BIRTH STORIES

"Tania was a God sent, literally speaking. Her service is miraculously awesome from start to finish. She is very responsible, responsive, and easy going. Tania made the entire process seamlessly natural and delightful—she is an expert at what she does.

The experience was way beyond our expectation of what a perfect home birth would feel like. She is swift, direct, and undogmatic. She gives great advice and very clear instructions to follow throughout the entire process for a stress-free experience. She gave us a heads up on signs to look for that would indicate the baby is on the way. On the day of delivery we called her, she showed up in 30 minutes with her team, good vibes, tools, and instruments ready to deliver. The entire process felt natural and right…it was a delight. Tania and her team were on point, very patient, and comforting. They made it simple as 1,2,3,A,B, and C. The baby arrived in a few hours in perfect condition, good grace, and with a shining face.

We thank God for Tania. She is patient, understanding, straightforward and honest. If we had to do it again, we wouldn't think twice; her service is super nice, next to paradise".

- Natalie

At 39 weeks, I had this strange feeling I needed to pray, rest and go to bed early that night. So I snuggled up to watch Survivor with my husband and best friend. I started having what I thought were braxton hicks. I worked as a homebirth midwife assistant for years, so “there was no way” I was going into labor. “First time moms go at 41 and 3.” I kept telling myself. I prayed and went to bed. At 3:45am I woke up needing to use the bathroom. I lost my mucus plug! I called for my husband and said “Ok, I’m giving birth in the next 3 days.” I took a bath and went back to bed. I wasn’t prepared for contractions to pick up as fast as they were coming at 9 am. I took a shower and had a bit of breakfast. By 10:30am my water broke and I was on the phone with Tania. She listened to a few contractions over the phone and said “Ok, I’ll be there soon!” 

I labored for a few hours, getting in and out of the birthing tub and eating grapes and drinking a smoothie. I thought prior to giving birth that all the pain I had experienced with endometriosis, that I would just glide through contractions. Each contraction felt like the scene from Alice in Wonderland, when she’s falling down the rabbit hole. I turned inward on myself, there was nothing I could control. I wanted to grasp and hold onto something, but it seemed that everything slipped through my fingers. Tania was so supportive when I doubted myself, when I said “I can’t do this.”, she graciously and gently corrected me and said “You can and you are doing it!” By 2pm, I ask Tania to check my cervix. I was so desperate to know just how much longer this would take. I knew I wasn’t as dilated as I thought when she didn’t tell me how far along I was. Now, I am so thankful she saved me from that disappointment. She suggested resting, but I physically couldn’t lay still at that point. Tania then said something like “We can try something very intense called Miles Circuit.” I agreed and we got started. The first circuit seemed like an eternity. I wasn’t able to reposition once I was in a deep cat/cow for 30 minutes. During that time Tania wrapped a rebozo around me and shimmied it, shaking my baby into the optimal position.The second circuit was me putting all my trust into Tania and my husband as I laid at the edge of my bed while they held onto me. And the last circuit I walked up and down my steps for 10 minutes. By this time it was around 4:30pm. I was exhausted, and was entering transition. I got into bed to rest and began coping with contractions by a very funny rhythmic routine of resting with a heating pad on, then throwing it off once a contraction began, then getting on my hands and knees for the peek and laying back down with heat. At around 6pm I wanted to get into the shower to see if that would help and ended up slipping. I had this incenst to feel for my baby’s head. And when I touched inside I felt her head. I yelled out to Tania and Cori (her assistant) and they helped me get into my bed. That’s when I felt the need to vomit. Everything was now happening very quickly, I felt the urge to start pushing. I got onto my hands and knees and was very uncomfortable. Tania suggested I lay on my side and as soon as I did, I felt so much pressure come. The baby’s head was right there. I pushed twice but wanted to rest. Cori was checking the baby’s heart rate when I heard it getting really slow. Tania looked at me and said “Let’s get this baby out!” I knew that this was the moment. Cory told my husband to help by giving me nipple stimulation to help bring on oxytocin. I gave 2 or 3 more pushes and felt this rupture of release! Her head was born and Cori said “She’s already making noise!”. Then, I gave one final push, and my Iris was born at 6:56pm. 

