When I found out I was pregnant with our firstborn, the search was on for a good hospital system for the delivery. I knew two things right off the bat: I wanted to deliver naturally and I wanted to have a female doctor. While the first could be achieved at the community hospital system in my hometown, 30 miles north of Kansas City, I knew the second could not be guaranteed. I felt it was worth the drive to be seen at Northland Women’s Health Care, where an all-female staff of doctors and nurses provide full OB/GYN care.
I enjoyed getting to know my primary doctor during the first monthly visits, but it was especially encouraging during my last few months of pregnancy getting to know all the others on staff. I was also glad I would not be meeting the on-call doctor for the first time when I went into labor.
At my final prenatal appointment, I had a sonogram. There were some questions about Baby’s heartbeat, which required monitoring for an additional hour. It turned out he was fine and, unbeknownst to me, I was in the early stages of labor. Contractions remained consistent enough to go next door to St. Luke’s Northland, where patients deliver. I was initially admitted into a triage ward where I was encouraged to walk around the halls to jump start labor. Power walking did the trick and, in no time flat, I was escorted into their beautiful new maternity ward.
My focal point of choice throughout intensifying contractions was none other than the picturesque downtown skyline that was on full display outside my delivery room’s large window. The doctor and nurses were supportive of my decision to have an unmedicated delivery, yet I found being confined to a bed constricting, and ice chips didn’t curb my hunger after missing two meals. Thankfully, active labor from start to finish was uncharacteristically quick for a first-time mom (less than four hours) and required no medical interventions.
One year later, we found ourselves moving to Olathe and announcing that our family was growing. It was back to the drawing board (regarding prenatal care), as we now found ourselves on the other side of the city. I admittedly watched more episodes of TLC’s A Baby Story than many would care to know. A number of women on the show elected to have a water birth, referring to it as “nature’s epidural.” That sounded like heaven, and I knew if I could labor flat on my back in a hospital bed successfully, how much better would it be sitting upright in a tub? Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before I found out that water birthing was prohibited within the nearby hospital systems. My next choice would have been a birthing center, but there were none close by at the time, so we looked into a very foreign concept to me at the time: home birth with a midwife.
My desire to water birth was strong, but I didn’t know whether it was strong enough to forgo a traditional hospital delivery. We opted to interview a midwife and only determine our plan after the consultation. I went into the meeting with some reluctance but found my mind put at ease as we soon discovered how favorable outcomes were for home birth with skilled care.
The day before my first appointment with our midwife, I was in a car accident where the brunt of the impact was on my abdomen. I was 12 weeks pregnant and convinced that something terrible had happened to our baby. My uneasiness increased as an ER nurse failed to detect a heartbeat. A labor and delivery nurse was sent in and, after quite some time, she detected a faint pulse. The next day at our home appointment, I relayed the events of the visit to my midwife, preparing her that it might be hard to find the heartbeat. That proved unnecessary, as she found a strong heartbeat within seconds and even told me the tone sounded very much like a boy’s heart (we would find out later during our sonogram that she was correct). Appointments were longer than I experienced at the hospital, covering all the same bases as during my first pregnancy, such as lab work and ultrasounds, but extending to focus on nutrition (literally looking through the kitchen cabinets together) and lifestyle.
I felt empowered through the additional education I received and confident in my midwife’s ability to coach me through labor, which wound up being lightning fast. Water birthing was wonderful, and in hindsight, I was thankful that I had a home birth (as my active labor was so quick there wouldn’t have been time for transfer of care). Being able to shower and lie in my own bed immediately after was an added perk.
This past year, we welcomed our third child, and I experienced yet another first: delivering at a birthing center. New Birth Company in Overland Park opened its doors in 2011, providing a happy medium between a hospital and home birth. Aromatherapy, music therapy and a water wall create a spa-like environment. Each birthing suite houses a kitchenette, jacuzzi tub (for birthing and post-labor) and queen size bed. Suites are modeled after high-end hotel rooms but inconspicuously house emergency medical supplies should they be needed. I was encouraged to walk the wooded trails around the building during the early stages of labor. After delivery, we found ourselves surrounded by the staff as they sang “Happy Birthday” to our newborn and presented us with a cake.
I’m often asked what my favorite birthing experience has been, but truthfully, all have delivered favorable outcomes: healthy babies born in safe environments with skillful care. And what could be better than that?
Lauren Greenlee and her growing family live in Olathe.