Birthing While Driving, with Laura Loos

Laura Loos has had two non-medicated vaginal births, with her second one happening so super fast that it involved birthing while driving. It also involved going into the hospital holding her baby, while her placenta was still attached, and a very intentional birth of said placenta. 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:

• Learning about childbirth, finding the right midwife
• Learning about how to birth unassisted, just in case
• Water breaking and no contractions
• Getting out the breast pump to stimulate things
• Actually laboring at home as long as possible
• Arriving at 10 cms
• The goal: distract myself during contractions
• Second time around: what if I want to change from the first birth?
• The desire of claiming her baby
• The desire of birthing her own placenta
• Building the confidence to be able to voice these choices in labor
• Strengthening her relationship with her inner voice
• Calming the fear of the stories around her
• … that time when the bag of waters broke again
• Feeling lightheaded, getting reassurance
• Hard to focus on meditations, call husband to come home
• “I think we should go now, I really can’t wait.”
• Wanting to laugh and relax between contractions
• Bets on when baby will arrive
• Birthing while driving
• Loud coaching from her inner voice
• “Can someone hand me a bowl?”
• The art of sailing vs. the art of rowing

Skin-to-skin at the hospital

Resources and links to info mentioned on the show*:

• Spinningbabies.com
• Preparing for a Freebirth/Unassisted Birth, from Indiebirth.org
• Optimal cord clamping: #waitforwhite
• Judy’s 3-4-5 Protocol: Combining the Best Parts of Active and Expectant Management of Third Stage of Labor for Lowest PPH > 500 cc and no PPH >1000 cc
• How to Hear From Your Intuition Today, podcast episode with Jess Lively
• Yoga Nidra and Self Healing: The Art of Conscious Deep Relaxation, audio by Dr. Marc Halpern
• Chinese Fable – Good Luck, Bad Luck, Who’s Knows? (Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.), from Dr. Marlo Archer
• “Luminous Life: How the Science of Light Unlocks the Art of Living” by Jacob Israel Liberman, OD, PhD
  • “Your life is looking for you, continually guiding you through the process of presence so that you may fulfill your reason for being”
  • “Do what you love, love what you do, and the world will come to you. …doing what you love is the same as following your guidance, creating a foundation of authentic trust, unconditional love, absolute integrity and unquestionable respect for the wisdom of life and your own sense of knowing.”

• Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, wonderful book that includes the Concept of Wu Wei, meaning “Non-Doing”

The front seat, where her baby was born

Related Birthful podcast episodes:

• The Holistic Stages of Birth, with Whapio (Part 1)
• The Holistic Stages of Birth, with Whapio (Part 2)
• Pleasure in Birth, with Debra Pascali-Bonaro
• Why an OB chose a homebirth, with Amali Lokugamage

Laura’s husband, recreating the drive to the hospital.

Courtesy of Laura Loos

About Laura Loos

Laura Loos lives in a western suburb of Chicago with her husband, Jonathan (of 6 years) and two boys, Zachariah (4 years) and Leonidas (3 months). She’s a multi-passionate stay-at-home mom, that enjoys being led by her curiosity and intuition. During the birth of her second child, she witnessed a power within her, and hopes that everyone can discover the power that exists within themselves: Connect with her on her IG @Laura_allison_loos.

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).