Arkalah's Freebirth Story

"Born on July 1st Also his due date and his grandma’s birthday!

After laboring on and off from Friday until Sunday night, I woke up Monday morning around 4:30am with waves of contractions. I knew baby was coming soon! My water broke at 8 AM. I labored alone most of the morning switching from room to room. While my partner took our daughter to daycare for the day and ran a few last-minute errands. The waves were not consistent anywhere between 2 minutes to 10 minutes. This went on until roughly 5 PM, at around six, I did however, check myself and felt babies head high up in my cervix, but I was definitely in transition. Around this time I decided to take a warm bath.

I labored in the bath for about an hour and a half while things became extremely intense. Dorian then checked me again and said that he could feel baby’s entire head which indicated that I was very, very close to being ready. Around 7:30 the waves were getting so intense I couldn’t sit in the tub anymore. I needed gravity to help so I moved over to the toilet to relieve some pressure. I checked myself again and baby was still very high at this point I was exhausted. Tears started to come down thinking to myself that I couldn’t do this.

I was just so tired. I asked Dorian to give me a fan because I felt like I was overheating. That was the last visual that I remember. I felt the next wave coming on and then another and then another, back to back no breaks in between that’s when I felt baby head starting to come down quickly. Dorian calmly told me that the baby’s head was out. Not wanting to deliver my baby on the toilet I then moved over to the tub.With each wave, I allowed my body to push baby down. I knew instant relief was going to come. As much as we wanted to record the baby’s birth, he came very quickly once I was in the tub!

As soon as he came the waves stopped immediately. Not knowing the gender yet, it didn’t even cross my mind, I was just happy my baby was here. I picked baby up and placed my hand under him to hold and immediately knew that we had a baby boy! Born at 8:11 pm 6lbs 8 oz 18 inch’s long, Aiden Dorian Williams"

Mama•Arkalah Johnson 

@modern_day_hippie

@thepositivepregnancyjourney

This mother welcomed her baby in the fullness of trust; surrounded by peace, held by presence, and guided by intuition. It was a beautiful free birth, and in the sacred moments after birth, she did exactly what so many mothers are innately capable of doing: she supported her baby’s first breath.

Watch her birth video on @thepositivepregnancyjourney Instagram, You’ll see her calmly rubbing, gently stimulating, suctioning, and moving her baby, because when you freebirth, you are the first responder. And what so few are ever taught, but every mother deserves to know, is that you also have the ability to give inflation breaths if your baby needs help transitioning.

A valid question might be: “But what if my baby needs help breathing?”

Too often in the mainstream model, we witness babies being overhandled—aggressively rubbed, suctioned unnecessarily, or taken away from their mothers before they’ve had a chance to transition. Some babies are already breathing fine. Others just need time, warmth, and a gentle welcome Earthside.

But here’s the truth:

You, Mama, were made for this.

You hold intuition, warmth, suction, oxygen, and milk—everything your baby needs.

If your baby needs help, you can:

• Suction gently (with a bulb or maternal mouth)

• Stimulate by rubbing or talking softly

• Position baby’s head to open the airway

And if needed, you can provide 5 slow inflation breaths:

How to Give Inflation Breaths:

1. Cover baby’s mouth and nose with your mouth

2. Breathe until you meet resistance

Count slowly:

   “One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand...”

Release

Repeat for 5 breaths

These inflation breaths help fluid absorb into the lungs and gently ease baby into their new way of breathing. As @karenmidwife teaches, “A breath from you will only make the baby feel better—it will not hurt.”

Most babies won’t need more than this.

But babies who’ve worked hard, through sticky shoulders, breech positions, or a long journey through the pelvis; might simply need a little extra support and time.

This is why education matters. This is why this moment was so powerful.

Because with peace, presence and skill, this mama welcomed her baby with love.

This post is not medical advice, but a testament to the sacred strength and wisdom of mothers. If you feel called to birth in your power, may this story remind you: you are more equipped than you’ve been told.