It’s true, knowledge is power going into birth. But surrendering to birth is a whole other experience and completely different each time you enter it. It was beautiful, messy, hard and beyond worth it. I am thankful for Tania and all the work she put in. She is a strong and intelligent midwife, I’m glad she was on my side.

-Paige

Naomi Sky was born at home on May 17th at 7:11pm, one day short of 41 weeks. 

Labor was long, very long. Yet, one we’ll be able to pull strength from for a lifetime. Hard to believe how much you can transform overnight.
As tough as it was, knowing what we know on the other side, we’d do it all over again.

Kostia and I were hanging out on the roof on May 15th when I felt a tightening in my lower abdomen around 7:45pm. About 10 minutes later, I felt another, and 10 minutes later another. At that point we went back to our apartment. I went to the bathroom and had some bloody show; we realized things were kicking off. We knew we had to prepare for the work ahead, so I took a shower, and we got ready for bed. I told Kostia to get rest; I knew I’d need him fresh when the time came. So, he slept, and I got through the night having contractions that were 10 minutes apart; I slept in between each one.

The very next day we just happened to have an appointment scheduled with Tania. She came that morning at 10:30am. When she arrived, to her surprise, my contractions were 7 minutes apart. She was impressed with our management and progress, saying, “Maybe we’ll have a baby tonight.”  She left to return when the contractions were 5
minutes apart. Kostia and I wanted to get through as much of the day as just the two, well three of us, as we could.
We called Tania once my contractions were 5 minutes apart and she arrived at 6:50pm on May 16th. At that point my contractions were 3 minutes apart. I had been in bed since Wednesday night, about 24 hours, so Tania wanted me
up and walking to help things along; which I did.

The next 12 hours, that Thursday night, were a bit of a blur.  The evening, night, and morning rolled up into more of the same, walking, moving, working through the rushes in bed.  Kostia might of gotten a couple of hours of sleep, holding my hand through the contractions all night while Tania and our doula were right by our side. 
As progress was slow going, at 4:24am we decided to have Tania check my dilation, especially since my water still hadn’t broken. To all our surprise I was only 5cm dilated. Well, we thought maybe the pool would help get things going so I got in. It felt calming, especially after being up all night.  It allowed me to rest more between contractions. However, it seemed I was resting too much as the frequency of the contractions slowed down.  After about an hour, we decided that it would be best to get out and try something else.
I wanted Tania to do another dilation check so she did at 6:51am, and I was at 7cm, and there was a bit more information that came with that. She thought the baby might be slightly posterior.  To add to that theory was the
fact that I was feeling a lot of back labor for several hours.  Tania was not afraid to get in there and support me. She must have been rubbing my back for hours. During every single contraction, she was right there pressing into my back. Kostia was face to to face to me the whole time, holding hands, coaching me through. I couldn't have done it without them.

Now, the rushes were coming on strong, and because of the posterior hypothesis, Tania had me do the Miles Circuit which helps get the baby to rotate into the right position to drop. My water still hadn’t broken at that point. The Miles Circuit was well what it sounds like. Imagine doing a circuit training bootcamp during labor, but we got through it. The Miles Circuit is a 90 minute exercise of child’s pose, butt up in the air, followed by lunges, and side-step walking. After the circuit it felt like more of the same, walking around our studio apartment having rushes in between.  So, Tania decided a change of scenario would be helpful. It was 9am, and she suggested we head to the roof to get some sun. The moment I felt that sun on my face tears began to flow, and I surrendered into that sun. It had never felt so good. I felt an aliveness rush through me and was so grateful for life. It renewed me for what was still ahead. We got through a bunch more rushes on the roof until we were ready to head back down to our apartment.

At 10:14am Tania checked my dilation again, and I was still only 7cm.  At that point, she was certain that the back of the head was posterior. She had me do some more exercises that were even more intense, including the side lying release, lunges, and then walking and wrapping my arms around Kostia while standing with every rush.  We did this for another seven hours or so with breaks in between.  The whole time either the doula or Tania were pressing into my back
with a heating pad which helped tremendously.

