‘Good. It’s more tiring if they take too long to get that way. A quick build-up means you’ll have more strength to draw on. Strong is good. When you feel the contraction tightening, try to imagine your baby’s head leaning against the cervix, opening bit by bit.’ Her voice slowed, became even more gentle. ‘You want to be as loose as you can be to let the muscles do their work. Every contraction brings you closer to meeting your baby.’
Her fingers stroked Jacinta’s neck and were rewarded by the sudden dropping of tension in the shoulders as Jacinta relaxed. ‘Sometimes, letting the tension out with a sound helps. A little moan of release during the height of the contraction can help it be directed downwards, instead of pulling yourself upwards into tension,’ Noni continued in her quiet voice. ‘After a while, when the shower isn’t helping any more, what should you do?’
Jacinta answered in the same slowing voice, ‘Change positions and do something else.’
Half an hour later, Jacinta’s voice began to slur as she rested her head on her arms against the rail. She moaned freely but hardly tensed her muscles now as the contractions rolled over her. As if she let any discomfort out with the noise and she was just left with the benefits.
Noni stayed careful not to disturb her concentration during each contraction, marvelling again at how women could fall into a state of almost dozing between the waves as the body’s natural endorphins kicked in.
The door opened just as Jacinta growled another exhalation that rose in a crescendo of moans before falling away again. Iain was back.
Chapter Forty
Noni
Iain’s face blanched. His accusing glare shot across the room to Noni as he hissed, ‘What the hell? She’s in pain. Suffering!’
Noni saw his almost wild glance at his daughter and prepared for the fight. Jacinta couldn’t fight for her choices without using the concentration she already needed for the contractions. ‘It’s okay, Iain. Stop for a minute.’
‘No. Listen to her groaning. What’s she been going through since I’ve been gone? I thought I could trust you!’
Noni glimpsed the hint of panic in his eyes and she put her fingers to her lips and frowned at him. ‘I’m just going outside to reassure your dad, Jacinta.’ She stood and backed him out of the tiny space, and shut the door between them and the labouring young woman. Jacinta’s next moan began behind the barrier.
Iain paced in a circle. ‘For God’s sake, give her some pain relief. What about an epidural?’
‘Stop it.’ Good grief. She had no doubt he’d be rock solid in an emergency, but the obstetrician had freaked because it was his own daughter. If Jacinta needed proof that her father loved her, then here it was. But it wasn’t helpful right at this moment. This was not about Iain. ‘I know this is your daughter, but you’re panicking. She hasn’t asked me for any pain relief. She knows she can. You sat beside her when we talked about this in class. It’s not our job to force pain relief on a natural process unless we are asked to by the woman.’
‘I’m pretty sure she’s asking when she groans.’
Noni rolled her eyes. ‘Think about it. Is the epidural for you or for her?’ Noni rested her hand on his arm. ‘She’s coping. She’s in strong labour. If she can’t stand it she’ll ask for something, but I believe she’s progressing very quickly.’
He shook his head. ‘Have you checked her progress?’
Back to that again. ‘And interrupt the whole flow of hormones that she’s just got going? You want me to move her back to the bed when she’s found her stride? Jolt her out of the focus she’s found to put a number on her progress, just to relieve your anxiety? She’s been contracting for an hour. Do you think she sounds like she’s about to have a baby? Is she ready to push?’
He ground his teeth. ‘It’s unlikely.’
Noni sighed. ‘So why? If she doesn’t ask for pain relief then nothing will change in her care except we won’t have to wonder how far she is.’
She stared up into his face and said very slowly and clearly, ‘It’s not about us. Not about you. Her baby is fine when I check every fifteen minutes. So, please decide if the information we may gain, and that’s not guaranteed every examination, is more important than her staying undisturbed in the shower to get on with it.’
Iain paced away and then came back. ‘In my hospital every woman is offered an epidural as soon as the contractions start.’
‘I totally disagree.’ She couldn’t believe his lack of knowledge about normal labours. The glimmer of hope that he’d understand disappeared. She hadn’t taught him anything. ‘Something will happen that indicates progress. For goodness sake, at least wait for a sign. She’ll ask for pain relief, and get it, or she’ll head into transition and then want to push.’
