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.

The Birth Story Of Rebecca

Jason and I had decided that we didn't want to wait to have children, so we were both excited when one month after out wedding I suspected I was pregnant. We went to Wal-Mart and bought a pregnancy test and it was positive!

Now we had to decide where and how to give birth. We both wanted the birth to take place at home but I wanted an unassisted birth, with just Jason and I. Jason wanted a midwife to be there. So we compromised, we found a midwife who was willing to attend but not interfere in any way; no vaginal exams, no checkups, no fetal monitoring, no timing contractions etc. I wanted to let my body do what it wanted, totally natural. I was very impressed with our midwife, Nancy, and fell in love with her the moment I saw her. She was so encouraging and filled with spirit!

My pregnancy was very easy. I had recently switched to a vegan diet and was very healthy. I had no discomforts at all. I walked and ate a lot! I only gained 15 pounds the entire pregnancy but I wasn't worried about it as I felt great and the baby was very strong, kicking me all the time. I didn't really show at all. Around nine months I finally got a little tiny belly.

On March 9th, 1998 I woke up at 11:pm. I had went to bed at nine so had been sleeping well for two hours. I wasn't sure why I had woken and tried to fall back asleep. But at 11:05 I gasped as a contraction tore through my torso. I was surprised, as I had been told by everyone that labor starts slow and than builds up. That early labor is easy and you can go about your day normally until hard labor stars. At 11:10 I had another contraction and there was no way I was going to be able to bake cookies or do laundry, both early labor project ideas. When another one hit at 11:15 I decided to wake Jason up. (This was the only time that I timed my contractions) After shaking his shoulder and telling him that I thought I was in labor he groggily asked if he could go back to sleep. Seeing the look I gave in reply, as I had another contraction, he decided he should in fact get up.

I decided to get up and move around a bit. I walked the hall while Jason tried to wake up. I paced up and down leaning against the wall when I had a contraction. They got more intense and I switched to leaning on Jason and had to really breath through them.

At 12:00 Jason said he wanted to call Nancy and let her know I was in labor. She told him to call back when the contractions were five minutes apart. He informed her that they already were and she said she would be there in about two hours. After Jason got off the phone I spent the next half hour trying to convince him to go get me some orange juice. I was craving some so bad! But seeing as though we lived 45 minutes from the closest store, he didn't think it would be a good idea to leave me for the hour and a half it would take him. I wasn't happy; I really wanted some orange juice.

The contractions started getting a lot harder and I was tired from all the walking. My back was hurting a lot so I tried to lie on the bed but that made it worse. I got on my hands and knees on the bed and Jason rubbed my back. He spoke quietly to me as I breathed. He told me that I was beautiful and brave and doing so great, that he was proud of me. He wiped away the tears that were streaming from my eyes.

Nancy got there around 2:00am. I was never so happy to see anyone. I relaxed so much the instant she walked in the door. She is one of those wonderful beings who always seem to glow and always so positive. She gave me a big hug and said I looked great. She gave Jason some tiger balm to rub on my back and said she was going to go sleep on the couch.
For the next five hours Jason and I labored together. I walked, squatted, paced, leaned, rocked, danced, swayed, and tried every position I could think of. Jason was by my side the whole time, whispering softly in my ear.

No phones ringing, no machines beeping, no voices, no nurses asking questions, no doctors poking, no tubes, no needles, no IV in my wrist, no cords, no monitors strapped to my belly, no bright lights, no painful examinations. Just my husband and I: and the quiet presence of our midwife asleep on the couch.

Around 7:00am things picked up. My contractions were very close together and a lot harder. I had the sudden urge to get in the tub. Jason filled the bath and I got in. It felt great! The most comfortable I had been so far. Nancy woke up and watched me for a while and then started to get things ready. She then sat in the corner and read her bible, I asked her to read out loud and she did. It was very soothing.

Around 8:00 I told Jason that I was ready to push. He told Nancy and she told him to help me out of the tub. I told Jason I didn't want to get out. He said he thought it would be a good idea if I did. I replied, "There is NO way that I'm getting out of this tub it's the only place that I am comfortable!" He informed Nancy that I wanted to stay. She kind of paused and than said "Ok, I guess we'll have the baby in the tub." I started to push and I could feel the baby move down a little each time. I pushed for three hours and then told Jason that I just couldn't do it anymore, that I was tired, hungry, and wanted it all to be over.

"You're almost there sweetie, just a few more pushes, I know you can do it."

I took a deep breath and gave one really long huge push, as I did so I felt the baby move down a lot. "I can see the top of the head," Jason said.

Nancy pulled the plug in the tub and Jason went to the end of the tub. I pushed for a few more minutes as Jason told me what he could see. He reached down as the head came out; I gave one more push and felt the baby leave my body. Jason placed the babe on my chest, "Mary, it's a girl," he said as he kissed us both. She was beautiful. I held her for a long time, just staring into her eyes. She looked right back and I whispered, "I will always love you". When she heard my voice she reached out and touched my mouth. Making sure that the cord had stopped pulsing, Jason then cut it. I handed Rebecca to Jason and stood up, as I did so the placenta slid out. I lay down in my bed and Jason handed Rebecca to me and I placed her on my breast, we both feel asleep. Nancy woke me up a little while latter to tell me goodbye. She had cleaned everything up and was ready to go. I hugged her, thanked her for her wonderful support and told her I'd call her later.

After she left Jason crawled into bed with us. We were all three pretty tired! We rested for a while and then I told him I was hungry. He made me lunch and then said he was going to call everyone and tell then the news. I told him to ask the first person he called to bring me some orange juice.

To see pictures go to our website at: http://www.sidjf.com/finchfamily

The reason Rebecca's birth was so neat was that I totally listened to my body. I had never heard of a water birth at that point in my life. (It wasn't until I went through my doula training, four years later, that I learned it is now a normal way to birth.) I just felt the urge to be in water and responded to that. The birth was so awesome as Jason and I bonded together so much. I felt like my labor was a dance and we were swaying to the music of my contractions. And those moments holding Rebecca with no interference was so amazing.

And yes, I still love orange juice. In fact, it is one of my favorite things and I drink it all the time.

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