When I saw this image of a laboring mom in this fiercest of poses, captured by Santa Cruz, California-based birth photographer and doula Paige Driscoll, I had to know the story behind it.
At one week past her due date, the mom in the photo, Rosemerry was ready to have her baby. But despite experiencing contractions on and off for days, she’d have to wait a while. “Little did I know, I still had a long way to go,” the new mom told BabyCenter in an email.
After two days of laboring at home, Rosemerry says, “The midwives arrived around six o’clock in the morning and quickly set up shop. My surges continued to progress and get stronger and longer. Morning had came and went, the afternoon had came and went, and I was getting increasingly more tired, a bit frustrated and very anxious to meet my baby.”
“My baby was slightly out of alignment with the birthing canal and potentially slowing the process and so I asked the midwives for any suggestions on how we could help the process along,” she continued. “They had me doing every trick in the book. We tried the rebozo (a traditional Mexican shawl that can be used as a laboring tool) in a kneeling position with a midwife or doula jostling my hanging belly and baby back and forth, I tried a standing and hanging position, I was doing lunges on our bar stools, I hung on my husband and different members of my birthing team, I tried squatting in the shower, pushing over the toilet, laying on either side with the peanut ball between my knees; I even tried an inverted position with my elbows planted on the floor as my knees and hips were positioned over the edge of my couch.”
And that is the first incredible image I saw. As Rosemerry told me, “I was willing to do anything at that stage to see my baby.” Here are other fierce labor poses she tried before welcoming her baby, at last, as captured by Paige Driscoll.
Rosemerry shared more details behind her home water birth, telling BabyCenter “After a vaginal check was conducted, we discovered that one side of my cervix had not ripened at the same rate as the other side and that was delaying the process. I did a few more exercises before lying down on the couch with the peanut ball again. This time the surges were debilitating and came with uncontrollable sensations of pushing. I knew my cervix still wasn’t fully ripe yet, so holding back the pushing sensations truly challenged me to focus internally and separate the powerful feelings of pushing from my mission to soften my cervix. During one of the pushing surges, I felt a burst and rush of fluids and knew my water had finally broken.”
“Finally, 40 hours later, and I knew that it was time to meet my baby,” Rosemerry recalled. “I got in to the birthing tub and began actively pushing my baby closer to her birth. About fifteen excruciating pushes later, I could feel the top of my baby’s head between my legs and I felt about an inch of her hair waving in the water. My husband was in the tub with me, supporting me all the way. As I continued to push, I could feel tiny tears in my thinning outer vaginal walls. It hurt but there was nothing stopping me from meeting my baby. I pushed through and could see my baby’s head. I could also feel her large body still sitting in the birthing canal and I reached down and pulled her the rest of the way out.”
The ecstatic mom said, “I had waited thirty years for this moment and wanted nothing more than to just hold my baby on my chest close to my heart. She was finally here!”
What an emotional labor and birth, one that has me all choked up over here! Congratulations to Rosemerry, and her husband on welcoming your beautiful baby. Thank you for sharing your birth story with BabyCenter. And thank you to Paige Driscoll, for sharing these raw, gripping images. You can learn more about Santa Cruz Birth Photography and Doula Services on its website and Facebook page.
I felt that managing my contractions while standing was most comfortable during my labors. What position served you most during yours?
Share hereYou can see more of Paige’s incredible birth photography in these stories:
Photos: This lucky baby has two moms to breastfeed her
Umbilical cord burning: Photos show why to skip the quick cut
