T’was the night before Christmas in the rural countryside outside of Powell, Wyoming, located near picturesque Montana and Yellow Stone Park. Two young sisters Emerald, age 4, and Beverly, age 20 months, were asleep downstairs, in a room furnished just for them in their two- story home, while their dad, Nate, and pregnant mom, Brittany, were upstairs also asleep. In the living room was a Christmas tree wonderfully decorated, its branches sheltering the presents that Santa Claus had brought the two young girls.
At 2:30 AM, now Christmas morning, Brittany’s contractions started. She wasted no time phoning Melanie Lennon, her midwife, who arrived quickly with all her sterilized utensils. Brittany’s husband filled the birthing tub with water, which Melanie had left previously with them. Both husband and wife got into the tub with her husband behind her so that he could hold her hips and encourage her. The counter pressure he provided on her hips alleviated the contraction pain and the human touch of just leaning against her husband’s chest was comforting. The water makes the woman weightless and lets her move more easily. Forty minutes later Brittany gave birth in the water to 6 and ½ pound Ezra. When daylight came, the two girls downstairs, who had been excited to see what Santa Claus had brought them, heard a baby upstairs. They ran upstairs, right past all the gift wrapped packages, to meet their brother, Ezra, a mere few hours old.
Brittany explained, “It would never occur to me to have my babies anywhere but at home. My grandmother was a doula, a woman who helps women during labor and after childbirth. My mom had her first baby in the hospital, but her second came so fast that my grandmother helped her and after that mom had all her babies at home. You might say it is kind of a family tradition. I mean even if the practice of midwifery isn’t legal in a State there is nothing that State can do to stop childbirth in a home. If a doula happens to be around --”
Melanie Lennon, who lives also in Powell, Wyoming emphasized, “A midwife never knows what time that phone call will come. Obviously, I would prefer it wasn’t at 2:30 AM during a cold Wyoming winter. But then again, a Christmas baby is special.”
Melanie worked as a doula before midwifery was legalized in 2010 in Wyoming and was licensed as a midwife in 2013. Melanie likes her pregnant clients to be near a hospital where she has a working relationship with local physicians. She has facilities near Powell for those who live too far away. “Just the other day,” Melanie explains, “I had a woman in labor when I realized this was a breech baby. I immediately drove her to our hospital where an obstetrician, using the external cephalic method, was able to turn the baby around while it was still in the womb. We then left the hospital and she had the baby at home sitting in the warm birthing tub together with her husband who helped and encouraged her.”
Melanie’s midwifery, Birthing Traditions, involves a whole program. She points out, “I offer my clients educational couples retreats, massage and reflexology treatments. I emphasize nutritional and physical health.”
Melanie has an annual picnic in her garden for her “alums” and expecting mothers and their families. It gives the birthing families an opportunity to meet and build a community with one another.
Melanie emphasizes, “Wyoming’s scope of practice for midwifery ensures that women with medical complications get good care which sometimes means co-care with a local physician.” She encourages her clients to have sonograms and lab tests. She herself is equipped to give local anesthesia if sutures are required and has with her equipment anti-hemorrhagic medication and resuscitation apparatus.
After the baby is born, Melanie cares for her clients and babies from day one through six weeks, at which time mothers should feel secure with their new ones.
Melanie sums up her birthing philosophy, “When integrated into life as a family event, birth strengthens and empowers all who participate.”
Edith Lynn Beer is a seasoned journalist who covers news in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.