From the Ambulance to the Birth Tub | Birth Center

Birth

Feb 1

Wow, this was quite a wild night! Larissa and her husband Matt were absolutely amazing and showed some fierce calm and focus as her birth took some epic twists and turns! Mama shared some of her thoughts from her evening with me, and I included a few details of my own. Bottom line: birthing moms are AWESOME, even in the face of obstacles!

I don't do all of my births in black and white, but this one just felt so right edited this way! A dramatic, timeless night!

"I was 40+6 weeks pregnant and getting discouraged about the baby arriving. That evening I rolled around in the grass with my son, trying to enjoy every possible second alone with him, because it was only a matter of time before baby sister arrived. For dinner, I had a spicy burrito. About 15 minutes after finishing my dinner, I felt a little achy and 'weird.' I went to the bathroom, and I had my 'bloody show!' The contractions started immediately and I went upstairs to relax.

I put on my instrumental music station on Pandora. I snuggled on my bed, surrounded by pillows. With each contraction, I breathed through it, visualizing my body opening, or making way, for my baby girl to arrive. I also repeated to myself that this would only last a minute or so at the most and then I would get a break. I used the break in between contractions to let myself drift away with the music.

I texted my doula right away after having my 'bloody show.' I took a picture and asked her if this was the start of things. She said yes! My husband called the birth center and our doula once he measured the length and frequency of the contractions."

UF Health North is a hospital in Jacksonville where doulas and birth photographers are welcome.

Ready to photograph Larissa's birth, I arrived at the UF Birth Center and sipped coffee in the waiting room. I had been in touch via texting with their doula, Emily, and she said they would be arriving in about 25 minutes. But 25 minutes passed and they still hadn't come walking through the door! Their midwife, Bree, came to get me, and told me that there had been a change of plans...

A midwife stands inside the lobby at UF Health North, on the phone with her patient in labor.

"On our way to the birth center, there was an accident on the interstate. It blocked both lanes and the officers wouldn't let us through. By this time, my contractions were less than two minutes apart and getting closer together. My doula talked to the officers and they were able to agree to call an ambulance for me. I have never been transported in an ambulance before. No one could ride with me, so it was definitely a little scary, especially with contractions getting more intense and me feeling like I needed to push. The hardest part was being strapped in the stretcher. I couldn't move into a more comfortable position as contractions got more intense and more frequent. I was just hoping I would make it to the birth center before she was born! I just kept thinking about my body opening more and more with each contraction and that I was strong enough to survive this and birth my baby girl.”

My heart sank for Larissa and Matt; I couldn't imagine being that far into labor and being completely stuck. So we waited. I imagined all of the scenarios that I could potentially be photographing when they arrived and planned my camera settings and lighting. Would there be a little baby in the ambulance? Would she birth in the lobby? Could she make it upstairs to the birthing suite? The coffee had kicked in and I was jittery; I just wanted mama to arrive safe and sound to the place where she wanted to have this baby!

Doula Emily Wannenburg stands at the ambulance doors as her client is brought out.

Bree and I saw a silent ambulance, lights flashing, pulling down the road and up to the traffic circle. Two cars trailed behind; Matt in one and doula Emily in the other. Emily hopped out of her car and ran to the back of the ambulance. She didn’t know what Larissa would need, but she was ready to help.

Thankfully, Larissa was doing well and baby hadn't been born quite yet! I was blown away by her calm, determined nature. She was so incredibly focused!

The paramedics wheeled her through the lobby, into the elevator, and down the hallway to the birth center. We were all so relieved that she had made it!

A mom in labor is transported out of an ambulance, as she makes her way to the birth center.

A mother in labor closes her eyes, using Hypnobirthing to calmly relax and breathe.

A mother in labor is wheeled down the hallway on a stretcher to the birth center, where she shortly thereafter births her baby.

Once in the birthing suite, she found her rhythm and swayed through contractions while Emily provided her famous double hip squeeze.

A doula provides a double hip squeeze to her Hypnobirthing client in a birth center.

A doula provides comforting lower back counter pressure while a Hypnobirthing mom focuses through her contractions.

When she got in the tub, she was so supported by her loving husband, Matt. His gentle touch reassured her that she had done amazing so far and that she was so close to meeting their daughter.

A mother labors in water with the support of her husband and doula.

A midwife smiles at her patient while she uses a fetal doppler to listen to the baby’s heart beat while mom is in the birth tub.

"I think I pushed for less than 30 minutes (things were a little fuzzy once I arrived at the birth center). I was focusing on holding her for the first time. I wanted her out ASAP!"

Mom buries her head in a towel, breathing deeply as she waits for more contractions to push her baby into the birth tub.

As Larissa was laboring in the tub, Matt grabbed his phone to turn on some music for her. I was really thrown for a loop when I suddenly heard the opening track to Star Wars playing! You know, the orchestra that plays while the words are scrolling into space? I looked up at him and whispered, "What? Really?" And he whispered back, "She wanted to labor to instrumental music, but I can't get to her phone...I have this playlist! It's instrumental!" When I asked her about it afterwards, she said she didn't even hear the music playing at all. Talk about one focused mama!

A dad turns on some music for his wife to listen to as she gets ready to birth their daughter.

Close up image of a phone playing Star Wars music.

She pushed with all her strength for a short while, and before we knew it, her beautiful little girl was here!

A black and white image of a seconds-old newborn baby, on her mother’s chest. She was born in a birth tub at a Jacksonville, Florida birth center. She is covered in vernix and cries while the midwife assesses her.

"I couldn't believe she was there on my chest! She was so cheesy and beautiful. I didn't expect her to have all the vernix on her; my son didn't have much. She had lots of hair. She looked a little like the ultrasound pictures, but it's always so different seeing the baby on the outside. I'm still deciding who she looks more like--me or my husband. I was so in love again, like when my son was born. I was also relieved that she was safe with me!"

A mother sighs in relief as she holds her newborn baby to her chest after a water birth in Jacksonville.

A newborn baby girl rests on her mother’s chest after born in water at a Jacksonville birth center.

A newborn baby cries in her mother’s arms right after her Hypnobirth waterbirth at a birth center in Jacksonville.

A mother smiles triumphantly as she nurses her newborn baby after a water birth in Jacksonville.

It was such a special night to share with this sweet, go-with-the-flow couple. Baby Hazel was perfect in every way. Matt cut the cord and held his daughter for the first time while the midwives and doula helped Larissa out of the tub and into bed.

The midwife helps the dad to cut the umbilical cord after her water birth in Jacksonville.

A new dad picks his newborn daughter up out of the birth tub at a Jacksonville birth center near the airport.

A dad holds his new baby daughter and smiles as he lifts her up out of the birth tub.

A placenta drips into the birthing tub after birth at this Jacksonville birth center.

She immediately latched on and wanted to be cuddled and breastfed all through the night, exactly as it should be! She had gorgeous features; long, whispy hair, sweet little toes, and the cutest little pout!

Midwife Bree listens to a newborn heartbeat while she latches and begins breastfeeding.

New mom Larissa kisses the head of her newborn daughter, shortly after her birth in Jacksonville.

New parents smile at their newborn daughter.

A newborn baby snuggles up in her father’s arms shortly after her Jacksonville waterbirth.

Dallas Arthur is a birth photographer in Jacksonville, Florida.

This birth was especially touching to me since it was in the exact birth center, suite, and birthing tub where my daughter was born! Larissa and Matt were one of the few families who had the privilege of welcoming two children into the world at this birth center, as their two year old was also born in this very room!

(Unfortunately this very special birth center closed in the summer of 2019, but the legacy of The Nest lives on.)