At 5:20pm I was finally 10cm dilated, but her head was still high and the bag of waters was still not broken. Tania suggested we try getting jiggy in the shower, so we did, but it was a bit distracting with the level of intensity of the rushes. Right as we were getting out of the shower, I got an urge to push, so I did a handful of times but wanted to get out of the shower as it felt I needed some air and space.
At that point, Tania's assistant had arrived as planned to help coach with pushing. Next, we did some serious squatting and pushing in the center of the room and then dangling from a rebozo, pushing for about 45 minutes. It got quite tiring, so Tania suggested I get into bed and rest a little and suggested I don’t push. The rushes during the time in bed were the most intense. It felt like I was about to give birth.  I said, “I feel something coming out.” Everyone headed
south to see what it was. It was the bag of water.  For a moment, it crowned like a head and then broke at 7:02pm, spilling the contents all over the bed. For me it was quite a relief when that happened.
I was helped to the shower to rinse off while Tania, her assistant, and doula nimbly stripped the bed and changed the sheets. In the shower, another rush came on. Naturally, I squatted, holding Kostia around his neck, as we came down together- he outside of the tub, me inside the tub- to push. Seconds later, he said, “I see something.”  There was silence.  It was our babies head!  We didn’t yet know it was a she at that point, and yet she crowned.  Kostia new the next push would mean the birth and meeting of our child, he stripped down to his skin suit, jumped in the tub, and
on the next push was catching the head of our child.
Soon as her head came out, covered in birth, on the next rush the rest of her slipped right out at 7:11pm. It felt quite easy compared to what I felt with the bag of waters. Kostia had her head and half her body in his hands with Tania right by his side, working to help support her body as her legs kicked, and she cried. Her bottom half was resting on my thigh. I asked if it was a boy or girl and Kostia said, “it’s a girl.”  Our hearts melted. We held her as Tania was helping with the cord and placenta. We held her close to my womb as I sat there quite limp. The three of us, Kostia, myself, and Naomi together in the tub as if we were all born, or reborn, together that day.

Beyond exhaustion, in a state of surrender, I sat there silently while life was happening around me. Kostia, holding Naomi, who gave a brief cry entering the world, was now calm and quiet in his hands. He picked a spot on her head to kiss that wasn’t covered in blood. Finding a tuft of white stuff that looked safe he gave her a little kiss. He may have
crouched even a bit lower to look directly at her face; he watched her surprised to see her hold and balance her head on her neck. He saw her little hands at her chin; each finger perfectly interlaced in meditation, a seemingly thoughtful clasp of contemplation and patience. Not only were her hands perfectly interlaced at birth, but so were her toes.  Kostia stared in awe.  And then, she opened her eyes and instantly met his eyes. They held each other’s gaze, looking into each other, bonding instantly.
Everything happened pretty quickly from there, I birthed the placenta the very next rush at 7:24pm as we sat there with Naomi. They caught the placenta in a bowl. I was in awe, taking in the freedom, relief, and finality. The next words out of my mouth were, “I’m free.” I realized I had made it to the other side of birth. The place I had been dreaming about for days. At that point, Kostia and I got out of the tub.  He sat on our toilet holding our child in his arms with the bowl of placenta resting in his lap while they helped clean me up and transition me into our bed.  He brought Naomi to me, and I laid together with her on my chest. We all watched, Kostia, Tania, Tania's assistant and our doula.  Naomi bobbed for my nipple and well, it was pretty miraculous. With her effort and a little bit of help from us, she latched all on her own!

Our team began to finish cleaning up before heading home. Kostia, Naomi, and I all slept together in bed that night. Enjoying our first night as a family of three. This tiny newborn lay between my husband and I, connecting us like never before. What a joy it’s been ever since. We are really loving being new parents and spending this precious time together.

Words can't express how loving and supportive Tania is as a midwife and person. We could have never done it with out her. She is one of a kind. Committed, caring, extremely strong, deeply supportive, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. She never gave up on us and helped us until the very end. Thank you so much for your love and support Tania! You will forever be a part of our hearts and lives. 

