Maternal Wealth Podcast - Own Your Birth

My Sister Rachael: Her Birth Story

• Stephanie Theriault • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Hi there! I'm a proud mom, lifelong learner, and dedicated librarian with a passion for supporting maternal health and a person's well-being. With a deep love for books and knowledge, I've spent my career helping people discover information, whether they’re diving into a great story or researching important topics.

As a mom, I know firsthand the joys and challenges of motherhood. This personal experience has fueled my commitment to maternal health, and I strive to make a difference. 

Outside of work, you'll likely find me spending quality time with my family, discovering new reads, or advocating for better maternal healthcare. Let’s connect and share in this journey of growth, learning, and wellness!

Would you like to be a guest on our show? Send us a message here!


Become a Maternal Wealth Provider Today. Search and Find Maternal Wealth Providers Near You. Visit www.maternalwealth.com

Want to learn more about how hospital policy, staffing, and medication access can affect your birth experience? Visit "Not Your Average Birth Course"

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Stephanie Theriault:

Good morning and welcome to the Maternal Wealth Podcast. Today is a special day where my sister, Rachel and I open up and share with you all why we started this project. Good morning Rachel.

Rachael Meneades:

Good morning, nice to see you.

Stephanie Theriault:

Nice to see you too. I'm excited for this podcast today. Me too, Rachel and I have been working for a long time years, even trying to get this whole project together. Me too. We have a masterclass called Not your Average Birth Course, where I discuss all the variances found in hospital birth that can affect your outcome. I talk about staffing policies, access to medications. All of this is important information to help you achieve the birth experience that you desire the birth experience that you desire. So today, Rachel and I will chat a little bit about who we are and why we believe so much about this project.

Rachael Meneades:

Rachel, if you want to start, Sure, yes, I'm Rachel, I'm a librarian and I am a mother of one child, a daughter who's five years old, and it was a really exciting thing to be involved with these projects.

Rachael Meneades:

As someone who's not in the maternal health world and even in the medical world so much A lot of times, it was great to be able to present questions and information from know, information from the point of view of someone who doesn't really know any of these things A lot of our listeners, a lot of the people who might be interested in our resources and to try and gather that information and try and figure out what people are looking for. What do they need? What you know, if I don't know, lots of other people don't know either. It was really great to be able to kind of come at this from two sides of the same coin. We're mothers and women and people who want to provide this really important information, but we can come at it from two different perspectives to try and get to the answers that we think people really need that we think people really need.

Stephanie Theriault:

A couple of years ago, I had shared with you that I was working on this website and how, in my work, I was seeing such a mismatch of patients and providers and how I wanted to create this website where women and families could go and collectively find their perfect provider. When I approached you and asked you if you wanted to be my partner and join me, why did you?

Rachael Meneades:

I definitely wanted to be part of this because I thought it was important to bring this information to the people who needed it. You know you're in the business, you see what's going on, so you obviously know that there's, you know, an issue with people getting that kind of information. And you know I have a master's degree in library and information science. So you know I have a lot of experience with, you know, trying to get information into the right hands. So, as a librarian, I'm very passionate about helping people, but also I want to do it in a way that, you know, trying to get information into the right hands. So, as a librarian, I'm very passionate about helping people, but also I want to do it in a way that you know actually makes sense and gets the right information to the right people. You know. I also know that you know you're very passionate about what you do. So I know you're coming at this from you know, positive, helpful place, and that you know I really believed in this mission. I believe that no-transcript.

Stephanie Theriault:

Yeah, I definitely see a shift happening in the maternal health world, that women are rising up, they're using their voices, they're advocating for themselves and collectively trying to make change to create a better, more safe, more holistic experience for women and their babies. Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Meneades:

There's so much more access to information out there, you know there's there's no reason that people shouldn't be able to get, you know, the information they need to, you know, take care of themselves and take care of their children and to get through this, this process, you know, in the best way possible, the best outcome possible. So it's definitely, definitely, has been making a difference, I think, over the years for people knowing that they can reach out and get this information yes, that's so true.

