As a doula I've had a lot of different birhs but a recent one has left me in complete awe. Due to doula-client privacy I can't give the clients names or name of the hospital but I really wanted to share this story.

Jane called me around nine am to let me know her water had just ruptured but she was not having any contracions yet. I told her now was the time eat and take a shower and to call me when she was done. At eleven am her husband called to let me know she was in a lot of pain, crying through her contractions which were averaging seven minutes apart and they were going to the hospital.

I met them there and we began walking the halls. Jane was power walking at such a fast pace that John and I could barely keep up! She would try other positions but felt like she wasn't doing anything and that she needed to walk. She was complaining of really bad back pain and very low stomach pain. At around five thirty pm she sent me to walmart to but her more frozen flavored ice pops. I called a fellow doula for advice as I was quickly becoming exhausted and sore from doing the hip squeeze and sprinting in the hallways. Spirits renewed I returned to mom. We power walked the halls all night.

At about one am she was a very tight four centimeters and ninety five percent effaced so we continued walking. Just before five am she stopped dead in tracks and said she felt the head. Thinking she was feeling pressure I suggested we go back to her room. She informed me no, she felt the head in her vagina and that the baby was coming. When I opened my mouth to reply she demanded I look. I got on my hands and knees and looked and saw tiny eyes looking back at me! I screamed for help and informed the nurse who responded that she was crowning and we needed help. The nurse not believing, said she'd get a whelchair so we could go back to mom's room and she dissapeared. I sat on my knees between moms legs and watched in slow motion as this baby with not only a face presentation but both hands by the face came out, tearing mom in the process. I caught the baby while a shocked dad stood there speachless with a look of complete amazement on his face. The nurse returned and imagine her shock to find the three of us cooing at a new baby. We rushed mom back to her room. While baby was happy and healthly if a little puffy and and bruised but mom was pale and bleeding heavily. The placenta had attached to scar tissue and would not release so the doctor knowing time was of the essence had to reach in and scoop it out. About that time mom told me to take the baby. I stood there with this beautiful little girl in my arms and watched as they gave mom multiple medications and attempted to get her bleeding under control all the while thinking that I was watching her bleed to death. A short while and a few bags of blood later mom was smiling watching her new daughter nurse like a pro. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and smiled a smile that said it all. I walked out of that hospital with a reminder of exactly why I became a doula.