Ep 311: 11-Pound Baby, 3-Hour Labor: Leah’s Powerful Home Birth Story

Speaker 2 (00:00.236)

What happens when your baby weighs 11 pounds and your labor is just three and a half hours? Leah joins me to share her incredible planned home birth story. And trust me, it's one you want to hear. From a fast, intense labor to navigating insurance challenges, postpartum planning, and being poked in the eye by a toddler mid contraction, this story is full of insight, humor, and empowerment. Listen up.

for a story that reminds us just how powerful and intuitive birth can be.

Speaker 2 (00:39.256)

Welcome to the Birth with Power podcast where knowledge is power and power transforms birth. I'm Dr. Nicole Callaway-Rankins, mom of two and practicing board certified OB-GYN with over 20 years of experience and nearly 2000 births attended. I've seen firsthand how the hospital system can leave women feeling unheard and uncertain, but that doesn't have to be your story.

Here, you'll get the knowledge, support, and strategies to take charge of your birth experience so you can walk into the hospital feeling calm, confident, and empowered. Note, this podcast is for educational purposes only and it's not a substitute for medical advice. See the full disclaimer at drnaclomeragins.com forward slash disclaimer. Now let's get to it.

Hello there, welcome to another episode of the podcast. This is episode number 311. Whether this is your first time listening or you've been here before, I am so glad you're spending some time with me today. I am thrilled to share a birth story that honestly should have been aired a while ago in the shuffle of life the files got misplaced, but I'm so glad they've been found because Leah's story is one that really needs to be heard.

Now, I don't typically feature a lot of home birth stories on the podcast, but I do think it's important to give you a sense of what planned home birth can be like. It may not be the right choice for you and very well may not even be on your radar, especially since I talk a lot about hospital birth, but understanding the full range of options, especially when it comes to supportive low intervention care is a key part of feeling empowered in your birth journey.

Leah lives in central Massachusetts with her husband, their two daughters, and their cat. She works as a content writer and marketer for an educational book publisher. She's currently pursuing her childbirth educator certification. Actually, by the time this is aired, she may already have it, to help empower expecting parents with knowledge and tools to have the best births possible. When she's not chasing after her kiddos or nerding out about birth, you can find her sewing, baking, or exploring New England.

Speaker 2 (02:49.206)

In this episode, Leah shares the story of her second birth, a planned home birth after a positive but impersonal hospital birth with her first. We chat about how she planned her home birth, the hurdles she faced with insurance, how she prepared mentally and physically, and why investing in a postpartum doula and a psychiatrist before giving birth made all the difference for her. This is a fast.

powerful birth story and you won't want to miss it.

Speaker 2 (03:26.158)

Thank so much, Leah, for agreeing to come onto the podcast. I'm really excited to have you share your birth story today about your home birth.

I'm excited to share too. It's like it's a really fun story to tell.

Yeah, it sounds like it. And why don't we start off by having you tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

Sure, yeah. So I live in Massachusetts right now, but I was living in Vermont when I had my babies. So I live with my husband, Atlas, and our two daughters, Louisa and Violet, they're five and two. So the birth I'll be talking to you about today, was about, she was born in May, 2022. Oh, thank you.

All right. I love those names. Yeah. Yeah. So in your case, your first birth was a hospital birth. So I'm curious about if you can just kind of give us a summary of what happened, good and bad with your hospital birth and then what made you decide to pursue a planned home birth the next time.

Speaker 1 (04:24.046)

Sure. Yeah, so I would say overall it was a positive birth experience. I decided to go with midwives in a hospital setting. So the team of midwives, about seven midwives, so they were CNM, they were certified professional, or sorry, midwives. And I had always been interested in the idea of a home birth, but we lived in an apartment, like a one bedroom apartment, and it just didn't seem feasible, and it just felt like too much to do with a first birth. Gotcha. So I decided to do like the best of both worlds and kind of.

Let's do it in the middle there. And so it was a fairly fast birth with her. It's about eight hours long. Okay. And she was late and she was big. So she was nine days late and she was nine pounds, 11 ounces. Gotcha. And I wasn't surprised about either of those. My mom had all three babies at 41 plus weeks. Okay. And we were all big babies. was 10 and a half pounds. I was not surprised by any of that.

later on six one and i can't tell from the video but

Right, right, so you just grow big babies.

Exactly, we big babies here. And it was an unmedicated birth. I went in the tub to labor, but it was like one of those like fitted tubs that you get, like a bath fitter tub in the hospital. And I was like, you want me to go in there? So it wasn't exactly what I imagined for like laboring in the tub. then when I was ready to push, they just kind of had me sit in the normal position, you know, on my back and grabbing my feet.

Speaker 2 (05:41.577)

gotcha.

Speaker 1 (05:55.528)

So, and it all went fine. I did have some tearing, but the immediate postpartum was where I was kind of like, whatever else the hospital is like the right place for me, just with the number of different people that came in the room and the number of different opinions about breastfeeding, especially. I had a hard time breastfeeding my first, and it would be like every hour there'd be a new person and they'd have something new to tell me and it was like overwhelming.

Got it. Okay. Okay. So there was nothing like that was terrible. Do you ever felt like you were mistreated or anything like that?

No, I just thought I could do better. And it's funny because my husband, he was like, well, if any broke, don't fix it. Let's do the same exact thing. But we had actually moved farther away from the hospital. And I hear that your second birth is shorter than your first birth. I was like, well, it's shorter than eight hours. I don't want to give birth in the car, you know, on the of the road. know, spoiler alert, my birth was

three and a half hours long. I'm like, I don't know if I could have made it.

