From the desk of Jessica Porter a mother-friendly birth. (Go Ask ALACE).

I have been involved with the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) since it was formed in 1996. CIMS is currently in the process of designating birth sites as "Mother-Friendly" if they meet certain standards. (See page 14 for more information about CIMS.)

I have served on CIMS' Board of Directors for the past year-and-a-half, which has been a real honor. I enjoy the company of the other board members, and always look forward to our meetings. They provide inspiration, strength, lots of laughs, and usually some pretty tasty meals.

As the host of our mid-year meeting in Boston this August, I was particularly excited. I had last seen everyone at our annual meeting in Texas, when I was twelve weeks pregnant. It was wonderful to be pregnant among this group of inspiring women and even a few men, and I have to admit I did not mind the nurturing I received! So I was looking forward to seeing my CIMS friends again, and to basking in the glow of late pregnancy with them.

We had scheduled the meeting for the second weekend in August, when I would be in my thirty-seventh week of pregnancy. I had gone to forty-one weeks with my first birth, and felt pretty confident that I would not be too early this time around. My mother was planning to come to Boston from Michigan when I was thirty-nine weeks, and I was sure that I would not go into labor until I she arrived because she had been a valuable source of support during my first birth.

Five wonderful women came for the meeting--Rae Davies, CIMS Executive Director, Barbara Hotelling, CIMS Chairperson, Deb Woolley, CIMS co-chair, Carol Davis, our Designation Committee Chair, and Pat Turner, CIMS co-chair. I won't go into all of their impressive credentials, but the group included past presidents of Lamaze, International and Doulas of North America (DONA) and the current president of the International Childbirth Educators Association (ICEA), among all of their many other achievements!

On Friday, August 10, I picked up Rae, Barbara, and Carol at the airport, and Pat drove down from Maine. We were experiencing record heat, and they were all quite patient with my hot house, which was still cluttered with moving boxes. Rae and I headed out to the grocery store to get some food for our weekend, and while there she insisted that I pick up the rest of the supplies that we needed for the homebirth. I indulged her despite my confidence that the birth was a couple weeks away, and we headed home for a great dinner with friends and the beginning of a very work-intensive weekend.

That night Matthew and Emma, my partner and daughter, headed down to Cape Cod to spend the weekend with his folks, so we could work undistracted. We met late into the night, and left a note on the door for Deb, who had a late flight and would be arriving by cab after midnight.

As everyone found a bed, I reflected on how fortunate I am to know all of these wonderful women, and what a gift it was to have their energy surround me so close to my birth. As I fell asleep, I had no idea how close that actually was!

At about two in the morning, I woke up with that familiar pregnancy urge to pee, and as I was getting out of bed my water broke. I have to admit my first thoughts were not at all positive as I reflected on how bad the timing was. My partner and daughter were not at home, I had five women spending the weekend, my mother was not there, and the second midwife, who had been at my daughter's birth, was still on vacation. We had just moved, and I hadn't found the boxes with the diapers or rummaged through all of the baby clothes. I hadn't prepared the food I wanted for after the birth, didn't have birth music picked out, and had not mixed the aromatherapy oils I wanted for baths and massages during the birth.

For a split second, I thought about getting back into bed and waiting until at least after the board meeting to have the baby, but reality struck and I began getting ready for labor. Contractions had not really started yet, and I felt they would remain light until Matthew arrived. I tracked him down and he hopped in the car, instructing his mother to bring Emma in a few hours.

When I talked to Ann, our midwife, I tried to explain the unusual circumstances of our household that night. I told her we had at least two nurses and a certified nurse-midwife on hand, so she would have plenty of support if she wanted it!

I woke Rae, who has been a childbirth educator and labor support provider for many years, and whose friendship I have valued for several years of CIMS work. I knew that she had the most experience with homebirth, and she provided incredible support for me that night. Matthew pointed out later that she is very similar in build and energy to my mother, and she certainly played that role for me.

After waking Rae, I tried to think of ways I could turn my energy around. I didn't want to feel negative during the birth, but I was so unprepared I was having a hard time feeling good about it. I found my photo album from Emma's birth, and Rae and I looked at that together. Then I showed Rae the basket that had been prepared for me at my blessingway to remind me of my own power, and the power of Nature and birthing women everywhere.

Once Ann and Matt arrived my contractions picked up, and we called the friends we had invited to share the birth with us. Pat woke up and offered support and excitement, and I decided to let the other women sleep until I was ready to push.

Even with all of the positive energy around me, I was still experiencing a little disappointment and feeling like I wasn't prepared for the labor. But then I realized that there was still time to have the ambiance I had been planning. I prepared the massage oils and Matt picked out some music, and it became the birth I had planned.

Friends came and Emma arrived with Matt's mother, Donna. I showered, rested, labored, laughed, and felt truly supported. When I felt ready to push I moved into the bedroom and sat on the birth stool. After a couple of pushes, and a few minutes of restraint to avoid tearing, I birthed a healthy little boy, Jackson Connors McGuire (see cover photo).

As I held Jack in my arms I looked up to see all of the love and support in the room with me: Matthew, Emma, my close friends, one pregnant and another holding her eight-week-old baby, my mother-in-law, Ann, and of course my CIMS friends. In all, twelve adults including me, and yet it was still the most quiet, sacred birth I could have imagined.

While Matthew, Emma and I got to know Jack, everyone went downstairs to prepare us a large meal--eggs, French toast, and tofu sausage. The CIMS ladies packed up and moved to the Holiday Inn to finish the meeting, and in Michigan my mother packed up and prepared to fly out for a month to help us all during our transition.

I have spent most of my adult life advocating for woman-centered and mother-friendly childbirth through my work at ALACE and by supporting CIMS. After Jack was born, Barbara told me that in twenty years of attending births, this was the first time she had ever cried. I feel so blessed to have given birth twice surrounded by people who trusted my body as much as I did. For me, that is what mother-friendly birth is all about, and I thank all of you who continue to work for it on a daily basis.