Pediatrician Katie Doherty didn’t think a birth video was for her at first. As she told BabyCenter in an email, “I wasn’t sure if I really wanted it all on record. I wasn’t sure what I would do with it. I wasn’t sure I would want to relive it.”
But now, she says she cannot imagine missing out on watching her daughter Violet’s birth day. “I will cherish this video for a lifetime.”
One day, Katie hopes Violet and her sister will see it, too. “I truly believe birth is not something to fear and I hope that my daughters will grow up learning how powerful their bodies are,” she says, adding, “Bringing my girls into this world with nothing but a pool, some tears, and the people I love taught me a whole new level of respect for my body and what it can do.”
Um, guess what else it can do? Watch this video shot by Edmonton, Alberta-based photographer and filmmaker Vannessa Brown, of Katie laboring at home, then pulling out her own baby during a deeply-touching water birth.
Katie says about this birth, “I really thought this being my third pregnancy and second home birth that once the ball got rolling it would all happen very quickly.” Not so much. Although her previous delivery went so fast she was actually alone, Violet was in no rush to make her grand entrance into the world. Not only did she arrive past 41 weeks after many days of intermittent contractions, but in an effort to kickstart her labor the third-time mama downed an unpalatable verbena cocktail, and that still didn’t coax things along!
Her midwife, Tara, and Vannessa even slept on the couch one night, thinking Katie’s labor was finally underway, but as she says, “In the morning I sheepishly let them head home. I really can’t describe the disappointment I felt that morning.”
That night, contractions roused Katie from her sleep again, and finally, finally, it was go time! “Or so I thought,” she says. “Within an hour of everyone arriving, my labour hit the breaks again.” Determined to deliver her baby, she told BabyCenter, “We did everything we could to push it along. Squats, stairs, magical herbal tinctures, break my water, more squats, more stairs, more pacing around, massage, in the pool, out of the pool, warm the pool, back in the pool.”
After all that, then it truly was go time. Here are photos that also chronicle the day baby Violet finally decided to be born.
Although Katie looks pretty darn calm during her delivery, she admits, “I remember a frantic inner commentary in my head: Can I really do this? Yes I can, I have to. Dear Lord, I’m not ready for this! Why was I in such a hurry? THIS IS NOT FUN! Settle down, you can do this. Ride the wave. Hang on.“
When the big moment arrived and Katie delivered her own baby, she says, “I was a passenger and my body just knew exactly what it needed to do. I felt my baby’s head and I braced against it a little easing her out little by little. It was hot searing pain and I was terrified I’d split right in half.”
She didn’t! In fact, once Violet’s head was out, Katie says she felt no more pain. “All the self-doubt and fear I ever harbored vanished the second I laid eyes on her. I knew this would be my last baby, and she was perfect.”
She truly is beautiful, and clearly so worth the wait! Thank you to Katie for sharing your inspiring birth story with BabyCenter. You can learn more about her documentary called “A Mother is Born” on its Facebook page. And thank you to Vannessa for sharing the emotional video and photos of the day baby Violet was born. Learn more about Katie’s work on her Facebook page and website.
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