Mamatoto Birth Center

Bringing my angel into the world was an unforgettable experience. Apart from the unbearable pain, it was absolutely beautiful. Having her at Mamatoto Birth Centre was the best decision I could have ever made. The midwife-run institution really goes out of their way to ensure that both mother and baby get beyond best treatment. The environment is very homely and comforting. Mamatoto is designed to help moms-to-be who have a risk free pregnancy enjoy every bit of giving birth, after all, birthing is such a great spiritual bonding experience not just delivering.

Having the support of my mom, sister and husband in the delivery room helped tremendously. My wonderful husband was given every opportunity to be apart of our daughter's birth and he was allowed to assist me during labour, which made the experience amazing. The midwives were so helpful, they breathed with me at each contraction, supported and encouraged me for the entire 6hrs I was in labour there and took care of me and baby in entirety after delivery because I was very weak. They really gave us excellent service and went beyond my expectations at every step. They also know every trick in the book to help deliver a baby quickly without any meds. 

They also provide the services of a Doula whether or not you are giving birth at Mamatoto to really support, comfort, encourage and assist moms during labour. My doula was very helpful and gave me lots to drink and eat during labour so I wasn't tired and exhausted when it was time to push. The midwives also offer lamaze classes to prepare first time moms to give birth properly, they are very educational and really does help during labour. Their facility is very impressive and they offer water births as well! Apart from birthing and lamaze classes, they offer many other classes that moms may find helpful, check out their website below. As well, they highly recommend breastfeeding and ensure that moms can breastfeed baby successfully before sending you home. As well, they visit mom and baby at home 24hrs after delivery to ensure that both are healthy and baby is breastfeeding well. Also, moms are to have a check-up visit at Mamatoto 7 days after delivering. Additionally, the midwifes call periodically after wards (upto 9 months after in my case) to ensure all is well and answer any questions mom may have, moms can also call the midwives at any time if she has questions (trust me there are a lot of questions when you are a first time mom). 

Honestly, I couldn't see myself bringing my child into the world in a drab hospital where it would be so scientific and mechanical! I wanted something more, and Mamatoto truly offered an atmosphere that was homely and with a mother's touch. I thought I would share my experience with any would be moms since I wish everyone can have the amazing experience I had. So call as early as you can! They are an NGO and births are funded by companies, so the earlier you call, you can actually be able to give birth at Mamatoto for a small price or even free! Although this was not the case with me because I took a long time to decide, the service we received and the amazing experience far outweighed the cost.

Emma's Birth Story

I awoke bright and early Monday October 26th, 2009 at about 5:30am and felt some pain in my lower tummy and felt a pop in my passage way. I tried to go back to sleep as the pain was mild, however, at 6am I had to get out of bed because the pain was much stronger. I woke my husband, got out of bed and told my mom I was having pains but was unsure of what it was. I kept feeling like I needed to go to the toilet and I actually did, however, nothing came out. Then I began to get cramps and realized I was having contractions. However, the contractions were quite painful and coming about every five minutes. My mom said "No this cannot be labor as the contractions are coming too fast". Nevertheless, i called my midwife and she assured I was in early labor and asked me to leave home about 9am since the birth center was about 45mins from my house.

As 9am approached, my contractions became very, very painful and I needed to hold someone when I had one. I was nearing crying and they were about 2 minutes apart now, not giving me much time to rest in between. Meanwhile, my loving husband went to the grocery and got some snacks and lots of Gatorade and coconut water for me to have during labor as advised by my midwife. I also finalized my birth bag making sure I had everything ready to welcome my baby girl into the world. My mother-in-law also prayed with me for a safe delivery before we left. We left the house a little after 9 with my mom in the backseat holding my hand, my niece sitting next to me very excitedly, my mother-in-law in the passenger seat and my hubby driving.

On the way to Mamatoto (the birth center), there was quite a bit of traffic and my hubby decided to drive on the shoulder since I was in a lot of pain. A police man stopped him and when we told him I was in labor he didn't believe us because I was eating a cookie, or rather trying to eat as my midwife advised me to eat because I needed the strength. It was only when he saw me have a contraction he believed and let us go.

