Amy L: Three Positive Pregnancies, One Medically Abusive Birth Leads to Two Positive Births Following Her Body’s Lead

Amy from Montana shares her pregnancy and birth stories from her three sons. She was a Med Surg nurse to Labor & Delivery nurse, and now a Massage Therapist, primarily focusing on Prenatal and Cranial-Sacral work on babies, and a childbirth educator.

Amy became pregnant with her first baby at the age of 23 (10 years ago). She had no idea what pregnancy and childbirth were like, but knew she didn’t want to be induced at 39 weeks when her doctor told her to “show up if she wanted.” After a Prenatal Massage at 40+5 she woke up to contractions and headed to the hospital. She had a negative and scary experience overall when her OB broke her water without informed consent and then the anesthesiologist went too far for the epidural and essentially gave her a spinal tap.

She knew immediately she wanted to do things differently for her second son and stay at home as long as she could. She ended up having a positive birth experience with a different provider and gave birth soon after arriving at the hospital.

Her third baby was due in February 2020 and she really focused on connecting to this child through daily yoga & medication. She was worried about an induction as weeks 40 and 41 came and went and no signs of labor. At 41+5 (2 days before a scheduled induction) she began feeling contractions immediately after getting out of bed. She was 1cm when she arrived at the hospital and got in the tub. Her bag of water broke and only a few minutes later her third son was born!