Stephanie Theriault:

So a little bit about I know Rachel mentioned that I'm in the field. I've been a labor and delivery nurse for over just over eight years. I started my career out in New York and I worked out there until about 2021. Both located north of Boston, massachusetts, born and raised, and after the pandemic I moved back to the North Shore with my family where I worked as a travel nurse for a little bit and now I am staff in Boston.

Stephanie Theriault:

As I mentioned earlier, throughout my career as a nurse, I have seen many times a mismatch in when patients arrive to the hospital and their birth provider. For example, I have a patient come in with a birth plan that is so midwifery in the sense of they want to have intermittent fetal monitoring, low interventions, delayed core clamping, but they have hired an MFM, a maternal fetal medicine doctor, who is high risk. And the truth of the matter is it doesn't always jive, it doesn't mix well. It's just two different ideologies of practice. It's just two different ideologies of practice, one being medicine and one being midwifery. That's where the idea of maternalwealthcom came from. So, maternal health providers, whether you're OB, midwives, chiropractors, lactation consultant, we have badges on our site where you can go and click the badges that identify with your practice so women and families who are seeking unique care, seeking individualistic care, can find you and match up with you to have a great experience.

Stephanie Theriault:

I'm also a mother. I have three children, three lovely, beautiful, energetic little boys. Prior to being a nurse, I was a social worker. I was in the Peace Corps. For a little while I was a Spanish medical interpreter, so I've done a few different things in my past. Nursing is definitely a second career, which I'm thankful for. In my previous careers as a social worker and the Peace Corps, spanish interpreting all of that has integrated into my practice where I can holistically take care of my patients.

Stephanie Theriault:

Recently, rachel and I started a new project called the Maternal Wealth Podcast. The idea came from creating a collective safe space where women, families, providers can get on our podcast and chat about their experiences, chat about how they help people, the space that they take up in the maternal health world. We're doing this so women who've had babies can hear that they are not alone in their experiences. We're doing this so women who are pregnant can hear about experiences before they get to the hospital, before they get to the birth center. Later in this podcast, rachel is going to share her birth story with us, which will be exciting to hear and also a little emotional for me to hear, because I was also a part of her birth story. Yep, our last product that we have to discuss today is our birth course, not your average birth course, rachel. Do you want to talk about that?

Rachael Meneades:

course not your average birth course, rachel, do you want to talk about that? Sure, stephanie created this course because she wanted to have listed out in one place the information that she wanted to share with people who either it's their first time giving birth or if they've already given birth, but they kind of fell blindsided by the whole situation and they're going into whole situation and they're going into it again and they want more information. Or even if you're in the maternal health world and you just want another person's point of view of their experience working in the maternal health world or the hospital setting. She put this together to share her experiences, her thoughts, or the facts and figures about what it's like giving birth and things to be aware of. One of the things that she delves into is birth locations, birthing providers, prenatal and postpartum support, which is so important and it's starting to get a lot more attention now.

Rachael Meneades:

Support during labor Everyone's curious about epidurals, c-sections, inductions. Sometimes people think that there's only just you either have a c-section or you give birth, but there's so many different layers to it. Everyone's birth birth story is so different talking about pushing and if, how ready you are with you know, giving birth so it just really delves into a lot of different content that has such a huge focus on trying to mentally prepare yourself for what a journey it's going to be. You go into this with a list of questions, with a list of things that you can ask your birth providers or midwives or whoever's going to be part of your labor team. So also so that you know these people that you're going to be working with, they know you're not messing around, you're taking this very seriously.

Rachael Meneades:

You know this is a big deal and sometimes I think people they get so familiar with their work life and with being part of this that sometimes it's just another day for them. But for you, this is a huge occasion in your life and you want to make sure that you have as much information as possible and that you're going into this. A lot of people have their own birth plans and things that they want to do and you want to try and follow that as much as possible. But also be aware that's not always going to happen and what are the other paths that this could take. Stephanie really tries to prepare you as much as possible for what to expect going into this and why this is such a good course for you as part of your maternal health journey.

