Victoria Midwifery Care - Deanna Wildeman, Registered Midwife

Birth Stories

Anita ~ Astra ~ Beth ~ Elizabeth ~ Heather ~ Jane ~ Jennifer
Josie ~ Kristine ~ Marlee ~ Marlene ~ Melanie ~ Shannan

JESSICA T

I was driving behind a BC Transit Bus and saw the life changing advertisement: Midwifery Care covered by BC Medical. Was my pregnancy affecting my eyesight? Had I seen that correctly? I followed the bus (now going the opposite direction of my destination!) and realized I had read the advertisement correctly.

After a little bit of internet searching I found Deanna Wildeman. I was so excited about the prospect of having a midwife. I had considered Midwifery Care even before I was pregnant but had no idea that BC Med covered the service.

I contacted Deanna's clinic and made an appointment. After our first meeting I new this was who I wanted to help Kirk and me bring our baby into our lives. I was amazed at the extra time, and the wealth of information Deanna was able to offer us. The home visits after the baby was born were a reassuring aspect as well.

After discussing my fear of the hospital, we decided we wanted a home birth. I wanted as little intervention as possible, and looked forward to having our baby at home. I pictured spending our first night as a family in the warmth of our own home.

I had a beautiful pregnancy, and as my due date crept up on us I made the following decisions: I did NOT want to have our baby in the hospital. I did NOT want an episiotomy. I did NOT want an epidural. I did NOT want forceps. I was quite sure I would have a quick and easy labour. My mom was only in labour for six hours with me and less than two hours with my younger brother. Our pregnancies seemed similar, so I thought this was a reasonable conclusion.

Deanna pointed out to me that it was good to have a birth plan and to visualize the labour process, but to not get too stuck on how things would happen. I went in to labour at around 10pm on October 25th. My due date! I paced the house until about 1am and then woke Kirk up. We phoned Deanna a couple of hours later and decided that we probably didn't need her for a few more hours.

She arrived at our house early in the morning. We were all convinced that this baby would arrive before the end of the day. Our dear baby had other plans! At three that afternoon, Deanna suggested we go to the hospital. Things were just not progressing as they should be. I was disappointed but knew that it was the right thing to do. I was surprised when we arrived there, because the hospital was really not as scary as I had envisioned it. Not at all the horrible experience I had expected.

At the hospital we discussed getting an epidural. I was exhausted, and it might take the edge off of my contractions so I could rest up before the big event. I was hesitant at first. The process seemed frightening, but Deanna explained everything to me, and you know it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

A few hours later, I was finally dilated enough to push, but yet again our baby had other plans in store for us. His heart rate plunged with each push, so we needed a new plan of attack. We discussed emergency c-section or an episiotomy and forceps. Again Deanna explained each procedure to us and we decided we would try the episiotomy route. I was greatly disheartened at this point. This was not going as planned! In the operating room the doctor explained that he would do the episiotomy and use the forceps, but I would still have to push. Well push I did, and the harder I pushed the louder Kirk, Deanna, and the medical staff encouraged me. At 12:19 am, on October 27th William Hans Tamburino finally joined us.and you know the episiotomy and forceps weren't as bad as I thought they would be!

Life does not always go as planned. This was a huge learning experience for me. Nothing happened the way I originally wanted it to, or how we had planned it, yet it was still a wonderful and fulfilling experience.

Deanna was there before, during, and after. She held my hand when I was scared, she answered our questions, and reassured Kirk when he needed it most. She was part of my cheerleading team. Deanna and Kirk worked as hard as I did to bring Wee William into this world. She will always hold a special place in our hearts. See you next time Deanna!

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