Right, right, right. okay. So you got pregnant the next time and that time you said, let's see about planned home birth, is that right?

Speaker 1 (07:12.726)

Yeah, basically I had been looking into home births or home birth midwives in my area in the years between, which was like COVID time. So my first was born in 2019 and we decided we're like not going to have a COVID baby if we can help. And so I had already really found who I wanted before I was pregnant. And so the day I found out was pregnant, was like emailing her like, my gosh, can you meet with me?

Right.

Speaker 2 (07:38.893)

Okay.

And I decided to go with Vitality Home Birth there in central Vermont. And it was just really from Googling, like Home Birth Midwives, near me. And I loved her website. then I met her, like, was Zoom. I met with her in, this was September 2021. And she just checked all the boxes. She also had on her website that she had taken the Health at Every Size Pledge. you've heard of that, just to, and that was important to me because I am like,

technically, you know, having an obese BMI and I was just like, I don't want this to make me high risk if you like, wanted it to be, I wanted to make sure like, I have a low risk home birth, you know, and so she really checked all the boxes for me in that initial meeting. then it got a little complicated because my insurance wouldn't cover a home birth.

Right.

Speaker 2 (08:28.969)

on. Okay.

Speaker 2 (08:36.156)

Yeah, and so I was like, darn it, like, I don't have this money up, like, on cash on hand. so, but I was also trying to find a new job at the same time. Like, for anyone out there who tries to find a job while you're pregnant, it's challenging, right? To read through the lines and find out like their maternity leave policies and things like that, and their insuring. So a lot of my first trimester,

Yep.

Speaker 1 (09:05.132)

was trying to find a new job, not just for the home birth, of course, just to get and get settled before I was going on leave. You know, I had a deadline basically was like, if I don't find a job by 30 weeks, I'm just staying, you know? And so I did find a job and really like it was just crazy because that was the first thing I was doing was, you know.

All right.

Speaker 1 (09:29.07)

Blue Cross Blue Shield home birth coverage. Like calling people and be like, do you cover? And they're like, are you even employed yet? did you have a picture? I'm like, they're like, what's your ID number? I'm like, I don't know. But like, hypothetically. So, you know, long story short, good luck was that they did cover the home birth. And so in that meantime, between September and January, I went back to my old midwives. I was like, fine, I'll just do the hospital birth with the midwives. And knowing what was

Right, right.

Speaker 1 (09:59.18)

what could be different, like that level of care you get with Homebrook MidWide, the hour long appointments, and it just really feels like she knew who I was. I was not getting that from those, the CNM, the appointments, know, they were 15 minutes long, they'd weigh me, they'd say, how are you feeling? Good, okay, carry on, you know, which I've never actually seen in OB-GYN, but you know, I imagine kind of similar. And

I was like, don't know if I want this, but like, it's good enough. And I was busy trying to find a new job, I wasn't complaining. Gotcha. Yeah, yeah. But so I was really excited when I could eventually switch to the home birth midwife. Another thing that really was kind of a final straw for me was that they said my daughter, my older daughter couldn't visit me at the hospital. So this was 2022. So it was still a COVID policy. And I was, we were in Vermont. We don't have any family in Vermont. I was like, I was going to watch her.

you know, overnight if my husband gonna have to go home. Like it was just like, it just upset me that day. And so I was like, now we can have her at home and it'll be fine.

Okay, all right, all right. So then how far along were you when you switched to the home birth?

Speaker 1 (11:15.054)

It was pretty late. was in, I was just in my third trimester, I think. okay.

Wow. Okay. Okay. And did she have any reservations about you switching that late?

No, she, since we already had started our relationship, she knew the basics there and it was, yeah, it wasn't really an issue. We had already talked about my birth plans, like a while out of a birth. And my husband had warmed up to the idea, especially when he met her in person. since we have an older, since we had a toddler, I was the only one going to the appointment. And, but then later in the trimester, I think it was 30.

six weeks, 30-something weeks. She and her assistant midwife, and my doula actually, I'll talk more about that, but they came to our house to see the lay of the land, like how is this going down? And my husband saw them and he was like, okay, yeah, they know what they're doing. And they kind of answered his questions about emergency equipment they have. So they have oxygen, have iodine fluids, they have resuscitation equipment.

Okay.

Speaker 1 (12:27.118)

So he was like, all right. And we were farther from the hospital, but we're still way 35 minutes. So in an emergency, was our plan. Just go to hospital.

Gotcha, gotcha. then, so this was a CPM, a certified professional midwife.

Yes, that's right. she has an assistant midwife. So Allison was my main wife and Heidi was her assistant. And they both had so many births under their belt. And so I really just trusted that they knew what they were doing.

Gotcha, okay. So then what was your prenatal care like with them and then how did it compare to the care you had before?

Yeah, it was just so caring and welcoming. I would go to her office and it was just a cozy space and we would talk about everything, you know, depending on really how nervous I was feeling or what I was focused on that week about my symptoms then or the birth logistics and postpartum care and just really anything I could think of.

Speaker 1 (13:39.668)

And she would do the exam, you know, she would kind of do the normal stuff like measuring my belly, checking my heartbeat, checking my vitals. One nice thing was she didn't weigh me. That was something that I asked, hey, is it possible if you don't weigh me? because that's, in my history, it's just, I wouldn't call it triggering, but it's just difficult to get weighed, especially when you're pregnant, when you're just trying to focus on growing a baby.

