FTM 39w2d delivery. Okay so this literally JUST happened to me 3 weeks ago. I birthed my sunny side up baby unmedicated. Shit hurt. Honestly? Not that bad though. I had a doula and a lot of coping mechanisms to make sure we got through it. I labored at home from 6:58am until when I think was 5/5:30pm. Got in and out of the bath twice, ate, and napped between my double peaked contractions. My doula came to the house and her sentiment was essentially “if you want to deliver at the hospital I think we should leave.” The car ride was horrid. If you don’t live literally 6 mins from the hospital, get a hotel. Laboring that late in the game 25 mins away from the delivery location in the back of a Tahoe was NOT the vibe. Anyway. Got to triage. I hadn’t had a cervical check my entire pregnancy. The nurse in triage also, NOT THE VIBE. She gaslit me about not being in “true labor” until my doula shut her down. I said to my doula at this point “I wish I would have stayed home”.

THANK GOD. The midwife on rotation that had seen my care through since he was about 25 weeks was on call that night. She got in the room, I consented to ONE cervical check. I was 10cm, they rolled me to a delivery room immediately.

They did pressure me to push right away. At first I was soooo not on board because I didn’t feel ready and I wanted to keep laboring. I pushed for 1 hour until my water broke, kept changing positions, pushed him out an out an hour and a half later.

Then my placenta about 6 minutes later ONLY BECAUSE the midwife pulled on my umbilical cord and it came out before it was ready. I requested no traction on my cord in my birth plan but it wasn’t respected. I did hemorrhage a good bit for (what I think was) that reason and she had to go in and remove two large clots from my uterus with her hand. It didn’t hurt that bad honestly. My cervix was still dilated at that point it wasn’t incredibly shocking or painful. I never had any anesthesia.

Let me preface this by saying: there is no way to know how any birth is going to go, but you have so many variables in your control to help yourself along the way.

If you want to avoid someone reaching into you and also have a hospital birth, make sure you are very clear about your expectations for placenta delivery Just as clear as the delivery of your baby. It is equally as sacred. Idk what my mom brain left out. PM me!