Midwifing my dog
Having a dog and deciding to breed from her was a big decision that changed my life and impacted my professional life as a midwife. Watching an animal I loved, birth instinctively was incredibly powerful. I was amazed at her intuitive behaviour and this experience brought realisations to my practice about how women are supported in labour and how that support may not always be the most appropriate or helpful.
My dog role model
My lovely dogs were born 15 years ago. I midwifed their mum, Ella, and watched Lady and Fergal and their eight siblings enter this world. I have been reflecting on how much I learned from these lovely animals, over the years and how they impacted me and my professional practice.
Nature and birth
Dogs birth instinctively and do not doubt themselves. They are not burdened with stories or fear of things going wrong. This gives them a real advantage over us. As she drew closer to birthing, Ella slowed down, didn’t want to go out for walks and became much more introverted, perhaps even introspective.
Preparing for birth
I had a large whelping box made for her and put it in a room where she could go and be undisturbed when the time came. I put her favourite bed in there and her food and water bowls, so she knew this was her place. The curtains were pulled, windows closed and the room was nicely quiet and dim. I think she was bemused by the change in her accommodation but happily went in there for her meals, but would only use the water bowl she and our other dog shared, that was in the usual place.
Birth behaviour
I was fully expecting her to disappear into the room when she went into labour and to then find her and her pups ensconced in the box sometime later. She however decided not to do the isolation thing and instead sought me out. She followed me around the house as I got on with the jobs I needed to do. It only dawned on me then that she did not want to do this alone. This I guess was not so surprising as she was very bonded to me, we ran together each morning, she slept at the foot of my bed and she came to work with me each day I was visiting clients. She was midwifery dog!
Individualised needs
So, I took her to her birthing room and we settled down together, needless to say she didn’t want to get in the box and proceeded to birth her pups on towels all round the room. It was amazing to see her work with her labour and move around constantly, again this didn’t meet my expectations which were that she would lie down and stay there until the last pup was born. She wriggled her body, stood up, lay down, stood up again and wandered around for the whole of the birth. She panted and whined and looked to me for reassurance. Unsure of what else I could do, she seemed to be soothed by my low calm voice and me stroking her head.
Expectations of birth
Whilst I thought I was being very supportive of physiological birth I was also being quite rigid in my thinking and expecting her to behave in a certain way. I realised that I had not thought about her individual needs and assumed hers would be the same as every other dog. I had seen videos of dogs whelping but hadn’t processed that of course not all dogs would be the same.
What women need
In my life as a midwife, I have been guilty of assuming I knew what women want and need, again still from the perspective of supporting physiological birth, but this type of thinking does not serve women. In general, based on what women have told us from across the world, during labour women need to have a sense of privacy and safety, they need to be able to disengage from logical thinking and not be distracted. They need to be warm and not feel hungry and they want to know and trust the midwife who is with them. All these factors tell the brain that they are safe and that the anti-stress response can be activated.
Birth and a sense of safety
Mammals birth when they feel safe and are in the anti-stress state, releasing oxytocin. Oxytocin is an everyday hormone that is released to support normal wellbeing. It enables us to feel relaxed and happy, on a mental and physical level, and be in a state of normal functioning. Oxytocin is also the main hormone for labour and creates the contractions needed to birth a baby. If we think about other situations in which women release oxytocin, such as sleep, it helps us to imagine what the birth environment needs to look like. Like birth, being able to sleep requires people to feel safe, unstressed and unthreatened. Most people would need sleep to occur in a private, safe environment, where they can relax. They may want the room to be quiet, dark, warm and restful. The birth environment should reflect these needs.
Supporting oxytocin release
If creating a place that is safe, quiet and calming is your starting point then it means women have the environment that supports the release of oxytocin. However, what makes individual women feel safe and secure will differ widely and they may want to modify their surroundings. For some it is absolutely necessary for them to be in a quiet darkened room where privacy is sacrosanct, but I do vividly recall one client who wanted the curtains and windows wide open and music playing loudly as she laboured. She had invited many people to be there for the birth and she seemed to relax deeper into her labour as more people arrived. By the time she birthed her baby there were 11 people in the room, but the important factor was that they were all there at her request.
Not being prescriptive
Whilst I would not tell women they should have lots of people present at their birth, having them there clearly worked for this client. As midwives, we need to be flexible in our thinking and accepting of women’s wishes. We also need to be able to adapt to women’s changing requirements. I remember another client who decided, in the throes of labour, she didn’t want anyone in the room when she birthed, not even her husband. We asked if it was ok to be out of sight in the adjoining corridor and she was happy with that. So, we sat there quietly and waited until we heard the cries of the baby and the woman telling us we could come back in. She didn’t need us. She knew that everything she needed to birth her baby safely and effectively was within her, and we were a hindrance, distracting and preventing her from birthing.
Learning from being with women
This was very interesting to me because generally I sit quietly and unobtrusively when women are in labour and didn’t think I would be affecting them in any way. I only do tasks, such as taking a pulse or blood pressure, as we have agreed on prior to labour, but even this was too much for this woman, on her birthing day. My mere presence was interference and I needed to accept this, even if I couldn’t see how I was interfering, and think about how else I could support her. What makes women feel safe, rather than what you think makes them feel safe, is key. For some women, having someone watching them constantly, anticipating something going wrong, is not going to inspire confidence or a sense of calm and is instead fear-inducing. This is exactly the wrong state for safe birth. When women are fearful or stressed they stop releasing oxytocin and start releasing stress hormones and this can cause labour to stall, or stop altogether, and leads to birth interventions.
Life-long learning
So, I learned to listen and respect what women told me. Women know what they need, they feel it. We birthed for millions of years very effectively without medical interventions, we survived and thrived as a species because women knew what to do to perpetuate our existence. They still do! In an environment that best suits the individual woman, the vast majority of women birth well. For those women who encounter complications there are obstetric services that are very skilled in helping to resolve the problem, but they should be used judiciously.
Top tips for birth
Identify which environment will help you feel safe and secure
Identify which people will help you feel safe and secure
Learn when and how your body releases oxytocin
Inform yourself about how your body works during birth
Be active in labour to help your baby move down through your body
Be in control of your birth and make informed decisions
Our birth preparation courses are designed to give you all the information you need to prepare for a positive birth.