I was doing a home visit with my first doula baby born in a pandemic yesterday, because her mother is pregnant with baby number two. Seeing her made me remember how many wild emotions and societal changes were happening as she made her entrance into the world.
July 10, 2020 was a wonderful day and in the midst of all the chaos and panic, that day provided the much needed oxytocin boost that was needed due to the depression of being in a pandemic.
I receive a text from my client early morning July 9th with labor signs. By the evening I was heading over a few times to check on her. By the next morning around 4-5am it was go time. I met her at her house where we labored a short time before heading to her birth center. Contractions were patterned and intensifying. We stayed in that room until her baby was born. I enjoyed that for that brief moment of hours, I forgot we were in total chaos in our world.
As I looked at this new baby girl, with my mask on, all I could think was “is this the new normal for us to come in the world not knowing who we are looking at?” I’m very spiritual about the baby’s traveling and passage into our world, it’s a sacred time and my biggest joy is brining comfort and peace to welcoming these tiny humans to their new world. I also remember thinking, ”I’m not sure how this world is going to turn out, me and these new babies will be learning together in a mid-pandemic world. I had a new renewed sense of hope.
I decided to get back to in person doula work because I knew it was needed, babies aren’t stopping because of this thing. I got my vaccine and booster and got on my way to doing what I know best, helping folks. So I showed up, masked up, and with a little prayer of safety for us all before walking into the birth location.
I completed 6 births during the pandemic of 2020, home, birth center and hospital and have helped countless others with lactation during that time. Definitely didn’t think I’d be doing any at all given our global problems.
If there is one thing I learned from this is that there is always beauty in the chaos. These babies represent that for me and I‘m thankful and blessed to continue doing work with families in the midst of all of it. The births I did in the pandemic were some of the most beautiful and powerful births I’ve ever attended! I shall soon post about them with consent and perhaps even have them share their own story with you.
At Best Start Birth Center, helping dad do skin to skin with baby while mom is resting and recovering.
