Even though my first child was born 10 years prior, I felt like I was a first-time mom all over again. That birth happened at a women’s hospital in England, where care is primarily midwife-based. Although my first birth would be considered a breeze by many accounts, I didn’t enjoy being in a hospital – under fluorescent lights; people you don’t know walking in on you; constantly being checked; being made to feel like something’s wrong.

When I found out I was pregnant with my second child, and now living in DC, I researched my birth options with a bit… Continue reading →

It all started on a weekend. As a first time mom, I had been anxious and nervous about labor. Will I know when I am in actual labor? Will my water break at an inconvenient time and place? Will everything be ok with baby? Will I be pregnant forever? I tried to push those intrusive thoughts away as the weekend progressed. My estimated date of delivery was on Thursday and I was sure I was going to be very late. I had started to get period-like cramps that weekend and it kept happening more and more as Sunday came to… Continue reading →

Why we chose M.A.M.A.S.

I wanted to have a good birth, both for myself and for my baby. I knew this would be one of the most important parts of my life. From reading research about labor and delivery, I learned that the Caesarean section rate had climbed over the past decades—and that in the DMV area, hospital c-section rates often ranged 1 in 3 and even 1 in 2 birthing women. I realized that escalating interventions often led to unplanned c-sections. I wanted to avoid any unnecessary interventions. I decided I wanted to birth with certified nurse midwives because… Continue reading →

A VBAC story

The background:

Not knowing about MAMAS, my husband and I opted to receive prenatal and delivery services at a birth center when we were pregnant with our first baby. After 42 hours of back labor and endless vomiting, we finally transferred to the hospital, began interventions, and I eventually had a cesarean section. When we became pregnant with our second baby, we returned to the birth center with the understanding that our midwives would have to attend our delivery in a hospital setting given that we’d be attempting a VBAC. At 27 weeks, the birth center declared… Continue reading →

EVA’S VERSION:

My husband, Paul, and I were planning on having a home birth with MAMAS, and everything with my pregnancy was normal and healthy. But then, about a month before the due date, my feet started getting itchy. Like, really itchy. It was so bad I couldn’t sleep. One night, while not sleeping, and with cold packs wrapped around my feet for relief, I googled “itchy feet during pregnancy.”

Turns out, itchy feet is one of the only symptoms of a rare and serious condition called cholestasis of pregnancy in which the pregnancy hormones cause the mother’s liver and… Continue reading →

My VBAC Birth Story

After 6 months of trying to get pregnant, including one disappointing chemical pregnancy, I saw that beautiful pink line on the pregnancy test! I was pregnant, excited, and ready to begin my journey to a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean).

Side note: remember that fun trip to Vegas I took, full of spa time and boozing? Yeah, turns out I was pregnant then. I definitely worried for a while that I had poached my baby from my time in the hot tub.

The first notification went to the hubby. The next,… Continue reading →

Nora Katherine’s birth

The background:  I have been extremely fortunate to have had two healthy and uncomplicated out of hospital births with my previous children, something I never take for granted.  My first was at the now-closed Maternity Center birth center, and the second at home.  Both had been pretty quick, the first time arriving at the birth center a few minutes before the birth (after a 45 minute car ride in rush hour in labor- not fun at all!!), and the second born into my husband’s hands, before the midwife arrived.  There was never a… Continue reading →

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

The day began as normal: get up, go to an early morning health care visit, and then head to the office for a busy day. Although I felt fairly “normal”, a colleague commented on how I didn’t really look well—not myself. The 6:30 commute home was particularly long and arduous, and by the time I pulled up to my house, I had a deep throbbing pain in my gut, right at the diaphragm, up high between my ribs. My upper back ached as well, between my shoulder blades. I took some Tylenol for my back and… Continue reading →

As an experienced homebirth midwife, I thought I was pretty well prepared for my own labor and birth at home. I’d spent 4 years in intensive nursing and midwifery training, participated in over 200 out of hospital births, and even prepared for my own birth by taking a Birthing from Within course with my wife, Trisha. But what I learned after 2 days of early labor and 30 hours of active labor is that all the experience in the world was not enough to prepare me for the most intense and most wonderful experience of my life!

10 days after… Continue reading →

40 weeks, 6 days, Tuesday.  Matt and I are at the Shakespeare Company’s production of King Lear, starring Stacey Leach when I first start having contractions.  The show started at 7:30pm and by 8pm I’d started having contractions that were mildly annoying.  They continued on and off throughout the show and into the night but they didn’t progress into anything despite my big hopes to the contrary.  

41 weeks, 1 day, Wednesday.   We had a visit from the midwives for a non-stress test (NST) which showed that baby was happy and doing just… Continue reading →