My first son Zesru was born via C- section because of fetal distress due to a prolapsed cord.  I had planned to have a totally natural birth and the only reason I had an OB instead of a midwife was because there were no midwives in Savannah at the time.  Once I was in labor and at the hospital the nurse on duty repeatedly told me that I could not handle the pain and needed an epidural. She also kept reiterating this to my mother.  I eventually gave in and received a narcotic.  The narcotic completely knocked me out.  Eventually, my water was artificially broke by the physician.  In some cases when the water is broken artificially, and the cord is in the wrong place it can result in a prolapsed cord.  At the time I was 8 – 10 centimeters.  I was then strapped down to the table and given anesthesia.  When I woke up, the baby was not around.  In a panicked voice I demanded to know where my baby was.  My mate left the room.  When he came back he told me everything was fine, and the baby was in the nursery.  I expected him to stay with the baby.  When I did see my baby he had already had the vitamin K shot, as well as ointment in his eyes.  I hadn’t planned on getting these procedures done.

My second son Abdju Ra was also born via C- Section.  It was a planned C-section so I never went in labor.  Abdju was simply cut out of me.  Abdju Ra had breathing and digestive issues.  I believe his breathing problems were related to the C-section.  At the time I had a cyst.  So I had two operations at once, a C-section and the total removal of both my left ovary and fallopian tube.  So I was in a lot of pain.  I had both morphine and Percocet .  When I woke up my son was in the NICU being fed formula and sugar water.  I was in much pain.  I could not move and could barely talk.  When I was able to get around in the wheel chair I was by his side the whole time.  We were both traumatized.  Morphine and Percocet  were in my milk, Abdju – Ra was sleeping 23 hours a day.  I had to wake him to nurse him.  Once he was able to leave the nursery we were always together.  To this day Abdju-Ra is always by my side.  He stills sleeps in my bed.  I believe the way in which he was born affected him spiritually, physically, and mentally.

My third son Mu Netri’s birth was totally different.  Mu Netri was born at home with no midwife present, just the family.  It was so peaceful.  My two older boys were present for part of the labor.  I spent a lot of time on my birth ball during early labor, the ball was very comfortable, it relaxed my hip area while aligning my spine.  I was in an ideal position.  My water broke on the ball in huge gush around 1:00 am.  We waited a while before blowing up the birth pool.  I had a bathroom in my room and it was very easy to run a hose to the pool in my room.  At around 3:00 am I got in the pool.  I read that sometimes getting into the water to early can slow down labor but I felt that I was ready.  Once it seemed like labor was taking too long I remembered a birth story where the mother got out of the pool and the baby came right out so I decided to try it. But  I could not tolerate the pain outside of the water and, literally, jumped back in the pool.  My mate and I were not sure how many centimeters I was, however, I knew my body would tell me when it was time to push.  I pushed once in an all- fours position in the water.  At 7:30 am Mu Netri was born.  Mu Netri’s birth was so different from my previous experiences, it was truly the most beautiful experience ever had.  He is an exceptionally happy baby.  He smiled the first day he was born and has been smiling ever since.