Lincoln’s Home Birth Story
Photo by Michael Spain-Smith | White dress from Free People | Black dress from Nordstrom
Often times, when you go to the hospital it’s because you are unwell or injured, so why are we as women expected to give birth there? For me, I decided to take an unconventional approach to this societal norm we often see here in the U.S. My expectation of bringing life into this world would not be taking place in the typical white hospital room, stuck in bed hooked up to an I.V. and contraction monitors, debilitated. Life is so beautiful, why must we always interfere with modern medicine?
Women for decades have been told we need meds to give birth for the pain that will happen during birth. I personally think birth is beautiful, and if you are able to do a home birth, then go for it! If you need to be in the hospital for a medical reason, then do what is best for you.
Pain is unpleasant and to be expected with labor and birth, but through meditation and hypnosis, our bodies can overcome the sensory and emotional experience our body is going through.
First, we must acknowledge the pain as well as the purpose it serves: to act as a warning from our bodies to seek help. It is possible to completely train your mind to block off all thought of pain, changing your definition of what birth is. NOW, I know this is a moment where people will roll their eyes or say, “That is impossible.” This mindset is not easy and it is a full time job to make sure every time “pain” enters your thoughts you check in with yourself and change what you are focusing on.
I learned by working with a trained Doula that it also possible to control this focus on pain through hypnosis. As a 30 year old mother to a healthy, happy baby boy, I
can honestly say it worked for me and it can work for you. This practice included meditation as a huge part of the process. In order for this to work, I had to stay positive and not focus on ending up in a hospital if this went wrong or any other terrifying worst case scenario birth stories people like to share when you are expecting.
It’s not that I am not against hospitals, I just knew I had to trust my body and this process with as little intervention as possible— unless medically necessary to save my life.
The journey to hypnosis was something that I truly just naturally believed in, I studied Riki when I was 16, I had a strong understanding of the power of breathing and finding peace within your body. For those who may not know, hypnosis is a psychological state combined with physiological factors similar to sleep yet superficially transforms the individual, while still aware, from the normal conscious state.
The day of Lincoln’s birth, I awoke at 2am immediately telling my partner to call my Doula. He was hesitant because we were still two weeks away from the due date. I had a strong instinct that it was time and urged him to call just to be on the safe side. I knew in my head this was going to be the day. Our little angel was ready to come into the world. Although my Doula was not a hypnosis expert, she was an expert on how to make me feel comfortable throughout the different transitions between each stage of contractions.
During my contractions, I vomited and that is when she called my midwife and had me get into the hot tub. Shortly after, my partner joined me in the tub as a anchor of support. Unfortunately, Lincoln was positioned in such a way causing excruciating back labor. Back labor is when the baby face is facing the back inside of front of your body. AND IT HURTS!
I wanted desperately to have Lincoln in the water, but the amount of pain I was in was incredible. I was ready for birth—I practice meditation daily, how to check mybody out of what giving birth to my son was going to feel like, I listen closely to the positive words that the app “ Gentle Birth” while practicing all areas of my body, mind and spirit. I listened to my thoughts, I checked in with them every day to make sure the place I was about to enter was a safe place. I was NOT prepared for BACK LABOR!
There is a saying among Midwifes, “A home birth mom will always say she will want to go to the hospital right before actually giving birth.” That was me.
While my partner and I were sitting in the birth tub trying to decide wether to go the hospital or not. I told myself if I could stand and walk, I am going the hospital. The pain I was in came as a complete shock wave through my entire mind and spirit. I questioned everything and at that very moment, I was upset. My midwife helper, Shannon, had experience with Hypnosis Moms and knew what I needed in that moment. The rest of my birth team, including my Midwife and Doula stepped out of the room completely. As Shannon started counting, I finally was able to settle my mind down and accept the pain that was going through my body and trust the process knowing this was all going to be a part of Lincoln’s birth story.
As I continued to accept the pain, I managed to stand from the birth tub having dilated 8cm. I took two steps, put my hands down on the bed, and knew I was having our son here at our home. Within 15 minutes of pushing, I used my meditation and hypnosis practices to block out all of the back labor and labor as a whole and I was laid on my back with my head leaning on my partner shoulders. In that moment, my world went black. Every thing I knew about my life, everything I went through—all the good, the bad, happiness, sadness, and love was completely gone and when I open my eyes, I had my little Lincoln staring back at me. And the only thing I could think about saying to him was,
“Welcome Lincoln, welcome to this world.”