Offbeat Mama | childbirth

This is Offbeat Mama’s archive of childbirth posts.

Most Recent Posts About childbirth

I finally gave birth to our baby girl on Thursday, July 1st 2010.

A day earlier, Mike and I had a 9:00am appointment at the birthing center. I was really anxious because I was not having any indications of contractions or oncoming labor. My body wasn't doing anything and we were running out of time. I was so exhausted. Quinn was on day 11 of being over-due and I would have to be induced three days later if we weren't able to stir up contractions. Jean, the owner of the birthing center met with Mike and I and did an internal exam. To our dismay, I was still only at about 1 1/2 cm's and 40% effaced. To top it off, Quinn hadn't even dropped yet. She was floating above my pelvic bone and not putting any pressure on the nerves that stimulate contractions. Not very good for being almost 42 weeks pregnant.

They had advised for me to drink castor oil at our previous appointment but I was hesitant and neglected to follow their instructions (stupid Tara!). Jean gave me a bit of a lecture (eeek!) telling me that at this point I would HAVE to try the castor oil since it was one of the only homeopathic natural remedies that could help push my body into labor if I were to remain a patient at the birthing center. It was more about getting Quinn out at this point, mostly because after 42 weeks the placenta starts to break down, the amniotic fluid starts to dry up and the baby continues to grow bigger and bigger. They were estimating she would be around nine or ten pounds at this point so the pressure was on!

The mother of all natural, midwife-assisted, hospital birth stories. Buckle in, because this one is long, challenging, and glorious.

Lotus birth babies have two birth days, they have the day that they were born into the world from Mama's womb and they have the day that their umbilical cord and placenta naturally detached from their belly button.

Caesarians are not always celebrated in the Offbeat world, but they are a very real part of the labor & delivery process many women experience. Gillie's birth story teaches us that, with the right team and encouragement, a caesarian can be every bit as empowering as any other kind of birth.

Erika sent us a link to this video, shot by Hailey of You Can't Be Serious Photography in Brisbane, Australia. Warning: tissues are a must. Also, there are scenes that have...

My older sister, who also had a VBAC, had told me that "it hurts and then it's over." I was skeptical at the time but it's true! It hurts, and then it's over! And you have a baby in your arms to show for it!

The ability to “go with the flow” and learn from this transformative, amazing (if challenging) experience called pregnancy and birth is how you will grow your womb-an wisdom.