Right.

So that was nice that it wasn't a worry that I had going into those appointments.

Okay. And I should ask, did the midwives in the hospital ever make a big deal about your weight or any implications about that for your care?

It was never an issue that they brought up. Which I'm glad about. But there was a few times where I would hop on the scale and I'd turn around, do my thing and just ignore it and they would say the way out loud and I'd like, I should rate the route, I'd jump.

Speaker 2 (14:48.044)

Gotcha, gotcha. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

And I'm otherwise, if you will, healthy, you know, and had already had a successful birth of a large baby. And so that was nice to have that like evidence of like, hey, I did it before.

Exactly, Okay, so then what did you do to prepare for your birth if anything if you felt like you needed to do anything?

Yeah, well, it's funny that the first time around I was doing all the things, know, prenatal yoga and like stretches and movements and trying to do relaxation exercises. The second time I had a toddler. Like, darn it, I'm already in my third trimester. Right. But I did some of those things. I got the book with my first pregnancy called Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. And I never took a Bradley Method class or anything, but

Okay.

Speaker 1 (15:43.022)

I loved that book because it really explained exactly what was going on in labor. Like, your uterus is a muscle and it's like, like skin muscle and here are the stages of labor not by, like, yes, by what's going on in your body, but also like mentally, like how you're feeling. And so I kind of just relearned all that stuff about, okay, if I feel like I can't do it anymore, this might be transition, you like, don't worry, fine, the baby's coming.

I said.

And that was really helpful. I re-read that and I did do some of the relaxation exercises they have in the book where you're trying to release all tension and just it's not the same I've heard. It's different from like hypno babies, that kind of thing where you're focusing on like an image in your mind. You're trying to just release every muscle in your whole body. It's totally limp. So I did practice that some in my pregnancy.

Okay, all right. And then what are some things that you wanted for your birth?

I had for both birth, I wanted it to be, I'd say low intervention. I have listened to tons of birth stories on the Birth Hour podcast. I know your podcast, you have made birth stories. So I just knew that like learning as much as I could about birth would really help me. I feel like knowledge is power. Some people maybe are like, don't tell, like I don't want to know.

Speaker 2 (16:57.966)

and

Speaker 2 (17:12.416)

Knowledge is power, right? Okay, so really just low intervention. Obviously you wanted to be at home. Was there anything that you were afraid about giving birth at home?

I would say I was just more afraid that I wouldn't get to do it. I wasn't really thinking about if I'd have to transfer to the hospital because I figured if that happened, that happens. I was more thinking as the days went on and my baby was measuring large and I would go to the hospital and they would do the ultrasound at 32 weeks, 36 weeks and they're like, your baby's really big. so I was just afraid that at some point my

home birth midwife would say like, sorry, you got to induce you, you know, your baby's too big or whatever it might be. And I just didn't want to get induced. because like I was saying on the podcast, I would hear these stories of, know, you go in and you get the pitocin, then you get the epidural and then things stall and then et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So I was just trying to avoid that if I could. know can't always plan your whole birth. Sure. But I actually felt like my

Right.

Speaker 1 (18:24.724)

options at home were more in line with what I wanted. I just knew what to expect more than at the hospital.

Okay. And did you tell the midwife, the hospital-based midwives that you were planning to do a homework?

Yes, and they weren't supportive of it. I was just like, I'm going to change providers. I think they may have asked me if there's no anything that could have done differently. And it was one other thing I didn't mention is like you're changing providers every time you go in. And so that was part of it. It's like, it's hard to tell my story every single point night about what I wanted. And then I never knew who would birth my baby. Like my first birth, I didn't mention this, but

I gave birth there at UVM hospital and so the person who caught my baby was the resident OBGYN and I was like, I had never met this person before. He came in, caught my baby and I was like, wait, I thought it was gonna be one of these seven midwives.

Well, how did that happen? Just because...

Speaker 1 (19:32.238)

I think that she was in the room because I guess that there was meconium, the pediatricians was in the room too, and there was a lot of people there. I don't know, it was like a crowded room. And that was another thing, just didn't really want, I wanted to know who would be there.

Yeah, I can understand that. Okay. All right. did you have what or what was the transfer plan that you all discussed?

Yeah, it was fairly simple. mean, if things weren't going according to plan, I would go to UVM, which was 35 minutes away. There was another closer hospital in St. Albans, which is in northern Vermont, but it was, it just didn't have the NICU. You know, it was just a little not as good. So, you know, there were two really pretty good hospitals to choose from. And there were two main things we were looking at for my mid-life and I would talk about.

One was shoulder dystocia because with a large baby, that was something we should be aware of. And so she and I, and we talked about this in our prenatal appointments, she would say, well, there are some positions you could try to get the baby to come out if she's stuck. And then another thing was postpartum hemorrhaging because I had bled a lot with my first, which I didn't realize until I saw my record.

It was more than normal. And so she, you I was really diligent about taking iron pills in my pregnancy and they, you know, I just felt reassured that she knew these were my concerns. She had solutions. And so it was never anything that I, they really weren't anything I was scared of. That's the thing. My, my, my mother-in-law told me, you're so brave. When I told her I was doing a home birth. And I was like, thank you. But I almost feel like,

Speaker 2 (20:58.861)

All

Speaker 1 (21:26.674)

I'm just trying to do it this way because I'm afraid of the hospital, like what might happen at the hospital. I felt like it was the safer option. Of course, I had looked at all the research and I saw that low risk patients, lowest births at home are just as safe as at hospitals or birth centers. So I was like, great, why not have it at home?

