See Beautifully Strong Woman Giving Birth Naturally!

This Natural Child Birth Streamed Live Online!

Watching a woman giving birth may seem like a strange thing to do. Once you have seen a natural child birth, however, you will be amazed at how your perception of women changes...for the better.

When I first heard about Dr. Nancy Salgueiro’s plan to capture her third home birth on film and stream it LIVE online, I was so happy to get the chance to watch! I’ve had two home births myself (that weren't taped), but I’ve never seen a woman giving birth live at home!

While I may be in the minority concerning home birth, there are many more women out there who don’t know anything about natural birth. One of the reasons Dr. Salgueiro chose to broadcast her birth live to the world was so that women can see how normal birth is. She was trying to dispel the myths and rumors and horrible pictures of a woman giving birth that you see on T.V. They hear lots of “what if” stories from their OB’s about how something can go wrong in a home birth, but they’re not made aware of how comfortable things can be when they go right. If you are a woman with a low-risk pregnancy, you have a better chance that things will go right than wrong.

Dr. Salgueiro is on a mission to give birth back to women. She believes that through over management and scheduling in most hospitals, birth has been taken away from women. The practice of giving pitocin to a woman giving birth to speed labor may help an OB to schedule births, but leaves the woman giving birth open to less than desirable consequences, like a cesearean. To avoid those practices, Dr. Nancy decided to stay at home and be a woman giving birth on live video while letting her birth progress on its own schedule. When birth is left alone, it can be a gentle, calming and empowering experience.

Watching A Woman Giving Birth

On October 15, 2011, I was able to watch the early labor of the Dr. along with about 2,000 other viewers from all over the world! We sat transfixed while we saw Dr. Salgueiro make a birthday cake for the new baby with her two children. We all gasped in amazement as we watched her pick up and carry her toddler around for a little bit as well as sit down and play a board game. All of this while in early labor.

Around 12:20am, Dr. Salgueiro decided to take a rest, promising to be back when labor was more intense. Her rest lasted about two hours and at 3am the live feed was showing Dr. Salgueiro about to get into the birth tub. She had planned for a water birth with her midwives in attendance.

At 3:03am Dr. Salgueiro notes that her water broke and ten minutes later, her baby’s head is crowning! In the next two minutes Dr. Salgueiro pushes her baby’s head out and calls for the other children to be wakened so they can be present at the baby’s birth.

At 3:18am on October 16, 2011, Dr. Salgueiro gave birth to her second boy and remarks, “ I can’t believe you’re here already!”

The baby is rubbed after birth to make sure all breathing passages are not blocked while he starts to root around for his mother’s breast. The midwives arrive soon after birth to administer postpartum checks for Mama and after birth checks for baby. About 12 minutes after birth, the newborn is given his first meal. He makes the cutest face as if to say, “What is this?”, but thoroughly enjoys his first time nursing.

Home Birth Stories

Home birth stories like this one are ones I particularly love to hear. While not all stories end well, Dr. Salguiero shows us how to naturally solve issues at home that could turn into problems. Her home birth story includes a breech baby that her husband helps to turn with a chiropractic technique (here are some other techniques you can use). If she were in a hospital, the OB would probably start scheduling a c-section and there’d be no talking them out of it.

Home Birth Videos

This is why home birth videos are so important for women to watch. Dr. Salguireo is so calm during early labor even with the knowledge of a breech baby. Women need to see exactly how a laboring Mama can give in to the rhythms of her body. We are so used to giving in to the doctors and their interventions thinking they know better. Often the truth is they know nothing of what really matters, which is natural child birth techniques. These images in this video will hopefully stay in women’s minds when it’s time for their own labors. They’ll be able to draw from the strength in Dr. Salguiero and realize that same strength is in them. There is a better way and you can have a better outcome than most hospital births (with its high cesarean rate).

As you watch, realize that you too can have a birth like this. All it takes is knowledge of how your body works in labor and the fortitude to work with your body to birth your baby.

Birth In Water

Dr. Slaguiero experienced a birth in water. She had a birth tub ready and prepared with warm water to receive her whenever she was ready to get in the tub. While she was in the tub the water got a little cold, so her husband just added some hot water warmed up on the stove.

If you notice in the video, the baby’s head was out in the water for at least two minutes during birth. Most OB’s would be horrified to hear of that. However, natural birthers know that this is nothing to be alarmed about. When a baby is born into water, they react as they did in the womb. They don’t take a breath because they’re still breathing through the umbilical cord. No harm comes to any baby born in water. It’s actually a very gentle way to be born. Most babies don’t react to the difference until they’re lifted up out of the warm water and air hits them for the first time.

You can read more about Dr. Nancy’s birth in her own words here and read news articles on the blessed spectacle here, here and here.

Here is more of Dr. Salgueiro's early labor where you can see her baking her baby's birthday cake with her children and playing a game with them while they wait for the birth.

Video streaming by Ustream

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