Last minute…spur of the moment…I was invited to assist a labor here in my hometown of Benicia. These first time parents had been in labor for hours; the hospital was encouraging them to stay home and “make more progress” before heading in to be admitted to Labor and Delivery. I had not met this couple, they had not been through McMoyler Method; when I arrived, the Dad was pacing in the kitchen, the Mom in labor was rocking back and forth on the toilet….what transpired over the next several hours was labor at it’s best:
- All Josh needed was to be invited in; once he was planted next to her, in her face, kissing and talking and coaxing her along…that was all he needed to begin making significant contributions to her coping
- Initially, Kylie, was heading into the ‘fear/tension/pain’ zone…all she needed was to be reassured that she was doing a great job, that the baby was coming, and that Josh had her every step of the way; that he would remind her, and encourage her and stay with her…
- They moaned, they rocked, and they knelt on the floor. The swayed, they rocked and they returned to sit on the toilet…for several hours they shifted in and out of reality as we know it…all the while the baby was moving down and labor was progressing
- This is the journey that the mind does not want to take; the body is willing, the mind is resisting. Engage the mind and love the woman…this helps labor progress
- When we moved them to the car, Kylie needed to kneel on the floor in the back so that she could keep her hips moving side to side, Josh stayed in her face and steadily reminded her to moan, that he loved her and that their baby was coming. They arrived at the hospital to be told that they were 10 centimeters…and proceeded to deliver a healthy baby girl!
When I arrived home, the boys’ took one look at me and said “Mom has been doing something that involves a baby…”
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