c-section delivery

"After an unplanned cesarean birth with my first daughter, I felt confused, fearful, and sad about my delivery experience. I loved my daughter, but struggled with processing her birth story. I had spent my pregnancy imagining a very different kind of birth, and so I was unprepared for the reality of what happened before, during, and after a cesarean birth. 

 

When I became pregnant with our second daughter, I immediately felt joyful and excited to add another human to our family, and then remembered that I would have to experience another birth to bring her into the world. This made me feel anxious, and I tried to push it away in my mind.

 

I was lucky enough to find Jess’s work at Intimate Mama. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I had made peace with my decision to have a planned cesarean, but I also wanted to feel more prepared with what to expect during my hospital stay. Jess’s videos on a cesarean birth were exactly what I needed, and I remember spending an afternoon watching each video segment and feeling more and more confident with each one. 

 

Jess is clear and concise while presenting information, and her tone of voice is so calming. She is an experienced L&D nurse and so she knows this stuff like the back of her hand. She guided me effortlessly through what the day would be like, talking about practical information like what the surgery room would look like and who would be in the room to how long we would be staying at the hospital to what healing might look like. Jess also made sure to include the emotional processing of the surgery as well, which I so appreciated. Her insistence that all emotions are normal and valid helped me to keep perspective and to feel empowered by the end of the course.

 

I can say with 100% certainty that I had a much smoother birth this time around because of help from the Intimate Mama courses. I walked into the hospital knowing what to expect, and I had Jess’s calm, soothing voice in the back of my mind. I knew I would be okay. I focused on each phase of surgery and recovery that Jess taught me about, and I was more present and less afraid because I knew what to expect. 

 

Today, I have two beautiful daughters! Each birth is unique, and I am grateful to have found my second birth so healing after my first experience. "

- Gianna D