Some people think that a full moon helps to bring on labor, and some people think that rain brings on labor. I think it’s a little more complicated than that but, let me tell you, this week we had a massive supermoon that happened to be on the Spring Equinox and another spring rain and boy were midwives busy! Births are funny things, they have a way of humbling us every time. Just when I think I can rely on some things to stay relatively consistent a birth has other plans and nothing is what we think it will be. So I try to just be flexible in my assumptions and supportive of our clients and fellow midwives as we all discover what each birth holds for us next.
Today, a little brother was born at home surrounded by his parents, big sister and primary midwife who was also there for big sister’s birth. On the wall of their bedroom hung a tapestry that so perfectly captured what walking through birth is like. We start on the outside, closest to our normal lives, and move through each circle, each phase, getting closer to the actual baby’s arrival. Sometimes we move quickly through the circles, sometimes it’s slower. Each circle brings us further away from “normal life” and closer to the hyper focus of bringing a baby into the world. The birthing person feels these transitions most acutely but the whole birth team – partners, siblings, doulas, midwives – anyone who is there and involved walk through their own version of these transitions as well. We each have a story to tell of a baby’s birth and of our individual experiences during the labor.
Things I loved from these births this week:
*A nervous dad cradling his baby’s head as we waited for the body to be born.
*Two three year olds (different families) becoming proud older siblings and sharing their worlds with their new babies.
*A super smooth waterbirth, so smooth in fact that I missed the birth while I zipped in and out of traffic because pushing had snuck up on us all (don’t worry, the primary midwife made it minutes before the birth happened).
*A friend witnessing this smooth waterbirth and being in awe of her friend, of birth, of what our bodies are capable of … soaking in the birth high.
*All six parents from these three births really showing up and being fully present – I mean how many times in our daily lives do we reach that level of living in the moment?
*Working with my sister midwives while we hold space for these families to walk those circles of transitions, maintaining physical safety and protecting the emotional journey.
I can’t wait for more babies to come!