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An Empowered Birth

There is nothing more beautiful than the experience of giving birth. The female body and mind working together in perfect harmony. It is amazing how when you let the body do what nature intended everything seems to work.

My husband and I feel truly blessed by the birth of our first child. I have never felt more alive and empowered. My husband was utterly in awe of my strength and the entire birthing process. Moments after delivering our daughter I said I wanted to do it all again tomorrow. The nurses laughed, but I can honestly say that I loved the whole experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Natural childbirth. Did I even really know what that meant? No. Throughout my pregnancy I listened to other mothers' war stories about their birth experience, I read the books (The Baby Book by William and Martha Sears), took the childbirth classes, but no way could I fully comprehend what giving birth would be like. My oldest and closest friend, Lucy, gave birth to her daughter naturally, and she was my inspiration. She told me to forget all the horror stories and listen to my body. My body would know what to do when the time for labor came.

I found a midwife practice (The Physicians and Midwives Collaborative Practice) and their approach focused on pregnancy as a natural, normal state and nothing to fear. I immediately felt comfortable and treated my pregnancy as perfectly normal. I was not sick or a patient. I was just pregnant and lived my life exactly the same way -- eating the same foods, exercising regularly and acting like myself (with the exception of the pre-natal vitamins and no alcohol).

The practice referred me to a pre-natal yoga class (Moore Than Yoga) and it was this class that really gave me the tools for natural childbirth. We learned how to breathe deeply and to chant. The teacher was the only one chanting with gusto in the class, and she told us that we may feel uncomfortable now but that in labor we would indeed chant. I never thought that I would chant, but I kept it in the back of my mind just in case.

Those months of pre-natal yoga combined with the support of my friend, Lucy, and the midwife practice gave me the strength I needed to even consider natural childbirth. I knew that when the time came I would try to go all natural, but I would be realistic. What was my pain tolerance? What if I hit the wall and could not take it anymore? I had no idea what to expect but I knew that I could always get the epidural if I needed it (so the midwife kept reassuring me). After all, the goal of any labor is a healthy mom and baby and whatever happened, happened.

Labor came on so suddenly that I did not have time to think about what was happening (which was a good thing). Before I knew it I was chanting and rocking my way through each contraction. Jennifer Moore, the yoga teacher, had told us how chanting is a sonar massage and this kept running through my mind. Chanting helped me relax through each contraction -- allowing me to breathe deeply and ride each contraction like a wave. I did not tense up or get scared and this helped me relax and allow my body's natural endorphin pain killers to kick in. I also thought about my mother giving birth, my grandmother and great-grandmother, and these visions gave me great comfort and strength during the contractions.

Before I knew it I was in transition and it was time to push. The hours had flown by and day had turned to night. I was completely unaware of my surroundings and was so focused on my breathing and chanting. Staying focused helped me through the contractions. The whole experience was so peaceful and amazing. I had never felt more alive. I kept thinking about the tragic events of September 11th and how lucky I was to be alive and giving birth. I did not want anything to take away from the experience, and the pain made me feel truly present.

Labor was hard but not unbearable. I never hit the wall or said I cannot take it anymore. I knew the pain had a purpose, and each contraction brought me closer to the birth of our baby. With my husband's calm presence, the reassurance of the midwife and nurses, my friend's words of encouragement cheering me on, and the chanting and deep breathing tools I had learned, I was able to have a birth experience I could never have imagined would be so empowering, meaningful, and beautiful.

Diana Reynolds
December 3, 2001

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