There’s not a shortage of instagram posts and news articles talking about the current state of black maternal health in this country. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t think about it in relation to my own pregnancy. Would I survive child birth? Would I have a traumatic birthing experience?

Now at two weeks postpartum, I can honestly say my pregnancy and birth experience was very empowering. I had no real pregnancy symptoms. I didn’t have to deal with morning sickness, food aversions, fatigue or anything that drastically changed the course of my day. I didn’t even start showing until the end of my 2nd trimester.

This allowed me to focus on one of the most important aspects of pregnancy and child birth – creating a support system and circle of positive like-minded friends and family. I knew from the beginning I would need all the support I could get and I was eager to learn as much as I could to prepare me for this new journey.

That’s why I joined The Womb Room at around 16 weeks. I was looking for somewhere I could get childbirth education classes, support groups, and prenatal yoga all in one place. I got all of that and found my doula from there. I took classes on everything from pelvic mechanics, baby basics, comfort measures, to infant feeding, CPR, and so much more. I also tried to stay as active as I could by taking prenatal yoga classes 2-3x a week. I cannot stress enough how important and foundational The Womb Room was and still is to me.

Group photo from the 6-week childbirth education class I took at The Womb Room.

At my 20 week anatomy scan, I was diagnosed with a single umbilical artery (SUA). A rare occurrence that happens in about 1 percent of pregnancies. This classified me as high risk and I was referred to Children’s National Hospital for a fetal MRI. They took a look at my baby’s brain to ensure things were growing correctly and luckily everything turned out fine.

By my third trimester, I was getting weekly ultrasounds and non stress tests (NST). My anxiety about child birth was increasing but being able to hear her heartbeat on a weekly basis was reassuring. My OB at Capital Women’s Care recommended induction at 39 weeks. However, given my body was showing no signs of labor being near and my baby continuously passing her NSTs and biophysical profile, I declined. I just wasn’t ready and I was still hoping for a spontaneous birthing experience.

Posters I made for my hospital room. They read “You Go Mama,” “Safe Birth, Healthy Baby,” and “She’s (almost) Here.”

Her due date (October 29) came and I knew going beyond 40 weeks with an SUA was risky. So I was able to reschedule my induction for November 5 at 41 weeks. My induction was successful. When I got to the hospital, my cervix was still closed. This girl really had no intention on leaving and honestly given the state of the world I couldn’t blame her. I had got the foley balloon which helped me dilate to 4cm. By 8am on November 6, my OB came to manually break my water and labor officially started.

From there, I received Pitocin increasing every 30min-1hr and wow that was an experience. I remember asking my nurse if we can take a break because there’s no way this can be tolerable. Seriously, how do people do this?! At 11:50am upon reaching 5cm, I requested an epidural. I just knew I couldn’t make it to 10cm at that pain level. I reached 8cm around 3:30pm so things were starting to progress quickly. My epidural was perfect in that I still was able to move on my own once I started pushing. 

Unfortunately, after 3 hours of consistent pushing my baby still hadn’t crowned and we tried almost every position imaginable. My OB said that once we reach 4 hours I would be recommended for a C-section. My doula asked for alternatives to which the vacuum and delivery by forceps were mentioned. After evaluating the risks, we decided on delivery by forceps. 

When that decision was made, my delivery room went from just 2 medical professionals to a crowded room of people. My epidural was increased and it felt like things started moving in slow motion. I remember my OB picking up the forceps and me asking if I could just have a moment. At that point, it seemed like the room froze. I took that moment to breathe and mentally prepare myself for whatever happens next. And then I said, “okay, I’m ready.” Everyone in the room began to move again. After 3 pulls by forceps and very hard pushes by me, I delivered my daughter vaginally at 8:45pm. I also got a 3rd degree tear in the process. 

When my daughter was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. My OB moved so fast to unwrap it, I almost didn’t notice. Then she was handed to the NICU staff who were waiting patiently in the room to evaluate her. I didn’t hear any sounds coming from my baby which instantly made me start to cry. But my doula reassured me that everything was okay. A couple seconds later, I heard the faint sounds of a baby crying, my baby. She was then placed on my chest for skin-to-skin and it was the most beautiful indescribable feeling ever.

Once my placenta was delivered, my OB noted that in addition to my SUA I also had a velamentous cord insertion. Because of these rare complications, some would say I gave birth to a miracle baby.

I love my birth story because although it wasn’t the spontaneous birth that I wanted, everything still worked out perfectly. The staff at GBMC where I delivered were all amazing and the knowledge my doula and OB provided made me feel very supported.