Right Place, Right Time. The Miracle of Life by Tabatha Seppala

I have finally taken a moment to process and reflect on Sunday and am ready to share the most magical story.

I’d like to preface this post with the dignity and respect this family deserves. I asked and received permission to share this touching story and make it public so others can share! I am HIPAA Compliance Certified and would never dream of sharing anything as intimate as this without express written and verbal consent. All details shared are completely accepted by the family. I’sis Maurice

My friends and family know I have always dreamed of and am working towards my goal to become a midwife, and to open a birth center in Flagler County. We have been visiting my in-laws here in Palm Coast for nearly two decades while waiting for my husband to retire from his military career. In 2021 we finally established roots here in Palm Coast, and I began to notice that this once sleepy retirement city was booming with new life, but it still lacks any birth services to accommodate the influx of younger generations moving here. Flagler families travel 35 miles north to St. Augustine or south to Daytona to deliver babies in neighboring counties.

Working together with The Doula Network, African American Entrepreneurs Association, Alpha Women’s Center, The Oopsie Project of Volusia County and The Intuitive Living Institute, I formed Delamere Wellness LLC (a holistic women’s wellness collective) to create birth resources specifically for Flagler County Women across the lifespan.

I was connected with Isis Maurice through these community connections. As a first-time mother and woman of color, she was fearful of what her birth outcomes would be. Isis has a protein s deficiency, which is a clotting disorder that requires her to be on blood thinners and increases her risk of hemorrhage. She was considered a high-risk pregnancy and was followed by Ob/Gyn out of Flagler Health St. Augustine. Typically, a doula is a non-medical support person who advocates, supports, and educates families during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. However, as a Birth Arts International Certified Midwife Assistant, paired with years of working as a doula and homebirth skilled birth assistant, I possess a little more professional experience than most doulas. Nonetheless, nothing could have prepared me for Sunday!

I started my morning on Sunday with a cup of coffee and a phone call from Isis explaining to me that she was having “menstrual-like cramps and felt constipated.” She sounded tired but was mostly calm as I ran through the important questions, “Have you experienced any spotting?”, “Are the cramps coming on in waves or a regular pattern?”, “Have you noticed a gush of fluid or leaking fluid from your vagina?” She answered no and again said she felt constipated.

I decided although she didn’t sound like she was in true labor (perhaps prodromal labor), I would still visit her and bring her peace of mind. After all, she’s only 36 weeks along and a first-time mom. I changed into a pair of scrubs, stopped by my office in the Hammock Dunes’ Intuitive Living Institute, collected my birth balls, rebozo, essential oils, and Tens unit, and headed to Isis and Anthony’s ‘E’ Section home. When I arrived, the door was already unlocked, and I began to unload my doula arsenal, prepared to offer advice and comfort measures to Isis and her doting husband, Anthony.

I called out because I hadn’t been greeted at the door and was told to come in straight to the bedroom. Anyone who has experienced labor knows there’s a certain energy signature labor has. It’s heavy and expectant, and although Isis was calmly lying on her side in her bed, that energy hung in the room. I asked Isis how she was feeling and touched her belly for a few minutes to see if I could feel her contracting. She was already undressed from the waist down, and I decided to look. What I saw indicated she was actively in labor. She began to cry as the next contraction washed over her, begging me to make the pain go away.

Immediately, I informed Isis and Anthony that we needed to start on our way to the hospital. We agreed to ride together in the family’s vehicle, but since they weren’t expecting a baby to be coming, Anthony realized he needed gas. We quickly got Isis into my personal vehicle, and I started the commute to Flagler Hospital St. Augustine. I contacted labor and delivery to inform them of the developments and give her birth team time to prepare for her arrival.

A quarter of the way to the hospital, Isis tells me she thinks she needs to push. I ask her to hold on if she can. We’ll be there soon. I’m continuing to offer words of affirmation and comfort measures while driving. At this point, I have turned on my hazards and am driving purposefully up US Highway 1.

Two miles from the intersection of US1 and 206, I hear Isis’ water break. She then begins softly groaning, saying, “I need to push.” I instruct her to remain calm and to place her feet on my dashboard. She is visibly sweating, so I turn up the AC, wipe her brow, and ask her to pant in an attempt to slow the baby’s descent into the vaginal canal. As we’re waiting at a red light at the intersection, Isis digs her fingernails into my right forearm, turns to face me with one leg on the dashboard begins to bear down.

Immediately I recognize this baby is coming NOW! I calmly ask Isis to remove her underpants after this contraction passes and begin frantically honking while trying to pull over to the right shoulder.

I park and run around to the passenger’s side, and a bystander rushes up to ask if everything is okay. I calmly state, “We’re having a baby.”

As luck would have it, the bystander Jason Carey informs me she is a nurse and asks how to help. I ask if she has gloves in her vehicle, but she doesn’t. She says she will run to Circle K across the street and grab some. I also request that she activate the emergency protocol and call EMS for support.

Isis is beginning to panic a little and is asking for her husband, who is about 10 minutes behind us. I calm him and continue to keep her calm. I encourage her to rest until the next urge to push overwhelms her. Anthony pulls up as the nurse returns with gloves from Circle K, and as soon as I get the gloves on, Isis is pushing, and she is crowning. I can hear the sirens as EMS approaches, but Isis pushes again, and her tiny preterm baby boy is in my arms. The nurse asks me what I need, and I tell her I must keep Isis and the baby warm. She brings me a beach towel to cover baby Akovi with. Dad is standing close by in shock, and tears of relief and joy stream down his face as his son’s first cry rings out. EMS asks me who I am, and I explain, “I’m her doula and a birth assistant,” then asks what I need and offers me a sweatshirt for additional warmth, umbilical clamps, and a scalpel and stands by my side ready to move mom and baby as soon as it is safe to do so. I asked if Dad would like to cut the cord, but his main concern is getting his wife and son to the hospital as soon as possible. EMS watched as I clamped, cut the baby’s cord, and congratulated Mom and me for doing all the hard work without them. Lol. I held Akovi the whole way to the hospital while EMS assessed Mom and gave a report to EMS and the L&D team when we arrived.

To say this birth was anything but miraculous would be a lie. A preterm baby born to a high-risk mother on the side of the road could have had fatal outcomes. However, this 5 lb. 11 oz. Warrior baby and his momma are in perfect health and expected to return home on Thursday.

I was so honored to share this experience with this family. This was an affirmation that I am on the right path. For the family, there was peace in the chaos. For the community, it showed how a village is all a woman needs sometimes. Sunday was a win, and I am still riding this birth high!

Thank you to everyone that was there to help bring this baby into the world surrounded by calm, peace, and joy. Thank you to our first responders. Thank all the angels among us for such a perfect outcome.