we got to the reception area in the delivery ward it really helped me that Penny guided me not to be under pressure from the nurses there. She said I could ask to wait a moment with their requests and cope with each contraction until it passes.  The nurses were lovely and did wait a moment until my contraction passed before they hooked me up to the monitor and checked my dilation. Already from that moment I felt I was in control of the situation and not being handed over to the hospital and Penny helped me already with this first part. After the internal exam it was apparent that I was fully dilated and we literally ran, just as we were, the midwife, myself following behind her, then Penny and my husband to the delivery room. 

My husband put on some Reiki music on the disc player, which gave a peaceful atmosphere to the room (I didn’t notice at the time but everyone who came in apparently was very enthusiastic about the music).

I asked the midwife if there is any midwife around who is into natural childbirth.  She asked me how I wanted to give birth and I expressed my wish – to give birth standing up.  She immediately said the name of another midwife, called her and she came in. The first midwife stayed in the room to watch and learn how it is done. All this time during the birth Penny directed me quietly and reminded me to keep relaxed, how to breathe, strengthened and encouraged me that I am working well and that the baby is on its way.

I was sure that they would need to break my waters so that I would give birth, as they had done in previous births.  I even told the midwife that she should break my waters but it seems that because the birth was done standing and I felt the need to push, the midwife told me to push, I did and the water broke by itself!   With the next few pushes our wondrous baby girl simply came out.

The whole process from entering the reception area of the delivery ward to the actual delivery took half an hour…You could ask, as the midwife asked, what do you need a doula for, for such a short birth? But I think the birth was so short and easy because:

a)     Blessed be the Lord and his kindness to me – thank you!

b)     The knowledge that Penny would be with me helped me to let down all of the barriers, the tension and the fears and to come to the birth fully open to the birth, in all meanings of the words.

c)      The fact that Penny was a person that I did not know before and that our connection was created expressly for the aim of the birth helped me to be free and relaxed in the birth.

d)     The practical help during the birth that Penny gave me, the encouragement, the back massage, the guidance to relate to each contraction and dwell on it even during the time we were at the reception area as well as in the delivery room. (Because of this I was hardly attached to the monitor and I didn’t get up on the bed even once until the end of the birth).

To sum up, I had an amazing birth experience, I thank G-d first of all for this and also to Penny who helped me go through the birth in the way I had always dreamed it would be.

Penny – thank you!