Stephanie Theriault:

Some of the areas that I really dive into are epidural placement. An epidural isn't just an epidural. There's so much that goes into it, depending on who places the epidural, the staffing of the hospital, how the epidural works for you when you start pushing with epidurals it's not just an epidural is an epidural is an epidural? Because that is not true, and this course will give you the information and really break down when is a good time to get an epidural. Is the hospital that you're going to staffed appropriately so you can get that epidural? Does your birth provider shut off the epidural at some point? Because some do so. It just gives you the information to prepare you, in addition to your birth plan, to advocate for yourself if you get to a point where you're presented with a situation that you didn't believe that you were going to be presented with.

Stephanie Theriault:

A C-section isn't just a C-section. Is the hospital staffed to appropriately provide a safe C-section for you? There's variances in how you're medicated a safe C-section for you. There's variances in how you're medicated for your C-section to make sure that you're fully covered throughout your entirety of the surgery. So there really is great information in the course. I also have a whole section about pushing. I have a whole section about pushing and I have to say, with my patients we're not sitting there pushing for three hours. I do visualizations, we think about how we push and how you push your baby out effectively without having maternal exhaustion, and we also have the empowerment questions. You want to talk about the empowerment questions?

Rachael Meneades:

Also for free. We have an empowerment question guide. We understand the importance of having the right support and information during this experience, and so Stephanie and I worked on this free guide for people to download. So when you go to meet with your maternal health care team, depending on the location or who you're going to be meeting with we have a list of suggested questions that you can ask them, things that you might not have even thought about or things that the support might think you already know, so they decide not to tell you. It's just something to really get you thinking about some of the details of what you need to expect going into this and also how this will affect your birth plan, your support team, the location. You know things might have to change, so it's definitely worth just taking a look at and seeing if this might be a good fit for you or part of your maternal health journey.

Stephanie Theriault:

The whole idea of maternal wealth is empowerment and to remind us of how powerful we are in our own bodies and in motherhood. Now I'd like to turn the mic over to Rachel for her to share your birth story.

Rachael Meneades:

Okay, sure, I gave birth about five years ago actually almost six, because my daughter's going to be turning six in a few months. So I had my child two two weeks after um her due date. She was due in December. Um, my OB wanted me to wait um after my due date because we were getting into the Christmas holidays. So they were going to be short-staffed and they didn't want to schedule induction because they were expecting there to not be as much um help during that time because of the holidays.

Rachael Meneades:

I was feeling okay. At that point I was already going on my maternity leave. Just in case things started naturally on their own. I was fine with waiting and when my induction date arrived it was the day after Christmas and I wasn't really feeling anything. I mean, sometimes I would get those Braxton Hicks and things like that and I was doing all the things that you're supposed to do to try and jumpstart labor.

Rachael Meneades:

But really she was snug as a bug in there. She had no interest in leaving. So when I arrived at the hospital I got a room they brought me in and unfortunately, things kind of started going downhill from there. They put me in a room with a uh, a hot tub, which I was excited about. I know a lot of people talk about trying to do water and, like you know, showers and things like that when you eventually go into labor. But, um, because of some um health concerns with my child, they they wanted to keep me um connected to the fetal monitoring the entire time, so unfortunately I wasn't able to use that and when you say health concerns, was it her heart rate that they were concerned about.

Rachael Meneades:

No, my daughter was due in December and in November. At one of my ultrasounds the doctor was concerned about some of the results that she was seeing, where they were worried about my daughter's ventricles becoming too enlarged. It's basically I'm trying to remember exactly how it goes there's like a drain in the back of your head where there's a brain fluid. There's brain fluid becomes too full. Sorry, I wish I could explain a little better, but it's called Ventricule Megali.

Rachael Meneades:

A lot of times it's found in penises where basically things aren't developing the way they're supposed to. So there might be a buildup of cerebral fluid and it could cause brain development problems. They weren't really sure. You don't really know until after the child is born and they grow up a little bit. But they were concerned with the size of what they were seeing in some of the ultrasounds and because of this concern they wanted to continue the fetal monitoring the whole time. In the end everything worked out fine. She was fine, there weren't any issues or anything. But there are cases where it can cause a lot of brain development problems. So it was something they were monitoring closely. So I had to go in for a bunch of tests before that. So it was just, it was just from November to December. It was just a lot.

