Birth Story

My labor started three days after my due date, at 4:30 in the morning. At first, the contractions felt like back cramps and were only about 30 minutes apart. Because I had studied the Bradley Method®, I knew not to get too excited. I went back to bed and slept several more hours, then when I woke up the contractions were about 30 minutes apart. I actually got dressed and went to work--and worked a full day!

During the day the contractions slowed down to about one an hour and stayed that way until late in the evening, when they narrowed to about 20 minutes apart. I went to bed and slept all night, and when I woke on Saturday morning the contractions were 10 minutes apart. Again, because we knew Bradley®, we didn't get excited. I did laundry, cleaned the house, and we invited friends over to play cards.

The contractions were in my low back and painful for a minute or so at a time, but between them I could still get around. It wasn't until 5 p.m., when I got in a hot shower, that things started moving. During the shower, the contractions got much more intense and closer together, and I had to have my husband help me to sit on the toilet facing the tank so he could put pressure on my low back. In the space of half an hour, my contractions went from 10 minutes apart to two minutes apart and were much more intense--I couldn't concentrate on anything else.

We drove to the hospital, and when I arrived at 7:15 p.m. my contractions were 1 minute apart, I was 5 cm. dilated and 100 percent effaced. Our doula met us at the hospital, and she helped me sit upright so my husband could put pressure on my low back during the contractions, which increased in intensity and duration for another two hours.

I began pushing at about 9:30 p.m., and at 10:17 our daughter was born. She weighed 7 pounds 9 oz. and was 19.7 inches long. Her Apgars were 9 and 9, which I attribute to the fact that it was a drug-free birth. She was placed on my chest and nursed immediately. I had no significant tearing and required only two tiny stitches. I actually got up and walked to the bathroom within 10 minutes of giving birth--and I would have walked from labor and delivery to my room with the baby had the hospital allowed it! It was a beautiful birth experience, thanks to the Bradley Method®!

For more information on The Bradley Method^®, for an international listing of instructors, or to contact the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth^® directly, please contact: The Bradley Method^®, Box 5224, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413-5224 - (800) 4-A-BIRTH or (818) 788-6662 - www.bradleybirth.com