A few months ago I had the privilege of witnessing a birth that was not my own. A wonderful momma wanted to capture the first moments of meeting her son. Birth in and of itself is Magical, but things don't always go as planned. This particular mom wanted to have her baby at home. We're in L.A. and it's becoming more common to have home births. It's peaceful, your more comfortable and have less distractions/interventions.
Unfortunationly for Mom, she tested positive for GBS. Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a type of bacterial infection that can be found in a pregnant woman’s vagina or rectum. This bacteria is normally found in the vagina and/or rectum of about 25% of all healthy, adult women. Women who test positive for GBS are said to be colonized. A mother can pass GBS to her baby during delivery.(*1) So this means that her midwives gave her a time limit and if the baby wasn't born by x time, she had to go to the hospital.
Mom was in labor for two days. Eventually she stalled and had to head to the hospital and received Pitocin, a brand name for Oxytocin that strengthens the contractions and progresses labor. She labored without an epidural! Even with Pitocin, which cause stronger contractions than an unmediated birth. Soon after receiving Pitocin, we got to meet the little dude.
Momma began comforting baby, all the stress of the last few days melted away and the sweet sound of her voice soothing him in her native tongue. It was beautiful!
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