Stephanie Theriault:

Before you went to the hospital? Did they let you know that you had to have continuous monitoring or they let you know once you arrived?

Rachael Meneades:

They know. They let me know once I arrived. They did not tell me that beforehand. Also, when I was in the hospital bed getting set up for the induction and the nurses they were coming in, they were getting me all set, connecting me to everything the nurse who was trying to put an IV in ended up piercing a vein. She was putting it in and I've had IVs before. I know they're uncomfortable but they're not so painful that you start screaming in pain. But she wouldn't stop because she thought I was overreacting and then eventually, when she realized what was happening, she did stop. I ended up getting a bruise so bad from that happening that eventually, when I had my child, breastfeeding became very difficult because I couldn't move that arm correctly for a while. Eventually I asked for another nurse to come in to put in an IV placement. So it ended up being fine, but that was not the best way to start it.

Stephanie Theriault:

Yeah, that sounds very stressful.

Rachael Meneades:

Yeah, yeah, you know they were monitoring me for a while. I got the Pitocin.

Stephanie Theriault:

Did you have anything before the Pitocin? Did you have any cervical ripening which would be like a little pill or like a little string placed in your vagina?

Rachael Meneades:

They might have given me a pill, I don't remember, but nothing was inserted. They didn't do anything that way, because I eventually was dilating on my own. So you know, they kind of were playing around with the Pitocin for a bit, upping it and you know, seeing how I was doing and lowering it if it seemed like, you know, things were happening too fast. Eventually I did end up dilating.

Stephanie Theriault:

How about the balloon? Did they do the cervical balloon on you?

Rachael Meneades:

No, they did not.

Stephanie Theriault:

No balloon.

Rachael Meneades:

Okay, when I started getting labor pains, they gave me nitrous oxide to start with, which was fine. You know, I knew I had always planned on getting epidural. I didn't think that I would be able to do it with, to live without it. I don't think I was kind of the person who could handle that, which which was fine, and I was already pretty familiar of how an epidural was placed and that it's a painful process. But in the end I think it was the right fit for me. Rachel, do you know what raw dog means? I got the nitrous oxide and then they were like you know see how long you can handle that. And I got the nitrous oxide, I think, when I was at three and a half centimeters. At that point I was. I was like I'll do it, but like I'm ready for the epidural, like you know, when an anesthesiologist is ready, like you know, just just bring them in.

Rachael Meneades:

But at the time I was starting to ask for the epidural, there were two emergency C-sections happening at the same time. I don't remember what exactly was happening with those patients, but I do remember the nurse coming in and being like sorry, there's no anesthesiologist available, me being like no, well, no, I need it now because it was starting to get really, really bad. Um, I was sucking down that nitrous oxide like it was. It was, the pain was a lot and I was trying to breathe through it and do it, but, like I knew, I really wanted the epidural. So, um, I believe they found an anesthesiologist from another part of the hospital, um, to come in to do it, and so I got my epidural. Can I ask you a question?

Stephanie Theriault:

Sure, of course you were on Pitocin at this point, right when you were waiting for the epidural. Yes, did they adjust the Pitocin while you were waiting? Did they turn it down?

Rachael Meneades:

Possibly because I was dilating.

Stephanie Theriault:

I was progressing, so they could have, but I don't remember off the top of my head.

Rachael Meneades:

Yeah.

Stephanie Theriault:

Sometimes, when patients have to wait for a long, like I know it's going to be a long time, like 30 minutes to an hour I might adjust the Pitocin just to help them get to that point where the epidural covers them.

Rachael Meneades:

Oh, okay, yeah, it could have. I mean, there are always nurses coming in and out of the room, but at that point I was really starting to feel a lot of pain, so I was just really focused on trying to manage the pain. I would have probably said yes to anything they needed to do at that point.

