09| Lindsay Ritcher: Birth Centre,Positive Birth,Long Labour,

Lindsay and her partner Joe are from Kitchener, ON and they had their daughter Delina September 2019. After a bit of talk they decided to let fate guide them and allowed themselves the opportunity to get pregnant and if it didn't happen they were okay with that as well. On their anniversary Lindsay took the pregnancy test and waited anxiously all day until Joe got home from work to surprise him by telling them they were pregnant, he was silent for a moment and when it sunk in he was so excited by the news. Lindsay had a fairly rough pregnancy, she was so nauseous and actually lost 15 pounds in the first few months of pregnancy.

"I was terrified of being pregnant, having and baby and the whole birthing process. I was literally terrified of it."

As a mental health nurse knew there must be a way to take the fear and anxiety away, also to keep her calm during childbirth so when she did some research she found Hypnobirthing which she raves about and even used it throughout her pregnancy for nausea and practice contractions, she took the classes and did lots of the practice during her pregnancy leading up to labour. Lindsay also did Pre-Natal yoga that she found super helpful and they did a parenting class together as well. She was with her family doctor until about 20 weeks and thankfully at 26 weeks she got into midwifery care after being on a wait list since early pregnancy she definitely wanted a midwife over an OB. The midwife clinic actually has a birth center which if what Lindsay decided on going that route and she had plans for a water birth in the tub they had available to her. The day Lindsay went into labour she did quite a bit of labouring at home, things were looking good and unfortunately when she got to the birth centre her contractions completely stopped. They suggested rupturing her membranes, Lindsay agreed and after they broke her waters her contractions really slowed down and since they were really decreasing the midwife had suggested they head over to hospital. Lindsay really wanted to allow her body to do its thing so she opted for some more time, she went into the tub while Joe did some light touch massage and had her mother reading her positive affirmations to help her relax which she found super helpful. After some time in the tub contractions had pretty much gone away, the midwife did a check in on baby and after a few checks baby's heart rate was decreasing so they made the decision to head over to hospital. The hospital was actually so close, Lindsay walked over there herself with her bags. After talking with the OB, taking time to process and think about their options, they had decided together to put Lindsay on Pitocin with an Epidural. When they hooked Lindsay up to the epidural she was already at a 6 cm; oddly enough her hospital had a rule that nobody was allowed in the room while she had the epidural administered which was upsetting to Lindsay because she couldn't have the support from Joe but at least she was able to have her midwife stay.

When it came time to push Lindsay said everyone would have to wait because her mom was still at home after everyone took some time to rest after the epidural was administered. Thankfully her mom made it just in time, within 5 contractions and some J breathing she learned through Hypnobirthing she pushed baby out smoothly and baby was brought right up to her chest and they did do delayed cord clamping. Delina latched on and after working with a nurse over their hospital stay on latch they got it figured out which Lindsay found super helpful. She took the first week to hunker down, limiting visitors and enjoyed the newborn bubble until she was ready for visitors. She has a great support system and was so thankful for all of the love and support she had during that early postpartum period.

Lindays had a rough postpartum recovery physically, she suffered from some very uncommon abdominal wall tearing and also she threw out her back in the first few days after Delinas birth so she did go to a pelvic floor physiotherapist to help.

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