Childbirth: spiritual and natural

By Valerie Machado

When I found out I was pregnant last year, my husband and I were delighted. After several months we contacted the midwife who had delivered our second child. We had had our first two children at home, and we wanted the same for our third.

At 30 weeks I went for a routine checkup, and to everyone's surprise, the midwife found two heartbeats. Wow! Since Florida's laws do not allow home births for mothers who are having twins, we had to find a doctor. Our midwife suggested someone who turned out to be the perfect doctor for us. This was proof of God's care. I started having checkups with him, and everything went along fine.

With a twin birth, however, come a lot of predictions—that there is a high risk of complications; that there is more danger of the babies arriving too early or too late.

My husband and I prayed that the babies would come when they were ready. After several weeks the midwife predicted some difficulties. The babies were getting too big. They could get trapped in the birth canal. My abdomen was getting so big that my body might not go into labor by itself.

From the beginning of the pregnancy, a Christian Science practitioner had been praying for us. This was our way of providing prenatal care. Along with the Christian Science practitioner, my husband and I were knowing that the babies and I were safe, and that we always would be. The doctor was very calm every step of the way. He casually asked if I would like him to induce my labor. I declined.

The doctor told me that if my labor didn't begin in four hours, he would have to put me on a labor-inducing drug.

A week later, he asked again. I said I would like the labor to come naturally. (We explained that we were Christian Scientists and what that meant. He was very agreeable.)

One proof that God was taking care of us was that when I was ready to check into the hospital, the nurse who was assigned to us said she shared our preference for natural childbirth and was very supportive.

The doctor told me that if my labor didn't begin in four hours he would have to put me on a labor-inducing drug. During that whole time, my husband, the practitioner, and I were affirming that "all things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28).

About 3:30 p.m. my labor started, and just 2 hours and 20 minutes later, Noah was born. About 45 minutes after that, Joshua was born. They are the biggest babies on record in the hospitals in that area.

The babies were the talk of the hospital. The midwives said we were an example of our faith. Nurses came to see the "record babies born completely natural and without drugs." For us, it was a wonderful opportunity to experience God's care in every detail, at every step.

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