He stood, glaring, shaking his head as if struggling to control himself, so Noni spoke even more clearly and slowly to get through to him. ‘Baby’s heart rate is perfect,’ she repeated. ‘I listen to it every fifteen minutes for a minute. The contractions are regular, coming every two to three minutes and lasting seventy seconds. She moans through them and still relaxes between them.’ She looked into his face. ‘Let her be, Iain. She’s got this.’
He wiped his forehead. Visibly forced his shoulders down. ‘She’d better not have that baby in the bathroom.’
Noni’s eyebrows rose. ‘Tell me, Doctor, where is the correct place to have a baby? On a bed so the doctor or midwife can see properly? I thought women could birth wherever they want to.’
He sighed. ‘You’re joking, right?’
She could see that really rattled him. Well, bully for him and his fancy hospital. She got that it could be needed for a higher-risk birth. Labour could require an epidural, a catheter, a drip and continuous foetal monitoring.
But they were low-risk in Burra. As far as Noni was concerned, they were damn lucky they had Dr Soams to share their belief that normal-risk women were capable of having babies without intervention if that was what they wanted.
But that was Iain’s frame of reference and she needed to respect that. She tried for a smile of sympathy. ‘Have faith. Just observe. Come back into the bathroom and sit with us.’
He sighed and eventually, reluctantly, he nodded.
They reopened the door and walked in. Noni rested her hand on the girl’s shoulder. ‘Jacinta, your father’s back.’
‘Hi, Dad.’ Her voice drifted in the mist of steam, disembodied and vague. It seemed to come from far away.
Iain cleared his throat. ‘Hi, Jaz. How’re you going?’
She groaned without replying as another contraction rolled over her. When it had run its course, Noni watched Iain loosen his clenched hands with determination.
‘I’m okay.’ The sleepy voice startled him as Jacinta finished the conversation as if she’d never stopped it to groan.
Noni grinned and stepped back from where she’d been soothing Jacinta’s back. ‘Why don’t you rub for a while and I’ll get some more ice?’ She gestured for him to change positions with her. ‘You’ve probably never participated in this side of labour before. Not here to save the day. Try to remember the concepts from the antenatal classes, not the emergency situations you’re used to.’
She watched him rub firmly when Jacinta groaned, and gently when she relaxed between them. Noni smiled at Iain’s expensive shoes slowly becoming discoloured by the splashes of water. She’d told him in class to bring wet-weather gear. She shrugged and left them to it.
By twelve-thirty, they’d been in and out of the shower three times. Noni had bowed to Iain’s pressure, assessed Jacinta, and found she’d been six centimetres dilated, so more than halfway there.
Noni had lost count of the times Iain had had to walk away to hide his agitation. His face had settled into a mask now and his glances at the clock had settled into a tic-like rhythm. He looked exhausted already, unlikely to take much more of this in a calm way. This should be interesting.
She could see for him this was nothing like being the consu
ltant who came and went a couple of times during his patient’s painless labour, but she had to give him kudos for trying hard to go with it.
Now, Jacinta had returned to sit on the birthing ball, leaning back against the shower-recess wall. The hand-held shower nozzle sprayed Iain’s shoes when Jacinta’s contractions were at their height. The waves of powerful cramps hit her hard and fast.
Iain’s face had assumed a fierce mantle that was growing grimmer by the minute. Noni waited for the explosion, knowing it floated like a black cloud over all their heads. She’d been hoping they’d all be saved by Jacinta hitting transition and then the urge to push.
Finally, Jacinta gave a strange, strangled scream and Iain jumped. His hand slapped the wall so that Noni jumped in turn. Obviously, he couldn’t stand it any more. ‘Outside,’ he mouthed, and she stood and walked through the bathroom door, glad he’d get out of the room because his stress had started to affect Jacinta.
‘That’s it.’ His hands crossed in a cutting motion. ‘I’m not putting her through any more of this. Get her an epidural.’
