Midwife Kesslyn’s amazing unmedicated water birth

The story of midwife and doula, Kessyln’s, home water birth to her daughter, Ociana, at 42 weeks’ pregnant after weeks of prodromal labour contractions. Kesslyn says her birth was “truly one of the best days of my life”.

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Kesslyn’s birth story

Early labour

“In the early morning hours of December 7th, I found myself hitting my mental breaking point. After a long night of consistent prodromal contractions, my mind and body were tired. At 42 weeks and 3 days pregnant, and after many weeks of prodromal labour, I told myself that I earned this meltdown,” Kessyln says.

She kept asking herself: “Why wasn’t my body going into labour? Why wasn’t my baby ready to be born??”

“After I felt like I had no tears left to cry, I turned on a recording of birth affirmations and reminded myself ‘My baby and body know what to do’. I told myself there was nothing wrong with my body. I can continue waiting for the perfect time.”

Then Kesslyn and her husband watched a Christmas movie together while doing some rebozo work and Spinning Babies exercises. “We cuddled and connected and had some fun with some other oxytocin boosting activities (iykyk!)” Then she fell asleep. Fifteen minutes later, she woke up to a strong contraction that felt different, followed by some more that she couldn’t rest through.

“I decided to hop in the shower and checked my own cervix to see if the contractions were ‘doing anything’. I was about 3cm! I got out of the shower and told my husband ‘I think this is really happening’.

“I had Eli put on my ObiTENS unit and that really brought relief. Deep squats felt really good during contractions. For the next hour, Eli would provide counter pressure to my hips during surges and whisper words of encouragement into my ear. He was my rock all the way through my birth. I swayed on my ball, moved through upright positions like lunges and squats and the heat pack felt great.”

Active labour

“I got in the birth pool and there was instant relief the second the water hit my body. I listened to fetal heart tones and baby was doing great. I decided to feel my cervix again and I was 5-6cm.

Kesslyn says: “My good friend Vanessa arrived and she and Emily took turns holding my hand and offering sustenance while Eli massaged by hips and gave sacral pressure. I fixed my eyes on the birth affirmations handing between twinkling lights on the wall. I felt at such peace - it was truly one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.

“From around 12.30am, I let myself sink into full labour land. I felt so supported. I swayed my hips between contractions, and shifted from sitting to reclining to lunging and squatting. The surges continued to come one after the other, but they were stronger and lower now - lasting about 80 seconds. I made the most of the short 20-30 seconds breaks between them, reminding myself that their frequency and intensity was only bringing me closer to holding my babe on the outside.

“Sometime around 2am, I got really hot and the fan blowing on my face while I floated in the warm pool felt great. I remember a fleeting moment where I thought ‘I understand why some women choose to get the epidural’. I didn’t want one - I truly wanted to experience every sensation of natural labour and nothing sounded worse than trying to get into a car and drive to hospital. I felt confident I could do this.

She says: “Shortly after, I threw up. Looking back, I think this is when I went thorugh transition. I told Emily I was ready for her to call my midwife friends to join us.”

Pushing

“My body began to spontaneously bear down, “ Kessyln says. “"So much power! I decided to feel my cervix and I felt like I was about 9cm. I let my body move my baby down with each contraction, breathing through them mostly but sometimes moaning and grunting. My contractions spaced out at this point. I actually dozed off in between several of the surges. I started “pushing” with some of them when the peak was far too strong to resist the urge.

“I didn’t feel any need to rush this part. I rested between the surges and worked with them by relaxing each muscle in my body and releasing any tension that arose. I intuitively moved my hips and legs while shifting my weight to help baby make the movements necessary in navigating my pelvis.

She says: “My midwives arrived and quietly popped in to check on me. I felt so supported and respected.

“I remember the final phase of labour feeling so primal and intuitive. I really turned inward and everything around me faded away. It almost felt as if my mind was in another dimension - sort of like a hazy dream, an alerted state of consciousness. I’ve used the term ‘birth portal’ to refer to this in the past and that seems the most fitting still.

“I used my hand to provide counter pressure to my perineum and to guide baby’s head as I moved my legs and hips to create more space where I felt pressure.

“With the next two contractions, I let the burn increase as my baby’s head slowly crowned. Just seconds later, I felt the baby’s body shoot forward into the water. I instinctively caught the body and lifted baby out of the water. I was simply in awe and couldn’t quite comprehend that we had done it!”

After birth

“A massive rush of oxytocin flooded my body. Such warmth. Such joy. Unexplainable love. I was speechless as I took it all in. Nothing compared to the relief and joy of the moment I heard my baby’s first cry.

“My husband and I gazed at our baby and then locked eyes with each other. Teary eyed, we kissed. ‘That was seriously so perfect,’ I said.”

Kesslyn Sander is a Midwife, Doula and Women’s Health Coach in Washington, USA.