The Birth of Malakai Thomas Reeves

I love so many things about this birth video. First, a real birth pool in a hospital room--not a cramped, hard tub in a cramped bathroom! I love that they let her do that. All moms & nurses need to see this! They need to know what is possible in a hospital when mom's wishes and desires are respected. Second, that everyone left her alone during labor per her request, which created the atmosphere for her husband's sweet whisper. I loved that. Third, that she and her husband calmly & quietly "caught" their baby. I was also impressed at how relatively calm and quiet the midwives stayed after the birth. The midwife rubbing the baby’s head was so gentle—such a contrast to the way most nurses rub the baby. About the only thing that bothered me was cutting the cord so early. It seemed like as soon as they cut the cord and took the baby away, they were comfortably back in their standard hospital mode, ready to do their “stuff.” Gloria Lemay has written extensively about how the cord needs to stay intact, especially in situations where the baby needs a little help with breathing. She has many suggestions of how this can be done with the baby on or next to the mama. You could tell the baby was not happy being separated by his cry. However, it appeared he was reunited with his mama pretty quickly as she was still in the pool. All in all, an amazing birth. It really looked like they honored and respected the mother’s wishes and desires. Very cool. Thanks, Mamas & Babies blog for sharing this.