Induction

‘Visualise it like a white light flowing through your body to open you up and birth your baby’, said the Obstetrician as the Pitocin was started.

~

‘Please… stop this! I need a break… please…’ she pleaded to the midwives. The contractions were coming on one on top of the other, relentlessly. She planned for a homebirth with her first, however as baby remained in breech, she had a vaginal drug free birth at the hospital. She planned for a homebirth with her second, however as she had pre-eclampsia, induction was scheduled to bring on labor. The midwives asked me if she wanted pain relief instead. I could not bring myself to ask her because I knew the pain relief was for us, so that we did not need to watch her suffer. It was so hard to hold the space when warmed rice socks, massages and everything else was no longer working, and she was in so much pain that she was in a trance just having one wave crash on top of the other. Having been with her for her first pregnancy and birth, I knew it wasn’t her inability to cope with a drug free birth, in fact, she has a high pain threshold. It was the Pitocin yet what does one do between a rock and a hard place. Fortunately, she started progressing and not long after, birthed her baby without pain relief yet the journey to getting there was one hell of a ride.

~

She was a single mother going through this on her own. I have been there and I know the journey. It was not time to think about changing Drs, it was simply about doing anything to survive. So when her Obgyn scheduled her for an induction, there was no room for discussion yet she was determined to still have a birth without pain relief.

I was with her throughout the induction process, supporting her through her contractions, riding every wave with her. There were no complains as she took it all in her stride, one contraction at a time. When she was fully dilated, the midwives called her Obgyn and before he arrived, the midwives were preparing the vacuum to assist her delivery without even assessing to see if it was necessary.

So I asked her if she wanted to deliver her baby before her Obgyn arrives since it was clear that they were planning on assisting her. She nodded. I pulled out a trick from my book and guided her through it and her baby was born two steps before the Obgyn entered the room.

‘Since you are so good with pain, let’s suture you without local anesthetic’ her Obgyn said to her and her screams flooded down the hallway.