My Birthing Story: Delamar Arias

Delamar Arias, radio jock
Fiancée to musician/BPO executive Tyler Ashby
Mom to Cooper, 4, and Parker, 8 months old

Excerpt from Delamar's interview on Smart parenting: 
My doula Irina asked me ‘what do you want?’ and I said ‘Irina, I want to own this pregnancy, this might be my last’ and we already talked about it.  "I want to be awake, I want to be part of this birth, I want to be there, I don’t want to be sedated and I want to make sure that all hormones that are needed for breastfeeding start."

During my labor, Irina put this musical piece on loop and told me, ‘Remember when I was meditating in one of my pre-natal visits to your house and I told you to close your eyes and look for a word that will empower you, will make you feel safe, that will guide you through the pain? Call on that word now. You don’t have to say it out loud, just say it over and over in your mind’. That really calmed me down as she held my hand. Irina was like my lawyer; she’s the one telling everybody in the hospital, ‘This is what she wants’, because I couldn’t say it for myself. During the delivery she was telling me what was happening beyond the curtain so it made me feel part of the birth.
So I calmed down, and the next thing I know, they had pulled the baby out and he was crying so loud. Still I was so afraid that the doctors would tell me bad news. It can really drive you crazy.
When they laid the baby, I saw him and he was so big, he was so white and he looked like...an alien! They made him latch and he had a good latch, I remember, then they took him away. I was aware the whole time. I didn’t fall asleep from the time that I gave birth to the time that I was in the recovery room. Irina was there and we were talking. I felt all that adrenaline.


Read the FULL INTERVIEW on Smart Parenting website