— With love, Lisa, Kostia, & Naomi Sky

"When time came to start thinking about birth options, I knew very little about home birth and coming from a family of French doctors, I was still skeptical. Even though some women around me had positive experiences with home birth, I still feared a situation where something went wrong, where I could be endangering both my life and the baby's. So I started doing some research and the more I was reading about birthing in the U.S and especially in New York, the more I realized it was the way I wanted to bring our baby into this world. We started looking for a midwife when I was about two months pregnant and realized that spots were filling up fast - it's still NY after all.
We interviewed a few midwives before meeting Tania and felt pretty certain she was the right fit for us. Her approach was more that of a teammate rather than someone acting motherly. We trusted our intuition and Tania proved us right - she was an amazing support throughout my pregnancy. She was just the right amount of hands off yet always available if we had the slightest concern or question. She came for prenatal visits in the Rockaways and it never felt rushed. We really enjoyed our time together. 
I was fortunate to go into labor 4 days early. I was progressing but it was a little slow and Tania was amazing at managing everyone's time so we could try to rest and recharge. Although we had full trust in whatever she might do, she never imposed anything and was always very respectful of our needs or desires. Considering the pace of my labor, she offered to help open my cervix which allowed to move things along. Thanks to Tania, her assistant Sarah and our doula Siobhan, I finally gave birth to a healthy beautiful boy after 23 hours of labor and it was the most intense and magical moment of my life.
We feel so grateful for these women and their strong energy. Their careful work allowed us to bring our son into our candlelit home. It was a true luxury to slip from the tub to our bed where we could fall in love for days before having to go anywhere."
Thanks again for everything.

-- Elsa & Sam
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"I hadn't known from the start that I was going to have a home birth, but I did recognize that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of a hospital birth either. After figuring out my insurance I went for an information session and first appointment at a birthing center. After my first appointment I was told that the center was no longer taking my insurance so I began to explore my options and I found Tania. I quickly realized what a luxury it was to have my Midwife come to my home for visits. We developed a warm relationship, and my partner and I felt an ease of communication and freedom to discuss any information we were coming across as this was our first pregnancy. I had a sonogram at 20 weeks and then again less than a month before my due date. The treatment I received when I was past my due date was especially helpful, and all her advice was incredibly useful. After an evening primrose priming, the following day I spent walking around the city, up the highline, down the highline, across town to see friends and then in the middle of the night contractions began. Things began to intensify around noon and by the time my water broke at 2:30pm I knew it was time for her to come over. She was available and ready from the moment I called her in the early morning, but she also knew that the birth process was a delicate one and didn't want to stall things by coming too soon. By 4:30pm I had my new born babe in my arms. There's not much I would change about the process beginning to end. I did tear a little bit during birth, and in hindsight I would have wanted to attempt to slow things down a bit by breathing more deeply as it all seemed to go very quickly. Tania was right there beside me, encouraging me to try a different position for my comfort and the baby’s while he was entering the world, and then when his Dad cut the cord with her assistance a little while after. Being at home really made it a joy. The follow up care was also impeccable, she asked another midwife to come and be a second opinion with the stitches for my tear on the 3rd day after the birth, and I experienced no pain during the visit, and everything has since healed properly. I would most certainly call on Tania during another pregnancy, and really value her open minded, openhearted nature along with her expertise and experience".

-- Daisy

Tania delivered my last two babies, and I have only the best things to say about her.  First of all, why did I choose to give birth at home?  Because I wanted to avoid unnecessary medical procedures and to be in the comfort of my own home.  I’ll bring a couple of examples.  My third labor started at 2 pm, and when contractions intensified and didn’t stop, I called up Tania.  She came right over.  At 7 pm I was only 4 cm dilated.  By 11 pm contractions were strong, but still 10 minutes apart.   Tania said there was no need to check me, and instead I should try to sleep between contractions.  I was able to sleep for a few minutes, and after an hour the water broke, and my son was born very shortly after.  I don’t want to know what the hospital staff would have done in this case. 

My fourth labor seemed like a month long affair.  I had regular strong contractions for several hours in a row, but they would eventually stop.  Tania was always available when I called, talked to me through the contractions, and told me to call if anything changes.  It saved me many trips to hospital, I am sure.  The real thing started at midnight, and my daughter was born at 1 pm.  Tania didn’t check me once, but was frequently monitoring baby’s heart beat and my blood pressure.  I felt very confident with her, because she told me what sounded normal, and what would be the danger signs.  She brought another midwife-in-training with her, and it was great talking about giving birth and babies. 

Another very important benefit for me was that Tania made house calls for prenatal checkups.  At the end of each visit she would ask if I had any questions, and I almost always had something.  She allowed a lot of time for each visit, I never felt rushed or ignored.  She was always available via phone and email for anything else I needed to know.

