I have four children, all beautiful and perfect. Each birth experience has been amazing and wonderful, but each one has been faster than the last. My first labor was three hours, start to finish. I don't have early labor. My second child was born after just a little more than two hours, and my third baby was an hour and a half. I arrived at the hospital at 6:04 a.m. and I had him on the only available bed, the operating table, at 6:09 a.m.

My fourth baby was born two months ago. My husband, Chuck, and I knew from the start that this would be our last child. Partly due to that and partly due to my fast labors, I wanted a home birth.

We had recently moved to Cochrane and were now farther from the hospital. The fear of having to labor on the side of the highway and have my baby born in our minivan made me restless. I brought the option of home birth to Chuck and he immediately refused. The expense was huge ($3,500) and he could not agree to use a midwife when he thought it was inferior care because midwives are not doctors.

I convinced Chuck to meet with the midwife so we could make an educated decision. Joy has the only midwifery practice in Cochrane, so we met with her and I was immediately at peace. She has a soft but educated way of putting you at ease, and I immediately wanted this woman with me when I had my baby. Chuck was impressed with her knowledge and was surprised by how much experience midwives have. We found a way through the financial hurdle and I finally felt like I could relax and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy.

I asked my mom to come visit and we hoped she would be here for the kids when I went into labor. I wasn't worried about my older two kids but I wasn't sure how my 2-year-old would handle the labor.

The day my labor started my oldest two were at a play date. Chuck was gone to pick them up and my mom and I were enjoying some quiet time together. My back and stomach started to feel tight like constipation. I filled my bathtub and hoped the warm water would help my body relax. As soon as I got into the warm water I realized the constipated feeling was really contractions. I grabbed my cordless phone so I could have something with the time on it so I could figure out how often the contractions were coming. They were 10 minutes apart, the farthest apart my contractions have ever been. I thought I might actually have more time with this labor.

I called my mom into the bathroom and told her what was going on. She started timing the contractions and writing the times down. The contractions quickly became closer together and although I could talk in between them I had to concentrate and breathe deeply during them.

I don't know when my mom called the midwife and Chuck but I know it was soon after I told her what was happening. Chuck rushed home and the kids came home excited to be there when the baby came. They came in and gave me a kiss in between a contraction but left while I went back to concentrating on my breathing.

Deep, slow breaths.

The kids, including my 2-year-old, continued to come in occasionally to give me hugs and kisses and asked if the baby was really coming. There was no denying what my body was doing. The baby was definitely on her way. We had found out weeks earlier that we were having a baby girl and we were naming her Laurelyn Amber. As labor got stronger and more intense I would say things to Laurelyn, in my head. It was now too difficult to speak very much. I kept thinking things like, "We can do this, you and I" and "I'm so proud of you," "You're doing great" "You're almost here."

Everyone else in the room disappeared and it was just she and I, both working as hard as our bodies could to make the birth happen. I sat with my back straight, cross legged in the warm water. I had opened the window above my bathtub when I first got in and now it was blowing a cool breeze across my face, neck and shoulders while the rest of me was in warm water. I almost thought the breeze would come purposefully when I most needed it. My body knew instinctively what I needed at different times in my labor, and my body and I felt like a partnership. My body does the hard stuff and my mind keeps us motivated and on track.

Joy sat next to me (on the toilet) the entire time and I remember thinking how uncomfortable it must be to sit there, waiting for me to have my baby. I wondered how long she's sat in uncomfortable places while she helped women bring babies into the world and I realized in that moment that I could never be a midwife. I get bored easily.

Joy checked my progression and said that I was fully dilated and that I could push whenever I felt the urge. I moved so that I was squatting sideways in the tub. Joy recommended that I feel with my hand as the baby came out so that I could determine how hard to push. I remembered her saying this during my pregnancy and although I love everything about pregnancy I thought this was an experience I didn't need. I wasn't sure I wanted to feel the baby coming out of me. I did want to keep from tearing and up to this point I had been managing my labor all on my own. Joy had been so fantastic during my pregnancy and so far through my labor that I took her suggestion and I felt around for my baby.