You've got to.

Speaker 2 (21:50.978)

Okay, all right. And then, your midwife, did she share about, like, did she have a relationship with either of these hospitals for transfer? Did she ever transfer folks? Did you all talk about that?

Yeah, she, there are, there's one other hospital that was a little farther from me, but close to her practice where she was really familiar with. So there were three that she's been to. So she shared with me why she's transferred in the past. Like, here's the actual, like, here's stories. And most of the time it was a slow progression of labor. It's like, there's still a labor 20 hours later or whatever it is and you're still a four or something like that.

They're so tired, they're like, they need to sleep. So we get them in the hospital, them an epidural, get them to sleep. So she shared that every time they transferred to the hospital, it wasn't urgent. It was kind of slow. Like, all right, let's go to the hospital, let's pack your bed, let's go in the car. It wasn't like, you know, alarm bells going off, tyrants, none of that. So that was reassuring to me as well.

So then let's talk about what was your labor and birth like?

Yeah, yeah. So I was maybe naively thinking my birth would be the same as my first, as we all do. So it was only two days after my due date. Okay. And so I was like, she's not coming. It was Memorial Day weekend, right? was a Saturday and I had invited my parents to come visit because they live in Central Mass, like near where I am now.

Speaker 1 (23:34.062)

I was like, come for the weekend, we'll go swimming in your pool at the hotel and like, it'll be great and we'll take my mind off of this baby that's not coming. And funny, you know, of course, we were having breakfast, my family, and I felt a contraction. It was super mild. I was like, think that was a contraction. And then a few minutes after that, I got another contraction and I was like, yep, I'm in labor. And immediately I called my midwife.

I was looking at my phone record to see and I only called her like six minutes after I remember having the first interaction, but I just knew, I don't know. And so I called her, was like, I think I'm in labor and she was kind of far from me, she was like 40 minutes. So I wanted to give her little heads up and because we expected my labor would be fast. And then I...

took a shower, I got ready for the day, and I remember in the shower I put my hands against the wall and was like leaning forward to get through the contractions already, like 20 minutes later. And meanwhile my husband had no idea. He's like getting my older daughter ready for the day. And then I called my doula. I didn't mention that my doula was Mary Humphrey. She's a full circle doula services. And that was my backup babysitting plan.

Right.

Speaker 2 (24:42.497)

Right, right.

Speaker 2 (24:55.309)

Gotcha.

Like maybe my husband watch her, maybe I do a little watch her. It didn't end up being an issue because my parents were in town. And I wanted to do love regardless, know, I looked at all the research and outcomes on it.

Did have a doula for your first birth?

No, I didn't. yeah, maybe I would have liked to have one. It felt like I was in the hospital for such a little amount of time. I mostly was like trying to sleep when I was in labor with her. maybe it would have been different, but that was something I definitely did. When I got my new job, I made, I had higher income and I was like, we're gonna do well.

Got it. All right. So then you call your doula and then did she come over or what happened after that?

Speaker 1 (25:37.23)

Yeah, so, um, that she, while she was on her way, she, well, actually, funny. She asked, she's like, I'm in the middle of having a family breakfast right now. were having like pancakes or something like big. She's like, should I come right now or what? I was like, you could eat your breakfast and then come over. Um, I was like, it's not an urgent right the second, but I think, and she lived a little closer to me. So, um, I went upstairs into our bedroom and I like made it this

Right.

Speaker 1 (26:07.374)

nice calm oasis. I turned the lights off, turned the twinkly lights on. I turned the AC on because it was really hot that time of year actually. And got my ball, like roof ball, and put my headphones on and was listening to like this pop, the playlist that I had made. And that was like very in the zone. Because I could feel somewhat peace because they both knew and they were both on their way. Right. And it wasn't at this point. I remember I took a selfie and I was like in the middle of

contractions. So it clearly wasn't like it was still early labor. So at that point, my doula arrived first and that was probably at like 1030 or something. And so this was two hours off my first interaction. I'm looking at my timeline closely. And by that point I had moved to the bed and I was lying on my side and I was trying to do the releasing tension Bradley method kind of thing.

Sure.

Speaker 1 (27:05.762)

So something had changed in the hour since I had talked to them. And so she got right to work setting up the birth tub, which I had, that was one thing I really wanted. I loved laboring in the tub. And I, with my midwife, we could rent a tub. It's like a birth pool. Funny. It's like one of those blow up little kiddie pools for adults. She and my husband were setting it up.

Right, right.

Speaker 2 (27:16.12)

Welcome.

Speaker 1 (27:35.884)

And I was, you know, in my own zone and I had to do things to prepare for the home birth. Like I got a bunch of supplies so they could adapt. I got a clean brand new hose and an adapter for our sink. So they filled it up that way. And I had a bunch of towels and sheets and things for the bed. Underneath our sheets were like a plastic shower curtain. People are always worried about like what. Yeah.

The mess. mess light.

And it's really like, that's the basics of it. Like you put just stuff you don't care about on your bed. Yeah. It's then when you have the birth, can just it all off and be done with it. So I was like really waiting for them to get the tub set up at this point. Cause I was like having a little trouble getting through the contractions. I would have some success with the Bradley method and then the next contraction would come and I'd be like writhing. It would, it kind of just felt like I was getting like ringed out in my middle.

