This is a delightful birth story episode from a fellow physician! Claudia is an orthopedic sports surgeon, currently stationed with the Air Force in Anchorage, Alaska. She gave birth at the same military facility where she works and loved her experience. Even though she went into pregnancy at a (barely) advanced maternal age and with pre-existing borderline hypertension, she was still able to have the vaginal birth she wanted. Being in the “at risk” category doesn’t necessarily predict how your birth will go. A different hospital might have pushed for a c-section instead of waiting for interventions to work. Induction can be long!! Hers was Tuesday to Thursday. You have to be patient with the process and fortunately her care team was. I love how one of the doctors in the practice asked if she had birth wishes. This is how it should be done. Fortunately Claudia came prepared with a birth plan she’d made the right way (using The Birth Preparation Course) and went over it with her team before she went into labor. If she hadn’t done that she may not have gotten the outcome she did. This story goes so many places and I know you’re going to learn a lot from Claudia's experience.   In this Episode, You’ll Learn About: -How Claudia and her partner got pregnant without any treatment right after visiting an infertility specialist -How her experience as a physician influenced her expectations of birth -How she felt about giving birth in the military overall -Why she and her care team opted for induction -Which pain management option she liked and which one she hated -When and why her team decided to implement different interventions to move her labor along -How she felt when her doctor said they needed to consider a c-section after she’d been trying for vaginal for so long -How well she recovered after a 3rd degree tear by immediately requesting pelvic floor physical therapy -How her baby’s latching issues were resolved -What she wished she’d have known about the postpartum “baby blues”   -- Full website notes: drnicolerankins.com/episode195 Check out The Birth Preparation Course Register for the class How to Create a Birth Plan the Right Way