Vegan Birth Stories

Please read our collection of birth stories. If you'd like to submit your own, please submit your story here. Vegan or vegetarian birth stories are welcome.

Chloe Bailey's Birth Story

After a normal and healthy vegan pregnancy, I was getting antsy to meet our first baby!

I was able to eat healthily and walk 4 miles a day while expecting, but I still gained A LOT of weight!! I just told myself that this is how my body grows a baby!

We were sure of our conception date but somehow thought Chloe would arrive early, just to give Mom a break! It was June and the summer heat was getting the best of me!

Then, while I was visiting the midwives, my water broke with a gush!

I had gone to visit them, because I had been leaking amniotic fluid for a couple of hours but wasn't sure it was "the real thing," and then WHAM! my water broke for sure.

After an internal exam and a non-stress test, the midwives sent me home to rest up and gave me a time-tested recipe to get labor moving along.

I tried napping, but to no avail, so I mixed the recipe of castor oil and orange juice (just as awful as it sounds!) and drank it and waited...

Two hours passed and I drank another dose of the horrid stuff. I took a shower to keep my mind of the clock and began feeling stronger contractions; much like menstrual cramps.

I thought, "If this is what contractions feel like, I'm all set!" That was just the beginning...

I alerted my husband that the contractions were really strong and that we should try to time them. We had all agreed to stay at home until they were 5 minutes apart.

When my husband timed the space between one contraction and the next, he said, "Wait a minute... That can't be right."

The contractions were just three minutes apart and I'd only been feeling them for an hour or so! That castor oil really moves things along!

We alerted the midwives (it was midnight) and they agreed to meet us at the birth center in an hour.

Though I don't clearly remember it, my husband says I asked for the air conditioning on full blast on our drive and the night air was quite cool.

I remember having a raging argument in my head, asking why my husband was taking such a round-about route to the center. I never spoke up, but he told me later that he was trying to avoid the roads full of pot holes. What a guy!

We made it to the birth center and I had to stop twice between the car and the door of the building to squat and breathe through contractions.

Inside, the center was dark and quiet. We made our way to our room: Beautifully decorated with a double bed, quilt, big couch and lots of pillows.

After a quick check, the midwives found me to be almost 4 cm dilated. They said I still had work to do yet and I should walk around.

So I began what was indeed labor: I walked the dark halls and every couple of minutes, squatted and moaned through contractions, with my husband supporting my weight and hearing the reassuring voice of our doula in my ear.

I took a shower and walked some more. Our doula would remind me to relax and help my husband make me more comfortable.

At one point, early in the morning, one of our midwives showed me a belly dance move to help Chloe move further down the birth canal. So, there I was, in labor and swiveling my hips a la Elvis Presley!

I moaned and walked and squatted and swiveled and the midwives said they wanted to check me again. If I hadn't progressed, they were going to administer some herbs to move labor along. Also, remember, my water had broken quite awhile earlier and they didn't want to have to give me antibiotics.

On this check, the midwive laughed and said, "Why didn't you tell us you'd been pushing?!" She could feel the baby's head!

I had planned to have Chloe in the birth center's big tub, which takes 20 minutes or so to fill, so upon finding birth was imminent and I was ready to push, everyone ran to turn on the water and fill the tub in time!

I pushed twice "on dry land" and Baby's had was visible! Suddenly, knowing I was so close to the finish line, the pain of contractions ceased. I still felt I was in another time and place than the people around me, but I was more coherent than when I was in "LaborLand."

My husband and I climbed into the big tub of warm, soothing water and I leaned against him and totally relaxed and gave over control to my body.

Our midwife sang between pushing and cheered us on during.

After only a half hour, Chloe Bailey was born underwater at 6:51 a.m!

I have always been wary of hospitals and doctors, so choosing to have Chloe with the help of midwives and doulas was the only way to go.

They were all supportive and never questioned my veganism and we have a beautiful, healthy girl!

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