Stephanie Theriault:

You're just trying to get through it.

Rachael Meneades:

Yeah, I was like seeing stars with that stuff it was, it was a lot.

Stephanie Theriault:

Those pitocin contractions are no joke.

Rachael Meneades:

Yeah, they're really intense. So would our pitocin contractions different from natural contractions then?

Stephanie Theriault:

Yes, and no, okay, the way I explain it to my patients is with pitocin contractions, it's somebody else managing your labor, so somebody else is controlling the medication and the goal is to get you contracting every two to three minutes, as opposed to natural labor. What you see is a more of a variance in labor, so the intensity fluctuates. You might get a little break in between, you might get a five minute break and then you go back into it. With Pitocin they don't want a break, they just want back to back to back to back. So you don't really get that reprieve.

Stephanie Theriault:

And then also with natural labor, I find the variance in the strength of contractions labor. I find the variance in the strength of contractions. So your body knows how strong to contract, because every time your belly tightens you have a contraction. There's decreased blood flow right it doesn't stop but it decreases.

Stephanie Theriault:

So your body naturally knows how much blood flow your baby needs to get through the labor safely. With contractions with Pitocin it's strong, strong, strong, strong, strong. As opposed to natural labor, it's strong and intense, but then you get a little bit of reprieve, whether it's a space or like one contraction might not be as intense. So that's really how I see the variance in the Pitocin contractions and in the natural labor. And then also, when you're thinking about Pitocin, you're connected to the IV, so you don't have the leeway of movement, bath, shower and all of that to help with the intensity of the contractions, but also mentally getting through it. Does that make sense?

Rachael Meneades:

It does. Yes, yeah, yeah, because I feel like had I the chance to try and labor more on my own without just having to kind of lay there and take it, you know, and just have to, you know and just have to. You know, like all my focus was on just like getting through the pain, whereas I think you know, from other birth stories I've heard where people have had the chance to, like, you know, get in the water or like walk around or like move their bodies and just have different ways to focus on other things. I really think that mentality helps and when you take that away it makes it really difficult. Yeah, so, yeah, so I'm just getting back to that.

Rachael Meneades:

So eventually, yes, the anesthesiologist came in, I got my epidural and pain, like, like, went away. It was, it really really helped. But, um, by morning the next day I noticed that the um epidural began to kind of kind of wear off. Um, I was still progressing and by now this was day three. I had been in the hospital for three days since I started my um, my induction. Um, the day it started off, you know, the doctor came in, they checked me and they were like, they were like so excited.

Rachael Meneades:

They're like, oh, you're at like in half centimeters you know, you're progressing, like we'll probably have this baby by like noon today and I was like oh, great, you know, awesome, you know. There and I was, I was feeling good, like I had, I had some rest, I had some break from the pain and but like I was starting to kind of feel the pain come back. But I was like that's fine, because you know I'm going to be able to labor soon. You know I can, I can try pushing like this is where we're getting a crunch time, this is it. So I was like mentally preparing myself for it and eventually I got to nine and a half centimeters, got a new doctor, and the doctor was just basically like every time they came in to check me, they they were just like you're at nine and a half centimeters, let's wait an hour, let's wait an hour, let's wait an hour. Every time they came to check they were like nope, you're stalled out Nine and a half centimeters. And you know, no, trying anything, no moving, no, nothing, just like came in, checked nine and a half centimeters and it was gone.

Rachael Meneades:

The pain was getting worse. It was getting worse and getting worse, but you know I was in a lot of pain. By midday the anesthesiologist would come in. They kept, they kept giving me more of the pain medication but it wasn't doing anything at that point. The nurses would try to help me do some things where they wanted to get me up and moving and everything, but I was in so much pain. I could I couldn't move, I couldn't do it. It was just. I think it was just too late at that point. You know I hadn't eaten in three days. I was exhausted from the pain. You know I was really disappointed that.