Upon reaching Mamatoto, they midwife took my blood pressure and urine and did and exam and I was 2cm dilated. They then escorted me to my room, which was very beautiful. I was having extremely painful contractions at that point and wanted to have a warm bath hoping it would help with the pain. Meanwhile, the midwife filled up the bath tub for me. During my shower I remember my hubby being with me taking pics etc, and he asked me something during a contraction at which point I slapped him...lol. He knew better than that. The back pain was incredible, like my back was about to burst open! I then came out of the shower and they put me on the birthing ball to sit with my head on the bed while my hubby rubbed my back. Didn't really help with the pain! All this while I was having contractions every 2 minutes and not allowed to scream, instead I was doing breathing exersizes which the midwife and doula were doing with me. They really encouraged me a lot and the doula was giving me sips of coconut water after every contraction so I was not dehydrated or tired.

I then was instructed to walk up and down a few steps to help the labor progress, this helped my water bag to burst, I remember standing against the wall with my head in my hand on the wall and swaying my hips side to side. Then I went into the tub hoping the warm water would help with the pain, this was not the case. I was 5cm dilated. I stayed in the tub almost an hour, i remember wanting to push soooooo bad, just feeling like I had to because of all the pain and heaviness in my bum. At the end of the hour I was 9.5cm dilated and it was time to push! This was at 3pm.

I was made to sit on a birthing stool with my back against my hubby, he was almost holding me. I began pushing, and pushing. This was soooooo much pain. The "ring of fire" was set ablaze! I pushed with all my strength, however, only the very top of her head was showing. Bear in mind, throughout all of this, my blood pressure was being taken almost after each contraction for fear that my blood pressure would rise. They were also listening to the baby's heartbeat. They then put me on the bed to lay down as the midwife tried to insert a catheter as she thought maybe my full bladder was holding back the baby. The catheter did not want to go in, so instead during a contraction, Nalini, the midwife gave me a tiny cut and the baby plopped out. Apparently, her heartbeat was beginning to drop.

As she came out at 3:45pm, they put her on my chest and she pooped on me...lol. I held her for a while and my hubby cut the cord. They took her into the other room and gave her oxygen and cleared her airways etc, where I heard she pooped on everything! My very excited cousin and his wife and 3 children as well as my mom, sister, mother-in-law and her friend were in the other room with the baby whilst I was being sewn up with my hubby by my side. I really couldn't have done any of it without him!

The baby was then brought in my room after being clothed and I looked at her but was too weak to hold her. I felt like I couldn't lift my hands. My hubby then got me dinner (Chinese from Jenny's) and his mom fed me  some. I was so weak I couldn't feed myself! Then my dad came to visit and after they left, it was me, baby and hubby left for the night. I remember the first time I had to pee, I was so weak I couldn't walk by myself, my hubby had to hold me and I had to lean on him while I peed, I was dizzy too. The midwife actually helped me wash up and got me back into bed. My hubby and I slept, not very much but still we had some sleep whilst the midwives took care of the baby and brought her to me to breastfeed when she awoke. She however, was not interested in breastfeeding but preferred to sleep. We could see her little eyes trailing after the midwives as they waked past her. I remember one episode where I was in the bathroom and she started to cry so my hubby picked her up and as he was holding her, she gradually slipped lower into her blanket that swaddled her so that her eyes would be blocked from the bright bathroom light...lol.

We were awaken at 4am by the midwife, and I was starving. I ate the leftover Chinese and the midwife helped to bathe me which I was grateful for, then we tried breastfeeding again. This time she took the breast and drank well. We changed her clothes, took some pics with the midwife, got her footprint taken, oh yes, she was weighed earlier that night, about 8pm. She weighed 5lbs 2oz and was 22inches long. So after receiving her birth certificate from Mamatoto, we were on our way home. She slept the whole way and I stared at her! We were greeted home by my mom and quickly put her onto my bed where she would spend most of her hours sleeping and playing!                    

Mummy's Milk

My peanut is now 11 months and I am very proud to say that she has been breastfeeding since birth! Honestly, I am very grateful to have been able to breastfeed her for so many months without much problems.

