When A’briel became pregnant with her first child, she was quite surprised as one OBGYN had previously assured her that she’d need fertility treatment in order to conceive. She immediately sought out doula support and started to build a birth team full of strong African American women.
Due to a previous diagnosis of Type II Diabetes, A’briel knew she’d be having a hospital birth at the facility where she worked; but she had always planned to deliver without many interventions and epidural- free.
She scheduled herself to work up until 40 weeks, but was in for another huge surprise when she woke up to ruptured membranes on the day she turned 37 weeks. Once at the hospital, A’briel decided to augment labor with Pitocin, and 10 hours after her water had broken, she had her first intense contraction. Contractions would remain stead for the next 4 hours until she gave birth.
At 7 weeks postpartum, A’briel returned to work in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic where she had to juggle a full-time night shift job, single parenthood, and maintaining a breastfeeding relationship, as well as the unknowns & constant changes that COVID would cause at her hospital.
A’briel Banks Bio
A’briel lives in Rural Arkansas with her 4 month old daughter, Alivia. She is a doula turner Labor and Delivery Nurse and is gearing up to pursue midwifery. She can be reached on Instagram @naturallybri__
Crate & Kids
This episode of The Birth Hour is sponsored by Crate and Kids. Crate and Kids is all about empowering the self-expression of families through environments that spark creativity and encourage individuality. Their versatile collection celebrates each new stage and helps you design a nursery that’s an extension of your own personal style.
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