Noni raised her eyebrows. ‘If that’s what she wants, of course I can arrange that. But my instincts tell me she’s going through transition. She’s almost in second stage. Are you sure it’s Jacinta who can’t stand it?’
‘Get it!’
Noni turned her back on him. ‘Not unless she asks me for it.’ She went back through the door to the bathroom. ‘Jacinta? How are you going?’
‘I want to go home,’ she wailed. ‘I don’t want to do this any more. Daddy, help me …’
Iain took her hand and glared at Noni. ‘We’re getting you an epidural.’
‘Oooh.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Noni said, and heard Jacinta grunt in an undeniable downward urge. Relief swamped her because she knew they’d made it. And just in time, because Iain had finally cracked. Her denial to rush to do his bidding had shocked him.
He blinked. ‘Are you mad? I’m telling you she wants one now.’
Jacinta grunted again in that same downward urge. ‘Well, she’ll have to wait until after the baby is born, then, Doctor, if I’m not mistaken.’ She crouched down beside the girl. ‘Jaz. What were you feeling with that last contraction?’
Her eyes fixed on Noni’s as she tried to transmit the feelings she didn’t recognise. ‘I have to go to the toilet. I want to push.’ She glanced around a little wildly. Lurched on the ball. ‘Get me up from here.’
‘Okay, sweetie. It’s okay. This is the part we talked about, where we can finally do something with the contractions.’ Noni leaned down and firmly took Jacinta’s hand to help her stand. ‘Up you come and I’ll sit beside you on my stool. We’ll take your bikini bottoms off.’
During the next forty minutes, Iain grew paler with every passing second. He kept glancing at Noni as if to say, When will this hell end?
Just like any other male, Noni thought. Or any support person who watched someone they loved working hard, in labour. Noni kept sending him reassuring glances, but they missed most of her intended target, judging by the strained face opposite her.
When Jacinta complained about the pressure, she agreed, and Iain rolled his eyes. ‘I know it’s hard, sweetie. That sharp, burning feeling is where your body is telling you to push.’
Jacinta grunted and groaned her way through the contraction. ‘It’s not working. Why is it so slow?’ she said through gritted teeth.
‘Everything is stretching to make way for the baby. You’re doing beautifully. You don’t want it to pop out – you want your baby to ease out gently.’ Noni wiped the beads of perspiration off Jacinta’s brow with a washcloth dipped in icy water.
Jacinta threw her head up and glared at them. ‘Drink!’
Noni smiled at the economical request. ‘We’re getting down to serious business here.’
‘Don’t you think we should move her onto the bed?’ Iain looked to be gauging if he could carry his daughter out of the bathroom.
Noni raised one eyebrow quizzically without bothering to answer. Eventually, she saw the dawn of realisation that Noni was quite content to have his grandchild born in the shower. His voice cracked. ‘Jacinta, baby, I think you should get up now and come lie on the bed.’
‘I’m not going anywhere. Noni, it hur-rts.’ Another huge push later, the first crescent of black hair could be seen.
Noni nodded to herself when she heard Cathy outside the door shifting the infant resuscitation trolley closer to the door. Cathy would have recognised the noises too.
Noni reached behind her and picked up a mirror. She propped it in front of Jacinta. ‘Have a look, Jaz. See the baby’s head.’
Jacinta glanced up from where she’d been concentrating on the floor and suddenly she saw it. Went still and stared. Her mouth stretched in a stunned oval. ‘She’s got black hair.’ With eyes glued to the progress she could see, she bore down with gritted teeth.
Iain swayed. ‘For God’s sake, where’s Soams?’
The bathroom door opened. ‘I’m here, Iain. Looks like you three have been swimming.’ The older doctor looked across at Noni with a twinkle in his eye and Cathy waved from behind him. ‘Do you need us, Sister?’
Noni smiled and shook her head before concentrating on the girl in front of her. ‘Okay, Jaz. Slow it down. Gentle now, and pant. Little pushes. Good girl.’ Her gloved hand hovered under the baby’s head without touching it. ‘Lovely.’
Iain had looked like he’d been having the worst hour of his life. Then, suddenly, miraculously, it changed. His face softened and relaxed as he watched his grandchild’s head finally being born, soon followed by the anterior shoulder, and then the other shoulder.
