“My entrance into the world begins when my properly trained, informed, healthy, physically fit, and limber mother instinctively sways to the rhythm of her contractions, which firmly (not violently) embrace my body. During her labor, Mom breathes with slow, steady discipline and intent, speeding her respiration when needed to release tension and reduce the pressure in her lower back, while oxygenating both of our bodies.

She may even drop to the floor in a squat, naturally creating more roomy freedom in her pelvis for me to slip downward towards my destination. Her beating heart keeps time. The ebb and flow of her contractions slowly nudge and massage me through the tight but cozy, warm tunnel of her birth canal. Mom continually adjusts her position in search of comfort as the hours pass. She savors the absolute serenity and replenishing strength of delicious two-minute slumbers in-between contractions.

My father and those around my mother cool her forehead with cloths, push on her back when needed, and provide strength to hold her up when she is squatting.

After many hours comes the crescendo! My mother grunts, pushes, and moans. I feel the depth of her strength as she works so powerfully to set me free in the dramatic finale of Part 1.

In Part 2, I am immediately placed most delicately onto Mom’s belly where I gaze into her eyes and discover what ‘falling in love’ means. People gently wipe my face with a soft, tepid cloth. I heard the sweet sounds of faintly familiar voices, clearer than ever before. Familiar music that I remember from the womb surrounds me as I am caressed in my mother’s arms and her soft, full chest, safe and warm. After a few minutes pass, I smell and feel smooth, warm skin as Mom’s nipple brushes my fuzzy cheeks. I root instinctively, searching for nourishment. As I latch on and suckle, tasty, protective drops of fluid bathe my throat and digestive tract. I close my eyes, fully savoring this moment. While I nurse, hormones are released to help Mom’s uterus stop bleeding and return to its normal size, yet another example of nature’s perfection. My mother’s loving voice and touches lull me to sleep. The curtain falls, but not without an enormous encore for my mother, the Martha Graham of childbirth!

Backstage, my grandmother eventually washes me under soft lighting and swaddles me tightly, returning me back to Mom, where we both sleep for hours in-between feedings. My mother never lets me leave her sight and I never feel that she is far away. I feel safe, secure, and satisfied. I still get some poking and prodding, but only after I have had my bonding moment with Mom, which makes it easier to take. I know she is close by. I can smell her on my skin and taste her in my mouth. It is the end of the perfect birth and the best beginning of our new relationship together as mother and child. During my entire birth and afterward while Mom sleeps, the deep vibrato of my father’s voice and the strength of his arms magnify my feelings of comfort and safety."