The Birth of Luke Owen
Transfer from home to hospital
July 19th, 2023
You know how the saying goes - “it takes a village.” In birth work, that couldn’t be more true. From the support you have on the home front, to the support you have as back ups if need be.
I was on call as a back up for the sweet Burke family and had a pretty good feeling I’d be getting a call soon. On a Tuesday evening, I told my family that I needed to go to bed early in case I was in fact called to back up soon. Sure enough, in the wee hours of the early morning (around 3:30am), my phone rang. I answered the phone to Brittany saying “hey, I just really need somebody to talk to.” I could hear in her voice that she was in the trenches of labor, and I told her I’d head her way soon. I got up, brushed my teeth, nursed my sweet baby before laying him down to snuggle in with daddy and big brother, grabbed my bags and headed out the door. It took me a little over an hour to travel to their home and when I arrived, it was a little after 4:45 am. The streets were dark and there was little to no people out in the city. I pulled up in front of their house and Brittany’s husband welcomed me at the door. When I entered their home, it was dark, cozy, and comfortable. Momma was laboring on the couch, deep in labor land. I went in, asked how she was, if there was anything she needed and proceeded to bring in my camera and doula bag. I could tell Brittany had already been working hard and was tired. Contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes and seemed pretty intense. After about 30 minutes, her first midwife arrived (her midwife team was also my team with my last birth so it was super special to be a part of this birth team). Heather, her midwife came in, checked baby’s heart tones and said everything sounded good. She proceeded to unload shortly before Brittany’s other midwife, Naomi, pulled into the drive. After we were all settled in, Brittany continued to labor and sway and sing and move her body. Her husband there by her side for every moment, supporting her through every wave of labor. She ate, drank, and flowed with the flow of hard labor. After some time, the sun began to creep into the windows. Their two sleeping boys started to wake for the day, coming back and forth to snuggle momma and ask for snacks. We hung out, sat on our hands, waiting patiently and supportive of the time her body needed. Brittany asked their midwives to check her just to make sure everything was moving along smoothly. Brittany had her previous 2 babies via cesarean section and this was her first planned home birth. Whenever her midwife checked her, she said everything was great but she was not going to tell her where she was number wise unless she really desired to know, which I thought was great because truly, numbers means nothing in the midst of birth. Afterwards, we gave Brittany and her husband some alone time to rest a bit, as we could tell she was exhausted and had been hard at work for hours now. Their boys got picked up by a family friend, which helped put momma at ease and relax. She spent some time on the toilet letting gravity do it’s thang. She spent some time in the shower letting the water wash over her. The midwives and I ate some breakfast while she showered & rested. She decided to lay down and try to maybe sleep for a while. After about an hour or so of “napping”, Brittany decided it was time to get up and get things going. I’ll never forget her sitting up in bed and saying, “I’m ready to put in the work”. Labor can truly be so exhausting and it was incredible to watch her work through each contraction, listen to her body and rest when she knew she needed it, and then continue on. Her sweet hubby made her a yummy sandwich and filled up her electrolytes before we headed outside for a change of scenery and some sunshine. Once outside, things seemed to pick up quickly. We headed inside because it was so dang hot (100 degree Texas weather). Inside, we decided to sit her on a birthing stool in the living room to help open her up some more. I opened her living room curtains just a sliver to let in some natural light. We put some music back on to help release some oxytocin and let everything flow as it should. We all held her, swayed with her, loved on her, and let her emotions flow without judgement. After a bit of what was true, back to back contractions, her midwife asked Brittany if she could once more check her because something was intuitively telling her she needed to. Brittany agreed so we headed back to her room. I held her hand, as her husband held her in bed, while her midwife checked her. At this time, her midwife then informed us that she believes she felt the cord right past her cervix, in front of baby’s head. We wanted to be certain of what was going on before moving forward with a transfer. As they continued to check the baby’s position, baby re-stationed himself which was a good indicator that he was trying to protect himself and his cord. Thankfully, Brittany’s waters were still in tact at this time. (For those that do not know what a cord prolapse is, it’s whenever the umbilical cord slips down in front of the baby. This can put restriction on the cord and cause issues if the waters are already broken).
At this point in time, there was a shift. We all let our emotions fill the room while we prayed together & cried together. We held Brittany and reassured her that everything was going to be okay and that she was still strong and powerful. After Brittany accepted the change in her birth plan, I helped her and husband pack a hospital bag and get ready to go. I then packed up all of my stuff and followed them to the hospital. Once I arrived, parked, and got into L&D, I found their room and walked in. Peace and calmness filled the room. Brittany was smiling, while still having back to back contractions. We waited for the OB that her midwife called to arrive. Once she did, she confirmed it was true prolapse and told her we’d be going in for a c-section asap. (This Ob was amazing. Probably one of the best I’ve ever met. She was 100% on board with Brittany’s birth plan, a gentle cesarean, and all of their wishes as parents. She assured her that this would not be traumatic as her previous surgeries were and she proved that to be true). As we waited for them to come get Brittany, I set my camera on auto for her midwife to take back to the OR with them so that we would still be able to document their sons birth. While they were in the OR, I tried to rest since I had been awake 15+ hrs on only a few hours of sleep from the previous night before. They came back into the room a little over an hour later, and perfect baby Luke was nestled in between mommas legs. Once they set mommas bed back up in the room, I held Brittany’s hand and we both shed a few tears of relief. I documented their first latch and a bit of their golden hour before her midwife and I decided it was time to head home and let Brittany , her hubby, and Luke finally get some rest now that he was earth-side.
On the drive home, I prayed and relayed how grateful I was for the day, watching Brittany prevail with strength, grace, love, and perseverance. Her birth plan changed but she faced all of it with joy and positivity. I was reminded once again why I walk this path with women and voluntarily take on the mental load that comes along with each families unique birth story. To hold women during some of the most sacred, transformative, and pivotal points of their life is something I’ll never tire of.