Rachael Meneades:

You know, I thought at that point we were going to be further along than where we were. Mentally I wasn't in a good spot anymore and when the doctor came in to check me again, I just flat out refused I don't want you touching me. I can't if you're just going to tell me the same thing over and over again. Like it hurt it was. It was really painful for me to get checked and so I didn't want um, I didn't want that anymore. And then the doctor was still telling me I was at nine and a half centimeters and then she, then she was like well, why don't you just try? Just like, just like, try, just like it was so casual about it. She's like just give it a try to push. And you know, by that point it was maybe nine or 10 o'clock at night and I was just done and I and so she's like you can either try and push where you're not ready or we'll just do a C-section.

Rachael Meneades:

At that point I just agreed to do a C-section. I just there wasn't anything I could do anymore. Like my back it was all in my back. The pain from my neck to down below, all the way down to the bottom of my back, was just like seized up from, like being in pain so much so I couldn't even sit up. I couldn't even like push myself to sit up. It hurts so much so I was. I'm like there's no way I can push a child out of me. I just can't. I just didn't have the energy for it.

Rachael Meneades:

They brought me in for a C-section, which was really disappointing. You know I really didn't want that. I did prepare myself mentally before giving birth that it wasn't going to happen. But you know I tried really hard to get to that point where I was, you know, wanted to be able to labor on my own. So I had the C-section. They had given me so much medicine by the time I got the C-section I was sick. I was like throwing up. I lost a lot of blood. Before and during the C-section. I heard one of the nurses talking and they were saying I was I might need a blood transfusion. I didn't end up needing one, but they were talking about that. I was just really exhausted. They were like can you hold your baby? I'm like no, so they just like laid the baby on me, you know, and and so yeah. So eventually I did have the baby and you know I got through it and everything and I was in the hospital for the next few days.

Stephanie Theriault:

But that was my birthing story. Part of what Rachel didn't mention was that I was there too for some of it, and I was a labor nurse at that point, and trying to advocate and trying to really get you the best of care that you could have was hard. It was hard and I can remember leaving. At some point I had to leave because I was still breastfeeding and we ran out of milk at our parents' house and the moment that I left, mom called and said they're going to do a C-section. So I was so angry that they waited until I left to convince you to have a c-section yeah, I do remember that.

Rachael Meneades:

I do remember also you were so nice to the nurses. You bought them all pizzas as a thank you for, you know, taking such good care of me. I remember that, yeah, yeah, because you know you know how it goes.

Stephanie Theriault:

one of the things that women don't really think about with the Pitocin is that if you are on Pitocin for extended period of time in your case it seems like it was almost 24 hours Once it gets to a certain point, then it becomes a risk for postpartum hemorrhage, which seems like you had a hemorrhage not to the point in which you needed a blood transfusion. You had a hemorrhage not to the point in which you needed a blood transfusion. There are variances in which providers decide to transfuse blood. It's not just black and white, but that is one of the risk factors for being on Pitocin for a long time. I hear many women ask is there a risk before they start Pitocin? Is there a risk associated? Can it harm my baby? And, depending on the provider, the answer can vary. But being on Pitocin for a long time can cause a postpartum hemorrhage or put a woman at a high risk to have a postpartum hemorrhage.

Rachael Meneades:

Yeah, I think this is one of those things where maybe people in their research they've heard of Pitocin. They know that it has to do with inductions, but there's so many different parts to it that that's something they might not know until they're getting hooked up to it. And then, by that point, what are you going to do? You know that's another one of those things to help become aware of what feelings arise when you share your birth story aware of what feelings arise when you share your birth story.

Rachael Meneades:

I'm kind of I'm sad, you know it's it's hard talking about it because it was very, you know, difficult experience and I think, like a lot of people, they wish that things had gone differently. You try as much as you can to prepare for this, but there's so many variables at play and in you know, in the end you know I'm okay and my child's okay and we got through it, but it's definitely had an impact on considering future children. I hear other people I know who are they become pregnant, pregnant and they're so excited and they're like they're, they're just they're so happy that they're going to become a parent and everything. I don't want to tell them my birth story because unless they you know, obviously, if they ask and everything I just get this sense of like dread for them as well too, where I'm so excited to become a parent, but also, like with my birth story and lots of other birth stories that I've heard, I just I know they're in for it too. They might be a lucky one and it might be super easy.

