"The Bradley Method® allowed us to have four amazingly exhilarating, empowering,
and joyful births."
Allow us to tell you a little bit about our journey in hopes to help you in yours. We are so blessed to have experienced six bradley births, one in a hospital and two water births at a birth center and three water births at home. (2nd birth pictured on the right)
But our journey started before we were pregnant. Steph was inspired by her mom, who gave birth to her naturally, to learn more about birth. She was fortunate to have a friend tell her to look into the Bradley Method®. We did and we are so thankful for Dr. Bradley, and Marjie and Jay Hathaway for establishing the Academy of Husband Coached Childbirth.
The Bradley Method® allowed us to have six amazingly empowering, and joyful births. Because of the Bradley training, Steph was completely aware and in control of relaxing her body throughout labor. She worked with her body and not against it. Kyle was with her every step of the way coaching and encouraging her toward their goal of three completely unmedicated births. We know that you can have the same with the Bradley training.
We have had the privilege of helping many couples achieve the same goal since April 2012!
Below is the story of our first daughter's beautiful birth.
Early labor began late at night on Friday January 25th, 2008. My contractions were irregular but persisted throughout the night and into the next day. Kyle and I ran errands all day Saturday and then tried to go to sleep around 9pm. At approximately 10:45pm the contractions were consistent. They were about 8-10 minutes apart and lasting about 45-60sec. By 11:45pm I told Kyle that I needed him to help me with a back rub and his coaching. We labored at home in bed until about 3am when we called our midwife, Maribeth. My contractions were 4-5 minutes apart and lasting about 60-80 seconds when we finally left for the hospital at 3:55am. When we arrived, I had agreed to a 30 min strip (for the hospitals sake). Once that was done, Maribeth checked me and I was 7cm dilated (at approximately 4:30am). I was very excited and pleasantly surprised at my dilation. At that point Kyle and I got in the tub and labored in there for about an hour. It actually seemed like the labor got easier while in the water. It was very relaxing. Maribeth monitored me intermittently throughout my labor. Right before I got out of the tub I vomited and began getting the shakes. That was annoying, but not a big deal. Had I not gone through the Bradley training that would have really worried me. But we learned that those things were all normal and so I had no fear. After that we decided to change positions. I labored backwards on the toilet. That was also a comfortable position for me. Kyle would sit behind me and squeeze my hips together and coach me amazingly through each contraction. I never felt so cared for before. He was fabulous. After I described a few of my contractions to Maribeth, she suggested trying to push slightly to see if it felt right. She was great at encouraging me to just listen to my body. I did. It felt better when I pushed so I got onto the bed so she could check me. I was fully dilated and excited to start really pushing my baby out. That was at 7:55am. I then pushed in a modified squat for approximately 20 minutes. Once her head was below my pubic bone I felt some pretty painful rectal pressure. Maribeth suggested that I try to push on my side, which helped a great deal. After I did that for another 10 or so minutes I told her that it just didn’t feel quite right. She then suggested I try to go on my hands and knees. I did and that made all the difference. I really got a good urge to push and my body just took over. She was born at 8:42am on Sunday morning caught by her proud Daddy. He passed her through my legs and I picked her up off the bed. Kyle was behind me holding me and I was holding her. It was an amazing moment. Kyle cut the cord once it was done pulsating and she nursed soon after that. Kyle and I held her for the first hour or so before anyone bothered us about cleaning or weighing. It was the most joyful time. Thank you Bradley Method!®