EBB 372 - Comfort Measures and a 41-Week Induction with Hopey Fink and Ben Levin, EBB Childbirth Class Graduates

Evidence Based Birth®

Rebecca Dekker

Pregnancy, Health & Fitness, Childbirth, Parenting, Birth, Medicine, Kids & Family, Doula, Obstetrician, Midwife

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At 41 weeks, Hopey Fink and Ben Levin's birth plans shifted after elevated blood pressure readings led to an induction conversation. But, with the support of their doula, care team, and each other, the Evidence Based Birth

Childbirth Class graduates navigated every twist with confidence. In this episode, Hopey and Ben reflect on preparing for a low-intervention birth, the role of comfort measures, how advocacy shaped their decisions in the hospital, and what it meant to welcome their daughter with joy and strength. They also share advice for expectant families on building flexibility into birth plans, communicating with your partner, and finding empowerment in telling your birth story.

(03:07) Planning a Low-Intervention Birth in the Hospital

(06:38) Lessons from the Evidence Based Birth

Childbirth Class

(09:03) Navigating the Emotional Wait at 41 Weeks

(12:52) Elevated Blood Pressure and the Induction Conversation

(18:00) Advocating Around Pitocin and Weighing Risks

(23:31) A Long Night with the Foley Balloon

(30:16) When Progress Stalled and the Epidural Became a Tool

(34:30) Rest, Progress, and a Smooth Pushing Stage

(41:17) Advice for Expecting Parents: Flexibility, Partnership, and Storytelling

Resources

Get the digital guide to comfort measures: ebbirth.com/pocket-guides

For more information about Evidence Based Birth® and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, "Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!" If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone. On today's podcast, we're joined by EBB Childbirth Class graduates, Hopi Think, and Ben Levin, about how they navigated a change in plans at 41 weeks and had an empowering hospital birth experience.
0:16.0	Welcome to the evidence-based birth podcast. My name is Rebecca Decker, and I'm a nurse with my PhD and the founder
0:22.5	of evidence-based birth. Join me each week as we work together to get evidence-based information
0:28.4	into the hands of families and professionals around the world. As a reminder, this information is not
0:34.6	medical advice. See eBbirth.com slash disclaimer for more details.
0:41.7	Hi everyone and welcome to today's episode of the evidence-based birth podcast.
0:45.9	Today I'm so excited to welcome Hopi and Ben, who are here to talk about their empowering
0:50.6	hospital birth experience, including how they had to advocate for themselves.
1:00.3	Hopi and Ben both live in St. Louis, Missouri with their daughter, who was born in May of 2025.
1:06.6	Hopi and Ben are both attorneys. Hopi practices education law, and Ben does commercial litigation.
1:13.0	As a family, they love park walks, live music, community, and always continuing to learn.
1:18.0	Hopi and Ben are both graduates of the Evidence-based Birth Childbirth class with Anna Sikowsky,
1:21.2	and they're here today to share their birth story with this.
1:24.0	Hopi and Ben, welcome to the Evidence-Based Birth podcast.
1:26.2	Thanks. It's so great to meet you, Rebecca.
1:27.2	Thanks so much. So I was wondering if you
1:28.0	could just like take us back to the beginning and how you found out about evidence face birth.
1:32.8	Sure. We actually got connected through our doula, Anna, who also is an instructor for evidence
1:40.0	space birth. So we, they're part of actually like a doula collective. So Anna wasn't the one who
1:44.6	ended up attending her birth, but we took the class with her. Also had come recommended from a friend.
1:49.5	So that's how we kind of had initially been connected with our doulas. But it worked out really
1:53.4	well because we had been doing the pre-meetings with our doulas and then the class kind of flowed
	...

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