Gotcha.

Speaker 2 (28:30.497)

People die.

Speaker 1 (28:35.214)

Okay. Do you know, it wasn't terrible at this point, but it was, I was thinking like, it'd nice to be in the pool. And that warm water. Right. So they, got in the tub around 1115 and then my midwife arrived and she had all this stuff with her. So she was setting up her kit in my daughter's bedroom. Oh, so he was helping my, um,

God

Speaker 2 (28:55.896)

Where was your husband during all this?

Yeah, he was helping the doula set up the tub. He was around, he was like on call. I didn't need anyone next to me like doing anything at this point. And he got my parents to watch my daughter. okay, one hilarious thing, which I'll never forget. It was Memorial Day weekend, and so my daughter had a flag, an American flag that she had been playing with for a week. And when she came to say goodbye to me, she poked me in the eye while I was in labor. I was like having attraction.

I barked at you. Bye. Like if I'm trying to have a baby here and now I got poked in the eye.

like.

Speaker 1 (29:39.79)

So, I mean, that was a huge relief having her taken care of because I had worried about what to do with her and the whole pregnancy. know some people have their older children at birth, but that just wasn't what I wanted. And she was only two and a half. Like she was little. She would be more trouble. That was worth. Yeah. And then, so my midwife was here and she was unpacking everything. But I was in the tub and it was just like such a big relief to be in the water. I was like...

And I would just channel out there and work with the attractions as I could and it started to feel like, maybe I do need someone in my faith, like telling me you got this, that kind of thing. Right. So I said that to my husband and the doula, because they were kind of just sitting and watching. Which when I wasn't having attraction was weird. I was like, why are you looking at me? So I I almost told them, I was like, OK, now it's time to like, you know.

root me on. And then they both were, you know, saying encouraging things to me. But I was like, I think something's different. Like it feels like I'm ready to be done. So I said to Mary, my doula, was like, can you have Allison check me? The midwife was in the other room.

And has she checked you before then?

I had not been checked that day. I forgot to mention I was four centimeters on the day before my due date, three days before. And I did elect to get a membrane sweep on Wednesday. on Wednesday I got the membrane sweep and then Saturday I gave birth. I don't know if it was related. mean, I was also, I was at 40 weeks. Because I was worried about the...

Speaker 2 (31:23.982)

Right.

the having to be induced. And you know, I was like, I'll try it if it works. Right. So all I knew at that point was like I was four centimeters a few days ago, which is that's great. Right. And so she checked me and I was 10 centimeters at, you know, 1140, which was three hours after I had my very first baby contraction. But I didn't feel the urge to push at all. With my first, I my body was like bucking.

Right.

Speaker 2 (31:40.557)

Okay.

Speaker 2 (31:48.696)

Yes.

Speaker 1 (31:56.366)

on its own and like pushing the baby out. But this one I didn't and I think it was because my water hadn't broken. And it's funny because just at my last appointment with my midwife I was saying, oh wouldn't it be cool if she was born on call? Like I know that happens very rarely and she's like maybe it'll be you have a warm but why you try and push? said because you're ready and just see how it feels. So I did maybe two pushes and then it was like a giant explosion.

Okay.

Speaker 1 (32:24.776)

My water breaking and I was in the tub, thanks boy. But I could see it exploding, like it was there was swirconium. if it was just water in the water, I wouldn't be able to see it. But it was like, and I was like, okay, can get this baby out? And then I could feel the urge to push a little more. I still felt like I needed guidance. Like I was like, tell me what to do.

Right, right.

Speaker 1 (32:49.358)

I don't feel like I know how to push the baby down. Okay. And they asked me, do you want to change positions? Cause I was lying there like you would just sit in a hot tub. I was just like lounging. Do you want to change positions? And at that point I was like, I'm not moving. Which is so funny cause part of my first birth was like, I had to birth to my back, blah, blah. And here I was like, I'm just going to stay here. Like the idea of squatting or getting on all fours, I was like, I'm not moving. So I was pushing without.

really any resistance, you know, cause you pick about it's just like an inflatable tub. Like I'm pushing against like air. But my midwife was right there, you know, she was kneeling outside of the tub, but she was like there, her hand, you know, everything she's ready to go. And so I did, I pushed the head out. She came out until like here. And so my midwife checked to make sure.

Right. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:44.782)

there wasn't a cord wrapped around her or even keeping her from coming out all the way. She was fine. I pushed again and her whole head came out. So we were like, great. And I should say it hurt more. Like there's more pain than my first birth with pushing it. I really felt like the, what do you call it? the, she was crowning, was like the thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I really felt like the ring of fire. was like stinging. I remember being like, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

The other ring of fire.

Speaker 1 (34:12.974)

Whereas in general, say my contractions were manageable, but then that pain that was more like, get this lady out. And then there was a big gap between my contractions where I was just waiting and I didn't push. And it felt so weird. I was like, everyone's staring at me and the baby's head's out, know, like, and then I pushed and then her shoulders and her whole body came out. And so it was no, no issue.

Right, right.

Speaker 2 (34:39.853)

So there was head came out and then she said wait till the next contraction and then push the rest of the baby

Yeah, which is crazy because you're looking at a baby underwater. Uh-huh. And naturally you're like get this baby out underwater, they are breathing in water inside of you, you know, it's just the same sort of environment. I mean, it was weird to see, I knew I know it's safe. So then maybe they've handed her right to me and I held her up against me and I was just like

Right.

