15. Kyla’s birth story — physiological birth with private OB + doula

Birth Choices

In this episode we speak with Kyla about her experience of navigating her choice of pregnancy care provider, and deciding to birth in a private hospital under the care of an obstetrician, with doula support. Coming from the US, Kyla was drawn to the possibility of public maternity care and also knew from her research that midwifery-led care was appropriate for her and her hopes for birth. Kyla’s pregnancy took place in the time of ongoing COVID restrictions and changes to pregnancy care, which meant that for her booked hospital, all appointments were by telehealth until well past 20 weeks. It was at this point that Kyla chose to reconsider her care provider and place of birth, and with the guidance of Sarah from @nurturedbirthmelbourne, decided to engage a private OB who was supportive of her desire to have a physiological birth, then engaging a birth doula for additional emotional and physical support. Kyla talks us through how she ensured that her OB was the right fit for her, and her experience of going well past her “due date” — feeling the social pressure but good in herself and support from her care provider to wait until she went into spontaneous labour at just shy of 42 weeks. She speaks positively about how doula support enabled her to labour at home before presenting to hospital ready to push her baby out, continuing to use her TENS machine as her main comfort measure. Kyla’s story is a great example of knowing your options and seeking out a care provider and the kinds of support that you want, no matter what category they fall under.

Links:

• Birth education via MAMA
• Birth with Confidence by Rhea Dempsey
• Care provider choices