A Fast and Empowering Homebirth Story with Doula Support in SWFL

For my second pregnancy and birth, I knew I wanted to do things a little differently than the first. I had an okay experience with standard OB care and an unmedicated hospital birth with our son—but this time, I was looking for more and I knew more was out there.

We had an incredible experience with our doula, Tara, during our son’s birth, so working with her again was an easy and immediate decision. She was one of the first people I told when we found out we were expecting again, and I also shared that I knew in my heart that a home birth was the right choice this time. From there, she helped us thoughtfully assemble our birth team.

My pregnancy with our little girl was not easy. She truly made me work for it—healthy, yes, but I was so sick for so long. I couldn’t be more grateful for the care and support I received from Tara and my midwives, Jamie and Amy, throughout it all.

By the third trimester, I finally started to feel like myself again. I leaned into all the preparation—Spinning Babies, walking, strength training, stretching—and felt so empowered going into this birth. I was feeling super empowered to give birth unmedicated again and was especially looking forward to that immediate post birth euphoria.

Because my first labor was pretty quick—just 6.5 hours from my water breaking to meeting our son—I knew this one might move even faster. My birth team reminded me of that often, and we prepared accordingly. 

At 39 weeks and 4 days, I went into labor. I woke up with cramping and achiness that felt similar to my first labor. I tried to not give it too much thought and continued with my day as normal—went for a walk and worked from home.

By early afternoon, I checked in with Tara and then tried to rest as she suggested. By late afternoon into the evening, I accepted that I was having real contractions and began timing them. They were inconsistent—some 5 minutes apart, others 8–10—and only about 30 seconds long. It left me unsure if this was truly the start of labor.

After we got our son down for bed around 8:30 PM, I focused on relaxing and tried to go to sleep around 10 PM. But laying down was uncomfortable and things began to pick up. I moved into the bathroom to labor and contractions were manageable, but I had a few that started to feel much stronger. Again, I was confused by the pattern or lack of – and wasn’t sure how much longer we had before baby came.

At that point, I was laboring alone. I truly believed we still had time and didn’t want to call anyone too early—I had heard too many stories of birth teams arriving long before things were far enough along and didn’t want that to happen. Around 11 PM, after a few very intense contractions, I woke up my husband and mom.

While they began preparing the birth tub in our bedroom and my husband connected with Tara, I stepped into a hot shower for some relief. It helped briefly, but I soon found myself back pacing the bathroom. Without realizing it, that space became my safe place—and where our daughter would ultimately be born. 

The intensity continued to build. I could feel and even see that baby was descending. Contractions were now 2–3 minutes apart, still relatively short, but much stronger.

Around 12:45 AM, Tara arrived and immediately began supporting me with counter pressure on my lower back. Things quickly became intense. Within the next 30 minutes, things picked up incredibly fast. A wave of nausea hit, and I knew I had reached transition. With my first baby, transition lasted close to an hour. This time, it felt like only 30 seconds.

Tara was in touch with my midwives, who were on their way. She had Jamie on speakerphone as my water broke and I lost my mucus plug. I moved onto my hands and knees on the bathroom floor, telling myself between contractions that I would make it to the birth tub after the next one.

But that moment never came.

With the next contraction, her head was out—and with another, the rest of her body followed. I instinctively put my hand on her head as Tara caught her, and we quickly unwrapped a nuchal cord. She was born at 1:14 AM. A planned home birth, unplanned free birth.

No monitors, no chaos, just peace sitting on the bathroom floor, holding our baby girl with my husband beside me, I was in complete shock at how quickly everything had unfolded. Jamie was still on speakerphone guiding us, and shortly after, Amy arrived and confirmed that we were all healthy and stable.

When I felt ready, I was helped into our bed to deliver the placenta and settle into those first moments of quiet bliss. The three of us rested together while my midwives checked vitals, and my husband cut the cord.

The next morning, our son—who somehow slept through the entire birth—met his baby sister in the comfort of our home, in our bed. It was incredibly special and a moment I will cherish forever.

We are endlessly grateful to Tara for her unwavering support, for catching our baby, and for being such a meaningful part of both of our birth stories. She holds such a special place in our hearts.

Olivia Drew Cates

7 lbs 2 oz

Thank you to mom Kelly for sharing her empowering and intimate story with us _❤️

-The Mindful Birth Doulas

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