My Magical Mystical Underwater Birth

Life is sometimes magical and in a moment you are changed forever. Water birth was such a gateway through pregnancy and beyond. The moment my newborn arrived planetside, I was different. Full of possibility, joy, and bliss. Forever beyond living in fear.

Birthing choice is deeply personal. The way a woman gives birth must match her personality, comfort with risk, and personal convictions. Cultural, religious, and medical factors impact birthing choices. For me, those factors added up to one decision. Huffington Post explored the rich culture of water birth, which became my gateway to bliss.

This was not my first birth and I knew what to expect. I had labored in water before, but had gotten out of the tub to birth. I doubted stories of water birth reducing labor pains … until that sweet moment that I sank into the warm tub in our living room. The water became my personal doula.

Once in my doula bath, the birthing pains eased up so much that I thought labor had stopped. After a few minutes, I was surprised to notice that I was still in active labor. My labor pain was reduced by at least half.

At the moment before birth, my husband held me upright, freeing my hands so I could catch my baby. I was in the safe hands of a midwife with a doctoral level education. My focus was to create a magical passage for my little one into this planetside dimension.

I caught her just as she shot out of my body, the midwife helping me guide her to my breast, quickly verifying her health. After a few moments of shock and the afterbirth, I pulled back the warm towel to see that I had a baby girl.

Waves of ecstasy moving through my body, I gently offered my breast that was filled with milk from recent lactation with my toddler. My daughter, just 10 minutes old, latched on and drank. She was strong, alert, and capable … just as she is today, now a water birthing mother herself.

I held my daughter to my breast as my husband and midwife helped me step out of the birthing tub. I was clean from the water. After visiting the water closet, I settled into a rocking recliner where my newborn nursed for 3 hours straight before falling blissfully to sleep.

The waves of pleasure were more intense than any orgasm, stimulated by her suckling. The bliss transformed to a wave of energy with my heart so full of love that I thought it might burst. As my daughter drifted off to sleep, I placed her on the futon next to her father and went to my son.

I had allowed him to enjoy a popsicle from the ice cream truck just a few days before. It was a rare treat in our natural foods and attachment parenting (it was not called that back then) household. I had saved the rest of his huge red, white, and blue bomb pop in the freezer.

My son and I sat on the front steps while he enjoyed the rest of his bomb pop. We blew bubbles and sang songs. A neighbor visited. When my son went down for a nap, I folded laundry in a state of continued ecstasy.

When exhaustion and hunger finally hit me, a dear friend arrived with a pan of the most mystical and amazing homemade cinnamon buns. Those freshly made buns with gooey frosting … and that entire day … were the sweetest and most magical of my entire life … so far.

Darleen Claire is a Parenting Expert with a background in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Exceptional Student Education, and Brain-Based Strategies to promote Learning and Development.

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