Those Smiling Eyes

She had been at the birth center all day.  I had been very busy.  While she labored, strongly and with the support of her husband and doula, two other babies had been born.  I had been able to spend time with her.  To sit and be in her space, to feel the rhythm of her birth song.  I would have liked to spend more time with her.  Thankfully she had a wonderful doula, a doula that I know and have worked with before, so I knew she was in good hands when I could not be with her.  Eventually, I was able to concentrate souly on her. 

It was now early evening, the birth center was quiet, the subtle energy of the previous two births was light in the air. Her body and baby were making the shift, moving from opening to pushing.  She was working, walking in the hallways with her husband.  I was also walking, from her space to other spaces and back again, it seemed that there needed to be a flow.  Being still in one place was not correct for this labor. On one of my passes, I noticed that she was ever so slightly grunting at the top of her rush.  I smiled at her husband, the time was coming.  Just a few minutes later, she was in the bathroom, on the toilet.  I went to be with her and low and behold, she had brought her sweet little one to a small crown!  On her face was the most glorious smile and the happiness was shining through her eyes to lite up the small room.  She continued to smile through each push and calmly welcomed her daughter earthside. 

It was a birth surrounded by smiles, laughter and love.  It was a birth that every Mama and Baby deserve, one that characterizes why we do what we do.  All the struggles that make the birth center possible are worth every effort in these moments.