When Midwives Give Birth - Erin's Birth Story

Some of my dearest friends are midwives. Working in the Denver Birth community for the last seven years has been such a blessing for a multitude of reasons, but at the top of the list: the relationships I’ve developed with midwives and labor/delivery nurses. Quite simply they are some of the strongest and most beautiful people I know.

I met Erin when she worked at Baby + Co. We had actually attended a birth years ago at Rose (a surprise vaginal breech birth) but I really got to know her when she became a midwife.

I also happened to be pregnant with my second baby, so she actually got to be one of my midwives during pregnancy. We did several births over the course of my pregnancy (including a birth that I attended just 48 hours before my own baby was born). Erin brought such a gentle and reassuring presence to the birth room, and I felt honored to work with her each and every time.

Erin gave birth to her first baby just a month after I gave birth to my second, Eliza. My best friend, Jennifer Mason, photographed her birth, which ended up being a long and trying marathon. Her first birth was full of so many beautiful moments, but it was also hard and exhausting. After many hours of labor, she ended up transferring to the hospital, where she eventually met her son. I think that people sometimes wrongly assume that midwives or doulas are able to make their own births smoother…and this just isn’t the case. Birth is a wild and unpredictable ride. One that is nearly impossible to control. It’s a lesson all of us birth workers learn time and time again (and often most acutely with our own birth stories).

When Erin got pregnant again, she longed for something different this time. Easier isn’t necessarily the right word, but I think she definitely hoped she wouldn’t have the same long and hard experience as last time.

Second births are often far different than first births…and this certainly proved true with Erin. She came to the birth center nearly complete and ready to have her baby. While her first birth had lasted for days…this birth only lasted for hours. She got into the birth tub and quickly pushed out her sweet baby into her arms. I cried as I watched them embrace each other.

I don’t necessarily like calling birth stories redemptive because I believe that each birth teaches us something infinitely valuable…but I do love that Erin had such a happy and smooth birth this time. I think these images convey just how magical it was…