Can You Wait to Push Until the Doctor Arrives?, with Alyssa Jennings

After a difficult first labor with many interventions, Alyssa Jennings was determined that her next birth would be much different. So what decisions did she make that led her to having to contain the fetal ejection reflex until her doctor finally arrived to catch her second baby, and what magic words did her husband say to help her do this? Check it out.

To listen here, click the play button on the player above, or click the button below to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Play.

What we talked about:

• The annoyance of prodromal labor
• “Can you break my water?” – collaborative decision making with your OB
• Informal, water-breaking induction at the birth center
• “What a relaxing atmosphere!”
• And then the phone rang… being pulled into her thinking brain
• “I think I need something”
• Second guessing her decision of having Stadol (a narcotic)
• The hard transition back into labor
• Finally getting some rest
• Passive descent with a peanut ball
• That time when baby crowned for almost an hour
• Birth partners: make sure you pee before pushing starts
• “The next time is going to be so different”
• Here we go again… with prodromal contractions
• Keeping the secret to herself
• Eating pizza in the tub
• Getting all the love from the doulas in the cozy doula space
• “Many mamas have labored here”
• “In your mind, how do you see this progressing?”
• Hospital, triage, trub
• “… unless you want me to have a baby in the tub.”
• How your partner can be the only one in the room who knows exactly what to say
• Taking the pause to claim her baby
• Breastfeeding: if it doesn’t feel right, something is up.
• How Alyssa feels about her birth stories

Birth tub focus

Resources and links to info mentioned on the show*:

• Breaking the Bag of Waters to Induce or Augment Labor, from VeryWell Family
• The Evidence on: Fetal Monitoring, from Evidence Based Birth
• Debunking the Bump: A Mathematician Mom Explodes Myths About Pregnancy, by Daphne Adler
• Flameless candles
• Spinning Babies website
• Expectful meditation app (bonus – if you use the link expectful.com/birthful you can get a free month!)
• Insight Timer meditation app
• Good Job Brain podcast
• Hypnobirthing with Alice – course taken by Alyssa
• Music from the album Savasana by Wah!
• Prenatal Yoga course taken by Alyssa
• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskin

Double-hip squeeze

Related Birthful podcast episodes:

• Informed Consent, with Cristen Pascucci
• Connecting With Your Baby in Utero , with Penny Simkin
• Prenatal Yoga, with Deena Blumenfeld
• The Holistic Stages of Birth, with Whapio (Part 1)
• The Holistic Stages of Birth, with Whapio (Part 2)

Post-birth hazy selfie

After the birth of her second son

Title music: “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).

Sponsorship music: “Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).