‘Reach down and slip your fingers under baby’s armpits, Jaz.’
Jacinta’s hands came tentatively down to touch her child and, with a final push, the baby slithered out into Jacinta and Noni’s hands. Jacinta automatically lifted her child to her chest and cradled her.
Iain sagged against the wall, and for a moment there Noni thought he would fall, but then he straightened and smiled. Like a sunbeam, he smiled. She could tell he couldn’t believe the strain and stress were over.
He looked weary. Bone-shatteringly exhausted, and his glance met Noni’s as he shook his head. He brushed away the moisture from his eyes and met Noni’s smile across the bathroom floor again. He didn’t say the words but mouthed them clearly enough for her to understand. ‘Nice delivery.’
She pretended to glare at him. He knew she didn’t deliver babies – mothers birthed them. He also knew she disliked the word ‘delivery’, but that was his retaliation and she let him have it. They’d won.
‘Congratulations, Jacinta. What have you got?’ Dr Soams chuckled as Noni placed a warm bunny rug over mother and daughter to help Jacinta keep the slippery infant against her.
Jacinta stared at the tiny screwed-up face and then tentatively kissed her baby. ‘It’s over. I did it.’ Then she glanced between the baby’s legs. ‘A girl.’ She let out her breath in a big sigh. Then she looked up at Noni and her father. ‘What are you two crying about?’ she asked in surprise, then she gathered the little scrap closer to her chest. ‘You’re going to have to go through this one day, kid. But it’s worth it.’
Noni looked at Iain as Dr Soams declared, ‘Jacinta looks a hundred per cent compared to her father. You look like you’ve been run over by a truck, Iain.’
Iain looked rueful and Noni stifled a laugh. So much for the obstetrician.
Chapter Forty-one
Jacinta
Jacinta couldn’t believe that this tiny and precious infant snuggled against her skin was hers. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Two hours ago. How had that happened? It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon. She had no idea where the time had gone. And she couldn’t believe the wave of absolute love that surged and swelled so high within her. Then the tiny features blurred as her eyes filled with tears.
OMG. Her baby. Her Olivia. Her arms tightene
d and the scent of her baby’s skin filled her senses. Olivia Winsome Noni Adele – McCloud, of course. Though she hadn’t told Noni and Win, yet. She’d been going to put her mum’s name second, but when she’d played with the letters it came out OWNA – OWNA home, and that was what she was going to provide for this tiny baby, so she’d never be without a place to come back to. She would show her baby that a girl could do anything, be anyone, and achieve goals that fulfilled them. Her dad would help, but only to get her started.
She’d go to uni, use his backing to set herself up, then she and Olivia would conquer the world. She would be a mother to be proud of – not right now, but in the future – and these early months with Olivia needed to be savoured because the time she had now was so precious.
Then Noni appeared at her door.
‘What a beautiful picture – mother and baby tucked up in bed together, resting.’
Noni came to stand beside the bed and Jacinta dragged her dreamy thoughts away from her daughter’s future and smiled at the woman who had helped her achieve this miracle. Noni looked more tired than Jacinta felt. She guessed her dad had been pretty exhausting.
Jacinta grinned up at her midwife and friend. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’
‘No question there. She’s gorgeous.’ Noni moved closer to the bed and touched Olivia’s cheek with one gentle finger. ‘Stunning, she is. Though still a little blue around the edges, with her hands and feet, but that will come good.’
Jacinta felt Noni give her shoulder a tiny poke. ‘Go you, with that amazing breastfeed in the birthing suite. You were a natural, and so was Olivia.’
Jacinta smiled. It had felt a bit weird, those soft but insistent sucks at her breast, but Noni had draped the sheet so no one could see. And Olivia had stayed there for ages. But yes, it had felt strangely right to see what her tiny little girl could do. Jacinta still couldn’t believe her baby had actually shifted and wriggled until she’d put herself on the nipple – just like a puppy would if left alone. And it hadn’t hurt. More crazy mother stuff she hadn’t thought she’d be feeling.
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