The Business of Being Born Message Board

After seeing the BOBB, I realize how much I missed having a hospital birth and how little I actually knew heading in there. I was two weeks overdue with my daughter, and the day I was supposed to be induced, my water broke. Not knowing any better, I headed directly to the hosptital and was hooked up to an IV and within an hour had an epidural. From there, it was hell. The epi slowed labor, so add the oxytocin. Pain pushed through the epi, so it was upped. This went on for 16 hours-I was then told, to wait two hours before pushing, because the dr on call had two “scheduled c-sections.” I spent most of my labor so drugged up or in a drug induced sleep. It was horrible. When they broke my bag of water, there was meconium (realize now how stressing it was on my daughter), so after two hours of pushing and an episotomy, she was born. I asked the dr, is it a boy or a girl and she said, “I think its a girl.” I had a 4th degree tear, about 30 stitches internal and external and the dr didnt know the sex of my baby. It was over two hours before I held my daughter for the first time and I didnt feel a connection. It took a while to work at a connection and breast feeding didnt work out, as I was diagnosed PPD a few days later.

I want to thank you so much for making this documentary. My husband and I had been discussing a midwife for when we have our second child and now there is no question about it. You’ve opened my eyes wide to the reality that is not a hospital-dr led fast birth but a birth that your body leads. Thank you Ricki and Abby. For everything.