THE PLOWBOY INTERVIEW

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Indeed, I believe that any loving friend or relative who is present at a birth goes through the same bonding process that occurs between the parents and the baby. The birth of a child just seems to glue those people together. I know that, right now, being away from that child is almost physically painful to me. I feel it right here where, I guess, my solar plexus is.

PLOWBOY: I can't think of a better way to introduce our readers to the experience of a good home birth, then, than to have you — if you're willing — tell the story of young Austin's arrival.

TOMPSON: Well, I hope I can do it justice. It wasn't so much the location that made Laurel's delivery special, you see — the comfortable surroundings or the apple tree blooming outside — but rather the people there, what they were doing, and how the experience affected them.

First of all, my daughter handled herself beautifully. She was so relaxed and calm during the first — predelivery — stage of labor that I spent a lot of my time just gazing at her, enjoying the beauty and radiance of Laurel . . . who was finally having this baby that she wanted very, very much. Everyone there responded to her excitement and sort of fed it back to her.

And Jim, her husband, was marvelously supportive. They had taken childbirth classes together and shared a lot of preparatory reading, so he knew exactly what to do. He was with Laurel the whole time, always touching and encouraging her, helping her with her breathing and relaxation techniques, and wiping her face and neck with a cold washcloth to make her feel better.

Laurel had a long labor . . . and the transition — the intense contractions that come right before a mother can actually start to push a baby out — was really rough for her. During that time, she found that the only way she could be comfortable was to get on her hands and knees on the floor. Jim became a little apprehensive then and said to me, "Mom, do you mind staying in the room the whole time now?" So Laurel was on the floor, and Jim was on the floor, and I was on the floor.

When the doctor arrived, he got down on the floor, too, to examine her. He almost had to put the bottom half of his body under the bed to check Laurel's progress and listen to the baby's heart tones.

After Laurel made it through transition, she went into a long pushing stage but was able to doze between contractions . . . and when they came, she would just bear down and push. The doctor was a great help. He suggested a position — lying on her side with one leg up on her husband's shoulder — that would add strength to the contractions. Laurel was really having to work hard, but she never once said anything like, "Oh, when's this going to be over?" She was relaxed and happy . . . she was having her baby at last.

When Austin did come down, his head was out for minutes before the rest of him was born. The doctor could tell the child was doing fine, though, so he didn't try to rush the birth . . . he let Laurel take the time she needed. That's probably, in part, why she sustained only one tiny tear — so small that it didn't even require a stitch — during the birth. And as soon as Austin was born, Laurel got to hold him to her breasts, and touch and fondle him. Jim was right beside her, too. They were both talking and cooing to the new child, and Austin looked just darling . . . peering up and whimpering a little, but not crying loud. Even later, when the doctor moved the baby between Laurel's legs so his cord blood could drain, her hands were on him all the time.

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