Rachael Meneades:

I've heard those too. But you know, I just I just feel like I have like this ghost story that I want to tell people, just to let them make them aware of what can happen. I can shift my energy into doing things like this, like the podcast and the class, and so we can share this information like a healthy way, where I don't have I don't want to scare anyone. Like a healthy way where I don't want to scare anyone, but I just want to make them aware of what to expect, because I feel like, even with having a close family member who's part of this world, there was still so much I didn't know until I was in it. Then it's too late and you just have to kind of survive it.

Stephanie Theriault:

I asked this question to one of our interviewees earlier. What would you like for your daughter to know about her birth when it's time, if she ever gets to the point where she's about to deliver?

Rachael Meneades:

I'd want her to know that she decides to do it alone, she'll have some kind of team or support in her own way. I don't want her to feel like she has to go through this all by herself. I want her to be aware realistically aware of what going through this is like, but also to be excited about it too, because you know, nothing worth having is easy. You know it's it's, it's hard, but the you know, once you get through it, you get to go through an even better experience that's so much longer of being a parent, and you know that's and that's a whole other journey. And as as difficult as going through labor and delivery is, you know, becoming a parent is like the prize at the end. Yeah, I think I'd want her to be aware, but also know that it can be worth it as well too.

Stephanie Theriault:

At the beginning. When you found out you're pregnant and seeking care, how did you decide where to deliver and how did you decide whether you were going to have an OB or a midwife?

Rachael Meneades:

Part of it was health insurance. So where my doctor's office was and who I was seeing, they only delivered at one hospital in the area so I went with that and I'd been at the same OBGYN office for many years so I knew the providers there. So I went with people that I knew and felt comfortable with. I knew that there was the possibility of midwives out there and doulas and things like that, but I kind of already knew going into it like I knew I was going to get an epidural. I knew I was going to try and go into labor naturally, but if not, then I was going to get C-section, like I kind of was just going to take it as it was.

Rachael Meneades:

The medical conditions that we found out about my daughter were very late in pregnancy and I was also sick for a lot of it. I don't know if you remember like I was pregnancy and I was also sick for a lot of it. I don't know if you remember like I was. I had morning sickness for like seven months. So like trying to do more than just like get through the day was really difficult for a long time, trying to figure out a lot of the details of who would be part of my support team. I didn't really have the mental energy for that, but if I was ever going to go through it again then I would do a lot of things differently Working with midwife, having more people there to advocate for me. I think a lot of people would try and do things differently second time around.

Stephanie Theriault:

Which is one of the reasons why we're doing this podcast for women to share their stories, so women who are going into this can hear and make decisions that are more appropriate. It's not black and white going into maternal health. There's a lot of variances on where you deliver. Who's your birth provider Right Exactly? Even if you have one OBGYN or one midwife, are they going to be there for your delivery? It could be somebody else and somebody that you don't jive with, so being aware of everyone on the team is super important. Bedside manner matters in labor and delivery.

Rachael Meneades:

No, I definitely agree yes it does.

Stephanie Theriault:

I don't care how well you can do a C-section, bedside manner matters, I tell my patients, having a birth is not just about labor. It's about being prepared mentally, being supported. It's about your heart and your soul believing in it, and you need a team that believes in you too. Well, thank you for sharing.

Rachael Meneades:

Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for giving me the space to share. We have a social media presence on Instagram If you want to check out the things that we're posting. We're going to be posting the podcast and the class and maternalwealthcom on there, and if you want to give us a like and a shout out, we'd love to hear from you. If you're interested in sharing your birth story, we'll be putting that out there as well to give you the option to let us know what you want to share. So, um, yeah, I'm gonna be doing that?

Stephanie Theriault:

yeah, that's a great point. If you are interested in sharing your birth story, give us a shout out and we'll reach out and schedule time to chat. Mm-hmm.