A Transformational Natural Birth Story
From Anxiety and Gestational Diabetes to Empowered Motherhood
I’ve known Sariah for 13 years. When she contacted me to say she was pregnant, I was over the moon. I first met her at a midwifery school I co-owned 12 years ago. Our classes were very small and in-person, and it was so wonderful to get to really get to know her. At the time, she was quite young and I was impressed with her knowledge and ambition to become a woman in service of other women.
When she and her partner first came in for prenatal care at our birth center, we talked about pregnancy nutrition and any medication she was taking. We talked about movement in pregnancy, mindfulness during pregnancy, and how she felt about birth. Sariah shared with me that she was taking a few different medications to deal with anxiety and depression and that her diet wasn’t the best. I had a fairly frank conversation with her and told her that if she really wanted an out-of-hospital birth, there were some things we’d need to work on.
I’ll tell you what—I haven’t often seen a woman who is as willing and motivated to create health in her life as Sariah. We talked in depth about the antidepressants, what consequences they could create in her baby, and whether or not she would feel like it was a safe and correct choice to wean off of them. Mental health in pregnancy can be complex, and it’s always a deeply personal journey.
When I saw her at her next visit, she told me she had decided to stop all of her medications and to engage, as much as possible, in several activities that would help with this transition and bring her joy and happiness, as well as support her in dealing with the anxiety and depression. (Never wean off medications without support from a trusted provider.) She incorporated more nutrient-rich whole foods, gentle exercise, and mindfulness into her daily life.
When her third trimester rolled around, we discussed options for gestational diabetes screening. I know many midwives suggest drinking the 50g glucose load, but I hate that drink, and I love it when my mothers are willing to poke their fingers for about five days to see what’s going on with their blood sugar when they eat their normal diets. Blood sugar monitoring during pregnancy can be a more accurate and holistic alternative for some women. I’ll definitely do another email with a deep dive into gestational diabetes screening, but I’ll say here that Sariah chose to do the pokes.
When she came to her next visit, we reviewed the numbers and realized that she was dealing with true gestational diabetes. The numbers weren’t so high, however, that I didn’t feel we couldn’t remedy things with gestational diabetes diet changes and gentle prenatal exercise—and Sariah was on board 110%.
Poor Sariah had to poke her finger four times a day for almost every day of the rest of her pregnancy. But between she and I, and lots of hard work on her part, she got her numbers within the normal range and continued with that fantastic way of eating and moving her body through the rest of her pregnancy.
You won’t believe this (or maybe you will)—but she went all the way to term and a few days over, had an extremely short labor, arrived at the birth center pushing, and 31 minutes later, very easily and quickly gave birth to her sweet little angel who weighed 7 lbs 1 oz with an APGAR of 10/10. She had extremely minimal bleeding and only a tiny tear requiring no repair.
One of the most beautiful parts of her natural birth was that her supportive and loving partner caught their baby while I videoed for them, and Sariah’s sweet sister sat behind her, just holding Sariah in her arms and crying when the baby came out.
Sariah said she felt powerful and strong and was so proud of herself. This is the kind of empowered birth story that reminds us why honoring the whole woman—mind, body, and soul—is so important in midwifery care.