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:15.63)

It felt like such a relief to have her out, like, physically. Like, ah, I feel so much better. It really felt like so much pressure, like a giant bowling ball. So, and I remember saying, like, look at this brown hair. And what's funny is she's two now and she has the blondest hair ever. so she was born at 1155. Oh, and I didn't mention my

Right, right.

Speaker 1 (35:41.262)

the midwife assistant arrived like right when I was pushing. So she like just made it. All in all it was a three and a half hour labor. And we all knew she was going to be big, you know? But I thought, oh, she's only two days late. She got nine days late. My first, there's no way. I was like, maybe she's 10 pounds. I don't know. And so, but the next thing we do is waiting for the placenta and it's for whatever reason is taking its time. And I,

you

Speaker 1 (36:11.182)

Thinking about hammering. I was kind of on I was like just get it I don't want this to be done, you know I couldn't relax and be like enjoying my baby right so But the funny thing was her cord is really short. Okay, we hadn't cut it yet It's it's a they wanted I wanted to move to the bed and they did too they were like, let's move to the bed. So Someone was helping me out of the tub. Someone was holding the baby. Meanwhile, she's attached to me. So they're holding her at like my waist level. Uh-huh

Okay.

Speaker 1 (36:38.894)

them like, like holding my hand and we're like walking the two feet to the bed, like a crazy parade, just a, just a wild parade of me and my baby. And, we get on the bed and, you know, then the placenta did come out and it was fine and easy. And there was no, no leveraging or anything like that.

Right.

you

Speaker 2 (37:00.674)

Okay. Before I forget, how were they checking the baby's heart rate during your labor? Do you remember that?

I don't, there were no monitors on me. I didn't have any IVs either. I was glad to be, oh, what's it called? The GBS. Yeah, okay, I GBS negative. Because I just thought it would be kind of inconvenient to have fluids. I mean, or antibiotics, know. So I had nothing on me.

Okay. Okay. Did they listen like with the spot like with the Doppler like listen to the baby's heart rate?

I don't think so. And it went so quickly, know, they, right. My midwife got there and she was catching a baby. Yeah.

Yeah, so maybe there wasn't even even time to to really like get all the things there.

Speaker 1 (37:46.19)

Okay. They would listen to her heartbeat, you know, prenatally. Yeah. Yeah. During the birth, it just would come up.

So you got on the bed, Placina came out.

Yeah, they left this alone for about an hour, I think, so you that initial like bonding time. Well, I shouldn't say left it alone. They were in the room, but they were cleaning up everything. Which again, they have this. I didn't know. I don't know too much of the details because I was not paying attention, but they have this thing that like that gets rid of all the water, dirty water. It's like what you put in your basement, is it flow?

yeah, like I it's called a sump pump maybe.

So they have a sump pump. So they put the sump pump in, they suck all the water out, you know? And so I was like, I don't know how they got it, but they did. And it was clean. And these women are experts. So my doula has also attended a bunch of home births. And so she knew everything about how to set it up and how to it up. And they get all that taken care of while it's just my husband, me and the baby on the bed. And I'm starting to like try breastfeeding with her.

Speaker 2 (38:48.227)

did you have get any stitches or anything?

No, I didn't. I had a I had no tears or anything for this baby. I had a second degree tear with my first okay, which I was like surprised about because of her size and the speed and like the rain Yeah, thought something would happen. It was just so relaxed compared to my first birth because they were stitching me up and they just they were really concerned about if I have to pee like they were putting catheter in me and like

doing lots of things when I had had my first baby. Which I understand, mathematically you have to me stitches and stuff. But it was just, it was nice to be like, we're just here, hanging out.

Right. Yeah.

Yeah, and so then they did the newborn exam and at some point they did cut the cord. We just did delayed cord camping, nothing wild, you know? Yeah. And they have that scale where you like hold the ring up and the baby's like in a little fabric hammock. And so she's holding the baby up and we're all thinking like, what's it going to be? know, nine pounds, ten pounds, whatever. And she said, eleven pounds even. And I'm like, what? Eleven pounds even?

Speaker 2 (39:59.467)

Right.

Perfectly on time, baby. Three hours, no tearing, no shoulder dystocia or nothing. No. So I was like, wow, and she was 23 inches long. So she was a tall baby. Yes. Yes. she's still, so she, I would say if you saw her, you would just think she's three or four. Like you wouldn't think she's proportional, if you will. Right. She's big. She's like in the 90 something percentile all the time.

Bye.

Speaker 2 (40:26.614)

Right.

Speaker 2 (40:30.858)

Gotcha. So she's started out solid and a big girl and she's going to continue to be tall. She's going to probably be tall just like you are.

Yeah, my oldest daughter is already, she's taking her basketball lessons already. We'll see, we'll have a little NDA.

So then how long did they stay and what was postpartum like for you?

Yeah, they didn't stay for much longer than that. They were helping me with breastfeeding a bit. that was just another thing that was night and day. I think it's also with the experience. I did breastfeed my first, but it was mostly, we would also do bottles, so was mostly bottles on breastfeeding. And I think a lot of that was because of my initial experience. Breastfeeding her was challenging, and I used the nipple shield really.

early. Things like that that I only learned after the fact that were maybe not good. And she didn't, I didn't breastfeed her in the first hour, my first daughter. So I just tried to really do everything I could to prioritize breastfeeding. I took a breastfeeding class before my second birth. Even though I've already breastfed. I just wanted to really relearn everything. And so one of my, one of things I took away from that class was

Speaker 1 (41:51.106)

that the first 10 days are the most important for breastfeeding. And so they were like, try and commit to 10 days. And just remember if you're breastfeeding, it's gonna be all you're doing. And just, they were saying, and this is through WIC, so I had the coke of the breastfeeding glass through WIC. They were saying like, just don't wait for the baby to cry, just put the baby on the breast, like all the time.

