133 | Birthing in the Body - Gianna Fay
Gianna Fay, a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), tapped into herself as a resource as she ventured into her pregnancies. She also called upon people she had connected with along her journey as a birthworker. She started her first pregnancy living and working in Alaska. Gianna had access to the military base for care and where she worked. Allowing her to try out "centering pregnancy" at the base and thought it was a good option for them to allow her to "be the person pregnant." "Centering Pregnancy" is the process of having private physical exams completed by CNM's and doing all the other care as a group with other pregnant people. Other preparation included working out and curating a birth team to support her preferences. At the end of her third trimester, introspection through journaling and reading lots of positive birth stories (as a CNM, this helped clear her mind of all the things she sees daily). Gianna knew that she wanted to be in labor land, wanted to be a midwife and experience birth in her body with no interventions if possible.
After carefully planning and preparing for her pregnancy and labor support, she went into labor at 39 weeks three days with a huge gush of fluid in bed that woke her up. Labor moved faster than expected, and she welcomed her healthy son after managing her own choices. However, Gianna quickly noticed the shift in the room while her CNM was touching her perineum. Gianna turned back to her midwife brain; her CNM explained that she had a 4th-degree tear and needed to go to the operating room for repair. Her nurse brought baby Jacob to the operating room to initiate nursing, which was unexpected, but she was grateful for the provision. The immediate postpartum period was rocky, but her perineum tear healed better than she expected. Three months after giving birth Gianna, Evan, and Jacob drove nine days from Alaska to Michigan to start a new adventure.
Gianna and Evan discovered they were expecting again at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Gianna had planned a birthday trip to go back to Southern California and noticed she hadn't gotten a period. The day before leaving, she took a pregnancy test and confirmed their family was expanding again at six and a half months postpartum. They would welcome their second child as an unexpected blessing after experiencing the joy of their first child's birth. They were no longer living in Alaska and transitioning into new roles and responsibilities. Gianna desired to birth in a natural birth center, especially as she met most of the criteria to qualify for a low intervention experience. But her fetal growth ultrasound indicated severe intrauterine growth restriction. A wave of emotions began to move through Gianna as her midwife brain and birthing person brain started to conflict. She sought a second opinion and started to utilize her resources again to manage her care. However, she had unintentionally pushed the first domino, leading to a cascade of interventions. She would have an induction that tested her patience and will. She did not experience labor land or even feel like she was in her body like her birth with Jacob. Gianna had to pause and reset before going further down the road of interventions. The reset worked, and baby Elijah was born healthy and was not small, which confirmed what she knew in her heart. But she had coupled her knowledge of the medical system, her husband's feelings, and her self doubts after learning she had not been taking care of herself as well this time around, which all factored in her decision to move forward with the induction.
The pandemic made developing postpartum support challenging. The addition of having a toddler created new challenges that they didn't experience before. Her mother-in-law and sister were present as Evan traveled overseas with Covid-19 protocols extending the time frames. Returning to Gianna and his family, healthy communication and mental health support proved to be the tools they needed to get into a groove as a family of four.
Connect With Gianna:
Midwifay (Gianna Fay) | childbirth prep and consulting services
Resources:
Birthing from Within | childbirth education, resources and doula services
Midwifay (Gianna Fay) | childbirth prep and consulting services