08/01/2026
I spent months preparing for my dream unmedicated home birth… but there was one thing no birth class, book, or midwife could have prepared me for.
It was my second baby, and I had already done the whole traumatic hospital birth, so I was ready for my redemptive, beautiful easy homebirth… Or so I thought. I did as much research as I thought was necessary (spoiler, it wasn’t enough, but actually, I don’t think any amount of research could’ve prepared me for what I was about to go through…) my body started pushing and that went on for a good 45 minutes with what felt like no progress. So my Midwife asked if she could check me and I consented. I was only a six.
The energy in the room shifted a little bit, and I began to feel frightened and discouraged. I worked hard for the next two hours in all sorts of different positions and locations roaring like a bear the entire time. My beautiful son was born in the water, with absolutely no tearing as an immense grace from God.
My Midwife took one look at him an hour later during the newborn exam and immediately knew what had happened. But it wasn’t her place to make that diagnosis so she encouraged us towards our pediatrician ASAP. Come to find out, my midwife had surmised correctly: my son was born with sagittal craniosynostosis, a rare congenital condition where parts of the skull fuse together before birth. During my unmedicated home water birth, his skull couldn’t mold as it normally would while moving through the birth canal. In his case, it was two different places on his skull so when trying to come down through the birth canal, his skull was not able to shift whatsoever. 💀
And here I was thinking I wasn’t tough enough for unmedicated birth. I was so very wrong. 💪🏼
If you’re preparing for an unmedicated hospital birth, home birth, or water birth, I hope this reminds you that every story is unique, your body is stronger than you think, and sometimes the hardest labors have explanations you never could have foreseen 🩷
