OnWednesday around 2:30pm I got a phone call from my doula client whose baby isn’t due until the end of this month.
“Wasidah, I think my water broke. The midwife says I am 3 centimeters. I’m on my way to the hospital to make sure.”
I was thinking, This can’t be happening. She’s a month early but she sounds like she’s at a picnic– super relaxed and calm. I run and start preparing my doula bag and thirty minutes later I get a call from her husband, “It’s going down tonight!”
I guess the little baby boy couldn’t wait. I rushed over to the hospital, popped on the Whitney Houston, which was what my client requested in advance, lit some candles and started employing my techniques.
As the night progressed, she needed something different with each contraction. She was completely in tune with her body and her baby. She told me when I needed to move a certain way or if she wanted me to skip one of Whitney’s songs.
Honestly, I think what helped her the most was her supportive, rockstar husband, followed by me bringing my “singing bowl” to help calm her nerves. They also took a few hydro-birth classes which really helped too.
When we got around 9.5 centimeter my client started saying affirmations to her unborn baby like:
“I can’t wait to meet baby!“
“We love you so much!”
At the end of the day, nothing brings me more gratitude and appreciation for being a doula than seeing a woman take control of her birth.