I have two mothers

April 16, 2021

(link to original essay)

Guiem Piñero Moll was born a week ago, on April 9, 2021, at nine in the evening.  Olga Piñero Puig (37), who will be his mama, and  Lina Moll Arguimbau (39), who will be his mommy. Guiem has two mothers. One carried the baby, the other provided the egg. Adiva Koenigsberg followed the pre-partum, delivery and postpartum and accompanied the process of this family who wanted to give birth at home. The photo report is part of the series “Giving birth during a pandemic”, which the includes previous essays “ Giving birth at home, a vital option ” and “ A more humane cesarean section ”.

Story of a couple

Olga, on the right, is from Barcelona and a yoga teacher. Lina, from Menorca, is a farmer in the Vall de Llémena. In May 2019, Lina tried three inseminations and one 'in vitro' fertilization. Economically and emotionally exhausted, she did not want to continue the treatment. Covid was the trigger and made Olga continue the process. Olga became pregnant with one of her partner's eggs, frozen thanks to the ROPA method (reception of eggs from the partner), and inseminated with the semen of an anonymous donor. The dog, Lucas Antoni, also appears in the photograph, in the Can Barres farmhouse, where they live.

A heart beats

In the picture, Lina listens to the baby's heartbeat in her wife Olga's belly. Midwife Inma does the 37-week check-up to see that the baby is growing normally and that the mother is well. She takes the blood pressure, touches the belly and listens to the baby's heartbeat.

Let's get mental

The midwife's job is physical and emotional. During the 37-week visit, Inma explains that each birth is a world and that you have to trust your body and understand that you can't control everything that happens during labor.

Hello it's me

The ultrasound image on the tablet says: "Hello, it's me." Olga and Lina didn't want to know the sex of their baby during pregnancy. That's why the doctor reduced the ultrasound image so it wouldn't be visible. The mothers wanted the surprise factor, to avoid sexism and to prevent the environment from buying pink things for a girl or blue for a boy.

Putting your best foot forward

One day before the birth, the midwife, Inma, suggests that Olga have a foot reflexology session, a massage that promotes and accelerates the onset of labor. We are at week 41 and one day.

Mommy

"When will it come out?" Lina asks.  Mommy is very excited because the birth is almost here, but it hasn't quite arrived.

Hug me

It's Friday, April 9, the day of the birth. It's a quarter past five in the afternoon. Olga has been in active labor for five hours. The midwife is about to arrive, stuck in Friday afternoon traffic. The couple hug each other to endure the pain of dilation.

The grandmother

Montse Puig Rodríguez (61), Olga's mother, is present at the birth. In the image, she watches as her daughter dilates. Montse had an older sister who died just three days after being born, during a home birth. The doctor attributed the child's death to the emotional shock of the mother, who had just learned that her younger brother had died in a traffic accident. When the family learned that Olga wanted to have a male birth, her mother and other relatives were very scared. But after receiving more information, they relaxed.

Hyperventilation

It's seven in the evening, and as you can see in the picture, Olga's hands are curled up, clenched. Olga says it's because she's hyperventilating and that it's happened to her before. Some women hyperventilate during contractions, and it's a way to get even more oxygen to the baby.

The rescue kit

It is 8:21 pm and the fetal heartbeat of the intrauterine baby slows down alarmingly as the head enters the narrow part of the birth canal. The image shows the neonatal resuscitation equipment that the midwife prepares just in case. Inma performs a vaginal examination to make quick decisions: if she is not close to giving birth, it is better to go to the hospital.

The cabaret

Once the heartbeat is fully recovered and the decision is made to stay home, the positions that facilitate the descent and rotation of the baby to help it be born begin. Such as, for example, the position of the image, the cabaret, a name invented by the midwife. Olga sits on her mother's legs and lets her bottom fall with the contraction.

Ring of fire

It's nine o'clock in the evening and we see that the baby's head is starting to come out. It's the so-called ring of fire. Olga screams and touches the baby's head, which is starting to come out under the water. Immersing herself in hot water during the process accelerates dilation, reduces pain, decreases the possibility of perineal tears, increases the mother's autonomy and creates a feeling of isolation from the outside world that favors the woman's introspection and concentration in the process.

The head is already out

The head has already come out completely. With the next contraction the rest of the body will come out. A little blood has come out, which dyes the water red.

The head has already come out completely. With the next contraction the rest of the body will come out. A little blood has come out, which dyes the water red.

They're almost here

With the next push, Inma helps the baby out, because the vaginal tension had the baby trapped.

Five seconds of life

Olga hugs her son while looking at Inma. Lina cries with emotion and makes a video for her family in Menorca.

It's a boy!

Today the mothers found out the sex of the baby. It's a boy. And he will be called Guiem, the Menorcan version of Guillem. Abril was the name they thought of if it had been a girl.

The placenta

After twenty minutes, in the same pool, the placenta comes out, which they have in a yellow bucket. The umbilical cord has been beating for ten minutes and is cut after two hours.

Before, colostrum

Guiem has been breastfeeding since birth. In the image, the brown liquid coming out of the nipple is a duct cleaning fluid, and comes out just before colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid produced immediately after birth and which helps develop immunity in the newborn.

Father

Olga crosses out the word "father" that appears on the form. She writes "mother" in it, and fills in the form with Lina's data to do the test for early diagnosis of metabolic diseases. 

3 kg and 120 grams

Guiem weighs 3,120 grams. The midwife weighs him inside the muslin, the cloth that wraps him.

Mama and son

Olga hugs her son happily. Everything has gone well.

Mommy and son

Lina hugs her son for the first time, skin to skin, while Inma, out of the picture, sutures Olga. It has to be done quickly because there is a bleeding wound.

A placenta for a tree

Grandma Montse puts the placenta in a freezer bag so that the mothers can plant a tree with the placenta when they return to the Can Barres farmhouse. Inma collects blood-stained absorbent pads to throw away and Lina prepares a placenta smoothie for Olga. Some mothers decide to drink a fruit smoothie with a piece of placenta. Although it is not proven, some believe that it reduces pain, prevents postpartum depression and helps with breastfeeding. It is also done as a symbolic gesture, as a female mammal. The midwife respects all options: "Whoever gives birth, rules," she says.

Suture

Inma sutures the second-degree tear that Olga had during childbirth. Midwives train for six years at university, studying four years of nursing plus two years of specialization. Inma worked in hospitals until she decided to assist mothers at home.

Nine hours later

It's 1:30 in the morning and the family is sleeping. Guiem, hugged by the sheets. It's been seven hours of active labor. The grandmother and the midwife are leaving.

The next day

Guiem, in perfect health, receives a visit from Inma the day after the birth. The midwife is competent to check the baby and take care of him during the first month of life. A pediatric

A family of three

The couple decided to give birth at home in Barcelona because the farmhouse was very far away and there was no hospital nearby. In contrast, in Barcelona the hospital is five minutes from home. Also because Inma only works in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and the couple wanted her to be the one to assist them.

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