Right.

And so I just had that in my head because with my first, I was so obsessed with like, what time is it? And is she due to eat? Even when she was a newborn. And the second one, was just like, I'm just going to breastfeed you. especially when she's that little. I was just like, I'm just going to breastfeed you. And then if you're asleep, that's fine. And then when you wake up, I'm breastfeeding you. It was all I cared about. So that was basically like my job.

Great.

Speaker 1 (42:45.45)

of giving birth to her head and that was my job of breastfeeding.

Happy Co.

Yeah. it went well. Postpartum, it primarily was about breastfeeding for me. But also I had gotten a postpartum psychiatrist ahead of time to just have someone on the books in case. And so I had my first appointment on like that Monday. So I gave birth on Saturday and it just happened to be

I needed that.

Speaker 2 (43:18.303)

Okay.

Monday and I like, hi, like, here's a baby, you know, and even though I don't, it's hard to say what caused what, but I don't think I really experienced any postpartum anxiety or depression, but it just was such as nice, a smoother experience and I had that support if I needed it and I was at home.

Right, right, right. So was it like a virtual appointment kind of?

Yeah, yeah, would just be with her I think was every other week or every and then every month after that quick little appointments and Just having that I think that would be my advice if you're pregnant and here at all concerned about postpartum mood disorders Just like have someone now because the waiting lists are so long. Yeah

Yeah, and you can always cancel exactly. Yeah, and there'll be somebody else who will snap up that spot Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So then when did the midwife come back to check on you?

Speaker 1 (44:10.742)

I hope.

Speaker 1 (44:16.174)

That was another wonderful benefit of home birth that she would do home visits for the first few appointments So she came the next day and I believe the second day to check on me and the baby. Okay, they Her visits counted as pediatric visits. Okay, so we never had to leave the house until like a week a week or two Okay, actually visit her real pediatrician gotcha and I had called the I was like

Okay, see you.

Speaker 1 (44:43.874)

By the way, I'm having a home birth, so I want you at hospital, like, yada yada. And so they knew that she was coming.

Okay, gotcha.

Didn't see her until probably she was two weeks old. Okay.

Did they have any concerns about her being born at home?

No, weren't. Vermont is very Humbert friendly. Yeah, it's pretty common, I would say, compared to maybe other states, even Massachusetts. Massachusetts is very hospital oriented. Our hospitals are such a big part of the culture here. But the insurances in Vermont all have to cover Humbert's, at least when I was there. So it wasn't, I never got any negative feedback when I would go to get my ultrasounds.

Speaker 2 (45:13.837)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:27.85)

It was, sometimes they'd be like, you know, like, but that would be, that was it really.

Right.

All right. And then how hard was it to get like first certificate and things like that?

Yeah, my midwife took care of everything. I would have to fill out some of the forms ahead of time, but they did all the administrative stuff and got the birth certificate, social security card, stuff like that. And it's cool because on her birth certificate it says that she was born in Fairfax, Vermont, which is a tiny town of like thousand people. And it's like, don't know how many people were born here in the year. I had to mail something to

the town. again, there's so there's so little stuff going on here. It didn't take very long. yeah, we talked about that ahead of time. So, okay. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:14.582)

Gotcha.

Speaker 2 (46:19.254)

Is there anything that you didn't like about having a home birth?

I think that the insurance stuff was the hardest part. that's just a problem with the country. Just basically what health insurance is covered because it was such a hassle to get a clear answer. Even when it was ultimately covered by my private health insurance. The people who I talked to on the phone, they

when I'd call for help and support, they'd be like, no, we don't cover that. But then I'd say, but in Vermont, like you have to cover it. And they'd be like, I don't know. You know, I don't know. Yeah, that's right. yeah. Because my insurance was based in a different state, actually was based in Massachusetts. And so if I had given birth in Massachusetts with that health insurance, they wouldn't have covered it. But since I was in Vermont, they covered it. So it's just like a hassle. And dealing with, we were also on Medicaid for the

for the children, and for me when I was pregnant. And just dealing with that coverage was just complicated. Like I'm glad we had it because it was just extra insurance and it was no charge to us and we qualified for WIC benefit. But it's just like a lot of administrative tasks and I just jumped through and I'm in of pain. Might have been a little easier with hospital birth.

Right.

Speaker 2 (47:39.103)

She got the

Speaker 2 (47:43.314)

Okay, okay, okay. Now, is there anything that I assume if you have more children, you would plan to do another home birth?

probably aren't gonna have any more children, but I would, I think I would prefer that. Luckily I don't have to worry about it because we are in Massachusetts now, so it's like, don't know. I don't know what it would be.

Got to it. Got to it. Yeah. No, I totally get like, I mean, we have two girls and we're done. Oh, Yeah, two girls. Yeah, two girls. And do you think that there is anything that the hospital setting could do differently to make it more appealing?

