[Birth Stories] Unprepared For A Fast-Starting Labor And A Surprisingly Hard Recovery

Erin Patterson’s birth was in many ways, the reverse of what she expected: It started strong from the get-go when she was expecting it to be slow and sporadic, she loved the car ride even though she had been dreading it, and when it came to pushing, she never imagined she’d be on her back. She shares with Adriana how the most unexpected thing was ending up with pelvic floor muscular trauma that made for a slow and difficult recovery requiring months of PT work, and how laid-back breastfeeding saved her nights.

Some of what we talked about:

• Sometimes birth is really slow to start
• Sometimes the car ride can be the best part
• Going deep into labor land
• The amniotic sac can audibly pop
• Don’t settle for something if you can make it better
• Roar your baby out: vocalization as a coping mechanism
• The need for encouraging words
• Communicate your wishes to your birth team, ahead of time!
• The difficulty of muscular trauma
• Different degrees of tearing
• An unexpected and long-to-heal postpartum recovery
• Helping your muscles relearn how to contract

Related resources*:

• The Business of Being Born website
• Watch The Business of Being Born on Informed Pregnancy Plus
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskin
• Natural Breastfeeding video

Related Birthful episodes:

• Baby’s Position And Labor Flow
• Rethinking The Pushing Stage
• Real Talk About Vaginal Tears And Episiotomies
• Have An Easier Pregnancy (And Birth!) With Chiropractic Care
• [Breastfeeding] “Laid-Back” Breastfeeding

Image description: Erin Patterson, a white-presenting person with reddish brown hair and narrow framed glasses, is wearing a gray shirt and holding her newborn baby sleeping on her chest

About Erin Patterson

Erin reached out to share the story of her 13.5-hour physiological birth in a freestanding birth center in Olympia, WA, primarily because she also had a slow recovery which involved a lot of chiropractic and physical therapy, and which she characterized as “something that I had never imagined I would need to do.” In Erin’s words, she was motivated to share because “I think that what happens after the birth is something that should be talked about more.” We couldn’t agree more!