With my hand on my perineum I pushed as hard as I could and I could feel my body react. It was the most amazing experience and I have never felt more in control than at that moment. My body was doing what I told it and I was telling it to do something amazingly difficult.

"Bring me my baby."

In a matter of seconds I could feel my baby's head – hair, lots of hair, and ears. I took a break to breathe and while I did I traced the outline of my baby's ears. In my head I told my baby how proud I was and how awesome I found this moment.

I looked up quickly and I could see my kids watching with excitement and concern. They didn't look scared or disgusted, which was my greatest fear for them. They were smiling and teary and quiet, enjoying the birth of their new sibling. Everyone I needed was there for me. My 8-year-old and 6-year-old were closest. They were so excited! David was standing on the counter next to my mom, watching from farther away. In between David and my older two were Chuck, Joy and the other midwife, Shianna.

I took another breath and one more push and out she came, quickly, quietly into the warm water. I pulled her out of my body and into my arms in one movement. She was crying and covered in more vernix than I had ever seen on a baby. She had dark curly hair and beautiful ears. I held her close and cried. We did it, she and I!

We sat together in the water for a short time and then transferred to the bed so I could lie down. My labor had only been one hour and 14 minutes but I was exhausted!

I nursed my baby girl while Chuck, the kids and my mom counted fingers and toes. It was one of the greatest moments in my life, lying on that bed surrounded by the most important people to me. I felt so grateful, more gratitude than I thought possible. I was grateful to Joy for being such a wonderful midwife, grateful to Chuck for this gift of one more baby and grateful to my mom for being there. My last birth and I had it exactly as I wanted it.

Except for the bleeding.

I couldn't stop bleeding. We waited for the placenta and when it finally came it was checked and everything looked healthy, but the bleeding kept up and now there were large clots coming.

My mom took the kids downstairs while Joy and Shianna, the second midwife, put in an IV for fluids, gave me oxytocin and tried to manually take out the piece of placenta that was obviously still attached inside of me.

I felt so tired and all I could think of was closing my eyes and sleeping. I wasn't able to internalize how much blood was coming out and how important it was to stop the bleeding. Luckily, Joy and Shianna were there for me. They called the paramedics immediately and I was transferred to the ambulance. We drove lights and sirens to the Foothills Hospital. Joy had called ahead of time so there was an operating room, an Ob/Gyn and an anesthesiologist waiting for us.

I had a D&C to take out the piece of placenta. Joy was right next to me, holding my hand the entire time. Once the D&C and the paperwork was finished I was released into Joy's care and able to go home. From the time my labor started to the time we returned from the hospital and I was in bed with my baby girl was eight hours. I was home midnight of the same day that I had her.

While we were at the hospital the Ob/Gyn that did the procedure commented on our foresight at having a midwife because she guesses that we would have had the baby somewhere along Bow Trail and then bled all the way to the hospital. I quite possibly could have been in distress by the time we reached Foothills Hospital.

I felt disappointed in myself for needing to come to the hospital when I had such high hopes for a natural birth. I felt discouraged and embarrassed. I didn't want to admit what had happened. I just wanted to focus on the time with my baby with the cool breeze blowing and that moment when I pulled Laurelyn onto my chest.

It took some time to get over but now I'm glad for how things happened. Chuck was originally worried about what would happen under emergency situations with a midwife and we got to find firsthand what happens. Joy and Shianna quite possibly saved my life and I will never be able to thank them adequately for that. Chuck and I are now both advocates for midwifery and look forward to seeing midwifery funded in Alberta.

Laurelyn Amber McKinnon was born at home on May 31, 2008, surrounded by her siblings, her dad, grandma and the midwives. She weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces.