My midwife quite literally did not intervene the entire time.

She was standing in the corner watching me.

The nurse said to her, aren't you going to do something?

She said, absolutely not.

She's doing exactly what she needs to be doing to have this baby.

My birth experience when I was 18 was

dramatically different. We failed to recall that at that age, all of us, like for any of us,

everyone in your life is an authority when you're 18. When you just said this about authority,

it brought me right back to laying in that bed when I was 18.

And I was actually by myself for a period of my labor. And I looked at my nurse and I said,

oh, this really hurts. Can I hold your hand? Like, can I hold your hand, please and squeeze your

hand? She told me no. She did not give me her hand. She told me no and said,

I've been a nurse for 35 years. If I let every woman squeeze my hand, my hand wouldn't work anymore.

I'm Cynthia Overgard, birth educator, advocate for informed consent, and postpartum support specialist.

And I'm Tresha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation consultant.

And this is the Down to Birth Show.

Childbirth is something we're made to do.

But how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in today's medical

culture? Let's dispel the myths and get down to burp.

Hello, my name is Samantha, and I am born and raised in South Florida.

And I am elated to share my birth story and my journey with all of you.

So I'm currently 31, but my first birth was when I was 18 years old.

...