From Fearful to Empowered

But a more complicated reality intervened. I ended up having a C-section, and baruch Hashem, two healthy but tiny sons.

Two days after that shock, I was discharged from the hospital, but my babies had to stay in the Special Care Unit for four weeks. It was intense. The hospital gave me a small room so I could be near the babies in order to nurse them, which was where I recovered from my C-section, feeling so alone. I remember being in excruciating pain one night, unable to get out of bed, but as I wasn’t officially a patient, I couldn’t call a nurse. Although my husband and family came to visit, I still felt isolated, and very vulnerable.

Two years later, I gave birth again. I was given an epidural and had an okay birth, but I wasn’t satisfied. I felt that with better preparation and education, I could’ve known my rights versus hospital policies, and understood how to safely manage a VBAC.

It was time to educate myself, and I knew from Day One that I would share that knowledge with others. My first step was to contact Esther Marilus, author of Natural Childbirth, the Swiss Way. Esther came to London to teach me. I absorbed her method, and then expanded my knowledge, studying Hypnobirthing, Spinning Babies, Rebozo, Acupressure methods and taking mental health training courses. I then opened Birth Journeys, childbirth education courses for Jewish women.