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Having attended the home births of three of her siblings, Victoria knew she wanted an unmedicated birth from the start. Living on an island notorious for its horrible traffic made Victoria nervous about birthing at home (if by chance there was a medical emergency), so after touring a local birth center, she decided that was where she felt most comfortable.
She completed the Bradley Birth Method course that the center offered on site, and credits the Bradley Method with allowing her to speak up for what she wanted, and not be pushed into an induction by an OB-GYN in her group practice who also swept her membranes without permission.
After a long walk up and down a steep hill in her neighborhood, Victoria went into labor at 39 weeks and 4 days, and proceeded to vomit non-stop from 3:30am until arriving at the birth center the next day at 1:30pm. She received fluids to help with her dehydration, and then labored for three more hours until she was ready to push. Her daughter Frances was born at 5:02pm, after 40 minutes of pushing.
Despite having attended many La Leche League meetings as a child with her mom, breastfeeding did not come as intuitively as Victoria had imagined it would. A cracked and bleeding nipple and her infant throwing up blood convinced her to seek out her local La Leche League, as well as a Mommy Hui, where she felt very supported, and most importantly, not alone. She went on to nurse her daughter for 3 years and 3 months, and is grateful to the example that her mom set as a home birthing and breastfeeding mom.
Victoria Hill Bio
Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Victoria Hill has lived mostly in Honolulu since 2005. Victoria has worked in higher education as an Administrator and ESL teacher, and is currently the Director of Online and Graduate Admissions at Chaminade University of Honolulu. In her free time she enjoys hiking with her daughter (now 5), and spending as much time as she can at the beach. You can see pictures of her life in Hawaii, and reach out to her on her Instagram at @victorialoha.
Resources
- The Birth Hour Podcast
- Bradley Method
- Castle Hospital Mommy and Me Hui
- La Leche League International
- Nar-Anon Family Groups
Crate & Kids
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