During pregnancy I decided to breastfeed as I knew it was the best way for my baby to get her nutrition, but it was only until she was born and actually breastfed that I realized how very important breastfeeding really is. It really is a baby's first immunization and gives them added protection against viruses as they are born with literally no immune system. All they have are the antibodies you give them through your milk. What a genius way to protect our babies! Of course I had lots of hiccups in the beginning as I was a new mom, but a little determination and patience helped things to fall into place. First off, she did not want to breastfeed when she was born! We waited 12 hrs until she was hungry enough and then she actually drank. Even though she was feeding, she was actually using her gums to bite the nipple to get the milk out, which was very painful! I didn't mind the pain actually, as long as she was getting some milk. Her mouth was so tiny, my nipple was more than a mouthful for her...lol, so i had to use my index finger and pull down her lower lip so that she could get a better mouthful of the areola. She was a very tiny baby (5lbs 2oz), so I let her drink the milk however she could.

At one month, she was much stronger and putting on weight but I was still having pain during and after breastfeeding as she was still biting me with her gums. I thought to myself, she should be breastfeeding properly by now, it shouldn't be this painful. Although my mum and cousin told me that its supposed to be painful I knew something was wrong. So I turned to my saviour, GOOGLE...lol. I googled it and found a video of a woman demonstrating how to breastfeed properly. To my surprize, I was holding her head too high instead of the same level as my boob. I was afraid she would choke, hence, I was holding her head higher than her body. Later on I was told by a midwife that babies can't choke even if held upside-down when breastfeeding. I was glad I figured this out because after I tried feeding her with her head level there was no more pain.

The other problem I struggled with is that one of my nipples is inverted and she hated feeding from it. She couldn't latch onto it and would cry so I would just give her the "good" one and she would be fine. This meant that she only fed from one boob, so I had to pump the other otherwise it would become engorged. Sometimes it would actually leak whilst she was feeding from the "good' one and I would put a towel in my bra so she wouldn't get soaked. Another irritating problem I had was in the beginning my nipples would be unstimulated most of the times and harder for her to latch onto. So I would take a wet rag and rub the nipple until it was stimulated enough and then she would latch on. That only lasted for about a few weeks and then it was fine.

I loved the fact that I had no bottles to sterilize, no formula to wake up in the night and mix, no water to boil etc. Just lift up my shirt and she had her lunch! It all became really great when she turned 4 months at which point she was able to feed properly whilst laying down so I could sleep whilst she drank. The good thing about breastfeeding is that mums tend to get sleepy because of a hormone released, this helps them fall asleep easily and get the much needed rest we need. The great thing is I am able to be at home with my baby and give her all the love, attention, and nutrition she needs. Also, because of breastfeeding, she is so much more alert, bright, learns quickly, learned to talk fast (she has a vocabulary of about 25 words already) and she understands what we say and follows instructions. She does much more than other babies her age who are not breastfed.

Now she is 11 months and a pro milk drinker, loves to eat food too and growing up really fast. Last weekend she was in the hospital for an infection which caused high fever, cough, cold and wheezing. I was thanking God every minute because all she was drinking was breastmilk. She would not eat anything else. The breast milk still gave her some nutrition and she was not dehydrated. It also comforted her when she was irritable and helped her fall asleep quickly in the noisy and bright hospital. Once she cuddled up for some "milkies" everything was alright again and she could forget that she was sick and be comforted. It felt really good to be able to give her such comfort when she needed it.

My advice to new mums would be to have patience and be determined to breastfeed. Do not be swayed by people's comments, even if its your family or even your mom. Utilize the resources around you, whether its TIBS, lactation centres, the internet or even other mums around you who went through the same thing, you would be surprised how helpful other mums can be even if it's just to talk. Buy a breastfeeding pillow, they really, really make a difference and makes it much easier. And lastly, remember that your baby will grow up before you know it and it becomes easier as they grow up, and when they wean themselves I'm pretty sure you will miss breastfeeding. I know I look forward to our quiet time together and our bonding moments!

It has been a rewarding experience and I will continue to breastfeed until she is 2yrs old or until she wants to stop.