I also have to say that Tania cares for her patients and makes sure that they get the best care.  During my third pregnancy I had back pain, but the answer from the doctor was “there is nothing to be done,” and “no, physical therapy is not necessary.”  I switched to Tania on 36th week, she delivered that baby and right away gave me referral to physical therapy for diastasis recti, and then additional referrals for back pain.  Thanks to that, my back and belly muscles were in much better shape for the 4th pregnancy. 

After our first delivery my blessing to her was, and still is, “May you, Tania, have many healthy pregnancies and deliveries, and many happy babies and moms.” 

-- Sincerely, G.I.

"My first child was born at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, CA. At the time I became pregnant, I was living in California, and my boyfriend (now my husband) was living in Brooklyn. Our relationship was new. Though he had plans to join me before the baby came, once he arrived we would have to find an apartment, and he, a job. Having just graduated from my MFA program, I was also jobless. I had no insurance, no savings, no means by which to pay for a home birth. The easiest thing to do was to sign up for Medical and register at the nearest hospital. So that’s what I did.

The birthing center at Alta Bates is not so bad as far as hospitals go. The environment is welcoming. I had four support people of my choosing with me in the labor and delivery room. I birthed with a nurse midwife and didn’t have to worry about things like the unnecessary use of the fetal monitor or an unwanted episiotomy, as neither are regularly practiced at Alta Bates. At Alta Bates your baby rooms in with you, and the nurses support exclusive breastfeeding for those who intend to try. Some interventions were offered to me during labor, but I was able to refuse most without much trouble. As a result, my daughter was born naturally and unmedicated at the hospital, with her Papi, her grandmother, and two aunties there to welcome her.

Four years later, I was pregnant again. By that time, my family had relocated to Brooklyn. Now with an apartment, a stable job, and health insurance to my name, I began my search for a home birth midwife. On December 26, 2013, at 9:43 a.m., in our cozy little apartment and with holiday decorations all around, my son took his first breath of life.

Interestingly, the mechanics of birthing at the hospital and birthing at home ended up almost the same for me. The onset of both labors came unannounced. I had no Braxton Hicks contractions, no lost plug in the days leading up. Both labors lasted 36 hours from the first light contraction to the moment the baby slid out. Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning during both labors, I found myself “stuck” in transition, my cervix stubbornly refusing to dilate the last crucial half centimeter, making my journey to the pushing terribly drawn out and painful. Yet, the pushing for both my children was relatively quick. I pushed my daughter out in 20 minutes. With my son it was longer—1-2 hours, depending on who you ask—but nothing out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, both births were arduous and intense. I cried. I hollered. I bled. I bled and I bled and I bled. With my daughter’s birth, the hospital staff did not realize how much blood I’d lost during delivery until after I passed out. With my son’s birth, in order to avoid a repeat hemorrhage, Tania planned to administer Pitocin preventatively, right after the baby came out. Even so, the blood loss keep me on bed rest until the next day. Ironically, freely hemorrhaging in the hospital vs. consenting to a preventative shot of Pitocin at my home birth was one of the marked differences between the two births.

There was another type of difference, though. A different less tangible, less quantifiable, and a little more difficult to describe. It was the difference in the tone, the feeling of each birth. With my home birth my level of awareness, the degree of attunement I had with my body and all that was happening within was more fine tuned. In the midst of the drama of labor everything felt so clear. At home there was nothing standing between me, my body and my baby. There were less distractions, no external unknowns. I think it helped me connect more to everything that was happening. I knew full well when I had transitioned into pushing contractions, and was completely aware of the moment when my son was literally seconds away from being born. At that moment, I was completely inside myself, completely with my son. Birthing at home I felt simultaneously so much more vulnerable and so much more powerful than when I birthed at the hospital. Everything was more raw, and yet more in my hands. I got to do things the way I wanted to, the way I needed to. The instructions Tania gave me, though clear and directive, within the setting of my home felt less like orders and more like guidance. In the process, I ate papaya in my kitchen. I peed in my own bathroom. When I was exhausted and felt that couldn't give anymore, I laid down and rested on my own bed. As opposed to my hospital birth, my home birth was not mitigated by anyone else’s rules and regulations. This emotional, exhausting task I had committed to was done on my home turf, and in my favorite comfy t-shirt no less. Home birthing didn’t make my birth process any easier, but it did made the birth feel more my own".

-- Felicia