That's great question. think that the immediate postpartum period, it would be nice if that could be a little more like protected and more peaceful. I know that, you know, I really loved some of the nurses who helped me when I was in labor the first time, but then having them come in constantly and you have the pediatrician and you have the...

the OB and then you have the lactation consultants and they're always different lactation, like so and visitors. I will admit it was 2019. We had a lot of visitors at the hospital. If I did it again, I would not do that. I couldn't even imagine doing that anymore in this post COVID world. But yeah, having it a little more like, I've never been to a birth center, but like what I imagine a birth center is like, like just calming and peaceful.

Speaker 2 (49:08.792)

Thank

Speaker 1 (49:23.274)

and encouraging like bonding with the baby, that to me I think could be really helpful.

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. makes sense. So then as we wrap up, what would you say is your one piece of advice? You may have said it already or thing that you would tell someone who's getting ready to. Sure.

Yeah, I think that listening to birth stories is amazing and so valuable to just get an idea of what can happen. Just practically, like, don't listen so much to just the people talking to you about their terrible birth story, like in mine at Starbucks or whatever. Just listen to a lot of them. And another thing would be get a doula for

labor in her postpartum if possible. we did our same doula have postpartum services. And it was just so nice to have someone over who could just do the dishes or like make us food or take care of the baby. Right. And I wish we could have had her even more, because she also offered overnight services, you know, to stay with the baby and I could sleep. So that I would say a postpartum doula as opposed to visitors, like

Again, with my first baby, we had a lot of people over and as much as I tried to have it be clear, like, okay, make yourself useful. It was still, I felt like I was entertaining them.

Speaker 2 (50:43.468)

Gotcha, gotcha. And you don't wanna be entertained while you're trying to bond with your new baby.

Yeah, well, because another thing that my midwife told me, she was, I was on the second floor of our apartment, our house. She said, don't kick the stairs for a week. And I was like, what are you talking about? Like, I can't go to my living room. Right. And she was like, I really don't think you should, like, try and stay in your room for your healing. And I was like, okay. And I did maybe lose my mind a little bit there. But I tried to stay upstairs and stay in bed.

as much as I couldn't just have other people take care of me for that week. And then even the next week, I'd say I kept that in mind like the first 10 days, the first two weeks even of like prioritizing my healing, prioritizing rest. Don't walk around even, like don't even be vertical, like trying to be horizontal. And that helped me heal much better than my first where I was like, go on a walk, like.

Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Okay. All right. I love it. I love it. So thank you so much for agreeing to come on to the podcast. I'm so fascinated by learning about home birth and home birth stories. So I really appreciate hearing your perspective. It's just, and I'm sure other people will too. It's just really important topic that we need to talk more about.

Yeah, thank you. It's so great to talk about. actually have a sticker on my laptop that says, ask me about my home birth.

Speaker 2 (52:15.935)

I love it, I love it, I love it.

Speaker 2 (52:22.348)

Wasn't that a great episode? I so enjoyed hearing Leah's birth story and learning that new perspective about home birth. Now, after every episode when I have a guest on, I do something called Dr. Nicole's Notes, which are my top takeaways from the conversation. Here are my Dr. Nicole's Notes from my conversation with Leah. Number one, knowledge is power, but only if it's balanced and realistic. Leah highlighted how important it was for her to listen to birth stories and learn as much as she could. I love that.

But here's the thing, it's not just about collecting information, it's about digesting it in a way that prepares you for the inherent unpredictable nature of birth. It really is important to seek out all types of stories, the joyful, the hard, the complicated, because doing so will create a fuller, more honest picture of what birth can look like. And that kind of preparation helps build resilience, not just expectations. Okay, next up.

You better start your postpartum plan during pregnancy and think beyond the baby. I was so impressed that Leah scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist while she was still pregnant. That's the kind of proactive mental health care that needs to happen. Preparing for postpartum isn't just about onesies and swaddles, although of course that stuff is so much fun. It's also about your emotional wellbeing. And if you know support might be helpful, or even if you're unsure,

Go ahead and get that therapist, that psychiatrist on your calendar before your baby comes. You can always cancel the appointment if need be and having those pieces in place can be incredibly protective once the baby is born. Okay, number three, the kind of support you get matters. There's a big difference between having people around you and having the right people around you.

My mom told me that my grandmother, when she came to visit my mom after my older sister was born, my grandmother didn't really do anything to help my mom. In fact, my mom had to take care of the baby and take care of her parents. And I love my grandma, but that is not support. Leah's postpartum doula provided meaningful hands-on help that respected her needs and not just her babies.

Speaker 2 (54:46.572)

And this is exactly the kind of support I encourage you to ask for or invest in if it's possible, people who can feed you, tidy up, hold space for your recovery without expecting to be entertained. That is real, true postpartum care. And then finally, home birth can be a great option for the right person and with the right preparation.

Again, I don't often feature home birth stories, but I wanted to share Leah's because it shows what's possible with excellent midwifery care, low risk pregnancy. Her birth team was prepared for complications. She had a solid transfer plan and clinical skills and compassion were brought to the table. Home birth isn't for everyone, but it can be a safe and reasonable option for appropriate candidates with appropriate planning and understanding how it works.

helps us all have more informed conversations about choice in birth. All right, so that is it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening today. If this episode helped you, please, please share with a friend. Also hit subscribe so you don't miss a thing. And if we're not connected yet, come follow me on Instagram at Dr. Nicole Rankins. My DMs are open. I love, love, love to hear from you. And then do me that one last favor and come on back next week.

and remember to trust your power and take charge of your birth.