By MIA FREEDMAN
Every woman has a birth story – even if she’s never had a baby. Every woman can tell you about a birth that was dramatic, comical, tragic or in some way unusual. And even if the birth wasn’t yours, you’ll still have that story in your arsenal of anecdotes because women like to share and vent and debrief. Birth stories tend to be long and generally end the same way; with a health baby (please god).
I’ve given birth 3 times and when it’s happening, it really does feel like the most incredibly intense, life-changing, extraordinary event. It feels like there should be a public holiday, a commemorative stamp and tickertape parade, all thrown in your honour.
Oh and there is no short answer to the question: “how was your birth?”. Once a woman gets going, you should get comfortable. Because her version of ‘dramatic’ might not seem so dramatic when there’s not a human trying to get out of YOUR body.
But this story actually is pretty amazing. The Australian woman Sally Bertouch who gave birth in New York during Hurricane Sandy has set the bar pretty high for dramatic birth stories.
It goes something like this:
When she went into labour at 2am on Monday, she and her husband James had already moved into a hotel 10 blocks from the hospital because their Tribeca loft was too far away.
After 12 hours (count them, 12), of labour at the hotel, the couple decided to go to the hospital. “At that point, there was horizontal rain,” said Sally’s husband James. “If we left it another hour, the East River would have been flooded and we would have needed a boat.”
So they got to the hospital and breathed a sigh of relief, right? Wrong.
Sally Bertouch and baby SophieAfter six more hours labouring at the hospital, the lights started flickering before the building plunged into complete darkness.
The storm had flooded the hospital’s basement and its generator had failed.Doctors put glow sticks around their necks and borrowed Mr Bertouch’s mobile phone, using its light to guide them while giving Sally an epidural.
“It was pretty scary, crazy, apocalyptic weather outside but I felt confident because the doctors and nurses were so confident and in control,” Mr Bertouch said.
But more drama came at 1am, when the hospital had to be evacuated, and Sally was carried in her stretcher out of the hospital and to a waiting ambulance:
“It was just surreal,” Mr Bertouch said. “There were flashlights and mining helmets and hundreds of police and people from the fire department.”
“We’re all safe now and couldn’t be happier,” Mr Bertouch said.
I have so many favourite parts of that story it’s hard to pick just one but if I had to, it would be the glow-sticks. Next time I’m giving birth and I’m bitching about how long the epidural is taking to work, I’m going to think about being carried down eight flights of stairs by some firemen by the light of my glow-stick necklace.
Come on, we know you want to share….what was YOUR birth story – or if you don’t have one yet, have any of your friends had stories worth recounting?
Top Comments
I have a pretty amazing story to tell of the birth of my third child last year. That night I had gone to bed at about 11pm and fell asleep. About 15 minutes later I woke up wit a little belly cramp lasting about 30seconds, not too uncomfortable.i thought 'I'll just lie here for a sec and see if I get another one'. All of a sudden,I heard this 'pop'!, it was my waters breaking. I woke my husband up got him to help me to the bathroom. I felt a few contractions,but no real pain, then all of a sudden I couldn't stand up any more. Husband then helped me to the car, but I coudnt sit down and ended up kneeling on the front seat, facing backwards. As we left the drive I had a little twinge of a feeling that I wanted to push but I tried to ignore it. Then another contraction came and all of a sudden the head was out, here I was in the car, husbands driving and I've started to have the baby. I thought it best to not freak him out so I said nothing-I just wanted him to keep driving (the hospital is only 8 mins from our house).I waited for the next contraction, pushed her out, grabbed her and swiveled myself around onto the seat. "she's here!" I cried, my husband almost had a heart attack. She was breathing fine, crying and gurgling There was no phone reception to call an ambulance, and we were literally 2 minutes from the hospital so we wrapped her in my husbands jumper and drove to the hospital. The whole thing took a little over 25 minutes, i would have to describe it as utter instinct, a thrilling, and natural event, but not one I'd recommend to everyone!
I accidentally WALKED TO HOSPITAL IN LABOR...
In 1993 I was 25, living overseas, a first time mum (to be) and I wasn't due for another three weeks. And I had a lesson booked that morning about how to have a peaceful birth.
With no mobile phones or call waiting, no family and no money on me, I awoke with slight back pain but sent my husband off to work. A couple of hours later I called the hospital and described my discomfort and slight bleed- and they suggested I come straight in for a check-up.
I tried to call my husband but he was out of the office. I tried to call a friend of my mother's, who lived nearby. She was a chatterbox and on that particular morning she was chatting to someone for over an hour. So I gave up on that and eventually walked down the six flights of stairs and out the front door - unsure of what to do next (remember... no money and no mobile).
Not really feeling that I was in labor, I started to walk - albeit very slowly - in the direction of the shops, then past the shops and towards the hospital. I had waves of discomfort that seemed to come and go (ah yes, in hindsight obviously labor pains). I felt a little out of breath. I watched cabs go by and wondered if I could hail one with no money. I kept going, pausing at times, almost stopping people for help but feeling a little unsure and distracted. I walked past women who smiled at me sympathetically and contemplated telling them that I felt a bit strange.
But in a way, it was all too hard so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other (the way you do when you leave work feeling sick but somehow make it home, only to find you can hardly move from the bed to the bathroom once you are there). Eventually, over 2kms,1 hour and 2 suburbs later I arrived at the hospital. Funnily enough those last 100 metres or so where the hardest. Once in the comfort of the hospital it was quickly confirmed that I was indeed about to have a baby.
My lovely daughter was born that afternoon - three hours after I arrived!
Post script; My husband was called. He popped by and decided to go home and get my bag. Once there, he made a bowl of pasta, had a beer, had a nap and arrived back at the hospital just in time for the birth!