My labor began in the early morning hours of December 27, five days prior to my due date. I was very excited, but stayed calm and began to think of the things that we had learned in our Bradley^® class…keep moving around…business as usual…keep track of the contractions. My contractions were pretty strong from the very beginning so about three hours after they had begun, I called my husband at work to tell him that I was pretty sure that today was the day! All of the signs and signals of progressing labor that we had learned about in class started to take place, and I was completely calm through all of them since I knew what to expect.

My contractions continued to intensify and come closer and closer together so I felt the need to concentrate deeply on the relaxation techniques that we had learned in class. I let go of every muscle in my body, relaxed completely and visualized the baby making its way down the birth canal. My husband, Jim was the perfect Bradley^® coach and kept me focused and relaxed for the nine hours that we labored at home. It was hard work, but our intense desire to deliver a healthy baby without the need for drugs or medical intervention kept both of us motivated and focused.

Around 2:00pm I began to feel some pretty intense pressure, as if the baby’s head was ready to come out. Based on all of the signs, we decided that it was time to go to the hospital and Jim called our midwife to tell her we were on our way. When we arrived at the hospital Jim presented our birth plan to the nurses, and we were assured that it would be followed as closely as possible. Jim continued to coach me and tried to make me comfortable while he fielded all of the questions from the nurses so that I could stay focused. All of my concentration was aimed at relaxing through each contraction, and I barely knew what was going on around me in the hospital room.

Finally our midwife arrived and determined that I was only 2cm dilated! I was so sure that I was further along than that since the contractions were almost one on top of another at that point. She suggested a warm bath, and I agreed wholeheartedly…anything to get out of that hospital bed! The warm bath was so soothing and immediately progressed my labor! I immediately felt the need to push and, according to my midwife, I had progressed to 8cm dilation in about twenty minutes in the tub! However, my cervix wasn’t dilated enough to push yet, so she suggested relaxing through a few more contractions in the tub. I did the best I could not to push, but the urge was almost overwhelming!

Finally she decided that we should move to the bed and try to push there. What a relief to be able to push, and I found a renewed energy somewhere within! I pushed as hard as I could with every contraction and soon the baby’s head began to emerge. I saw her dark, wet hair in the mirror that gave me more motivation to keep pushing. After about thirty to forty minutes of pushing our beautiful baby girl was born!!

As per our birth plan, she was swaddled and put on my chest immediately where she began to nurse. It was the most unbelievable experience and was more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined. As my coach, my husband felt like such an important part of the whole process, and I couldn’t have done it without him.

Our labor and delivery nurse and our midwife were so impressed and complimentary about our baby’s birth, and my midwife later commented that the birth of our daughter reminded her of why she had become a midwife in the first place.

Thanks to the things we had learned in our Bradley^® class, we knew what to do, what to expect and what not to do in order to make our baby’s birth the miracle that it truly was. I think that one of the most important things that I learned in the Bradley^® class was to be sure that you have a midwife (or doctor) who understands what you want and do not want, and is willing to comply with your wishes. Not once during the course of our baby’s birth was I asked about anesthesia, drugs, episiotomies, etc. since my midwife knew ahead of time what my wishes were.

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