A 15 hour birth

The first cesarean delivery i performed, this cute baby was 8.2lbs!
The first cesarean delivery i performed, this cute baby was 8.2lbs!
 
In the delivery room where I used to train, the usual scenario would be a pregnant woman lying down, legs in lithotomy (up high) position, fully dilated and ready to give birth via normal spontaneous delivery . The picture would always be a flushed sweating woman who is hardly holding on. This was usually the case for someone who has undergone 18-20 hour labor and even longer hours of labor pains. I would stand there and hold their head up to initiate active pushes during contractions. We would give them countless unwavering encouragement, praise, you name it. We usually take this role, since the husband is either standing in a far corner all pale or has already fainted. Aside from physically and emotionally helping them, we would also ask them to “take a deep breath…. Hold… and PUSH” . This would be said in a chanting manner to unearth every bit of power she can muster.
 
Last week, wasn’t any different from my usual work field. There were 19 women, barely holding on. Need I remind for those who surprisingly forgot( maybe due to trauma) by the 15 hour (3 hours a day x 5 days) asana “LABOR”- we had to do 10 Surya namaskara A and 10 surya namaskara B, back to back to back backbends and splitting splits. In the middle of all that turmoil happening in both my body and mind, I remember that chant we do to encourage the mothers. This time I said the chant to myself “ take a deep breath… HOLD… and PUSH!!!”
I’m sure the satisfaction of a mother after her birth is beyond glorious. I may not have given birth to a baby, but I can liken the victory I felt to a new mother’s joy. I have surmounted my first week and have given birth to a new stronger me.
 
 
 
 
So ladies (and gentlemen too?!) take a deep breathe…HOLD and PUSH!!!
 
 
 
Bianca Pereche- Gamboa
200hr TTC (weekday), March 2015