Beautiful Beginnings Taiwan

25/11/2025

Super fast second baby this weekend!

Mom planned to give birth to at St. Paul’s hospital in Taoyuan. Dr. Yang is an advocate of gentle birth and has a team of midwives working there.

At 40 weeks mom has some mild contractions and a small amount of bloody show. She can’t feel many fetal movements though so she decides to go in and check baby’s heartbeat and make sure everything is ok.

She arrives around midnight and baby’s heartbeat is normal. She spends some time on the monitor and is having very small, irregular contractions. The nurses check and she’s 4cm dilated. That sounds like a lot but some second and thirds moms are dilated for a while before labor even begins!

Dr. Yang arrives and is a little hesitant to let them go home as she lives quite far from the hospital. He suggests she walk around for a couple of hours to see if things pick up. If not, she can go home.

I check in with them at 4:00 am and mom says contractions are more consistent so they’re staying. I head over to Taoyuan. She’s still 4 cm dilated.

They update me at 4:30. Now 6 cms. At 5:00 7cm.

I arrive at 5:00 am and run up to the delivery room. St. Paul’s does not have an LDR and when I arrive they already wheeled mom into the delivery room. Usually, only the father is allowed in there but they kindly made an exception. I go in and mom is fully dilated and pushing. Dr. Yang is quietly and kindly coaching her to deliver the head as gently as possible. Baby is born at 5:20 and placed on mom’s chest. They delay cord clamping and mom and baby recover from the shock of such a quickly birth. Mom has no tearing and doesn’t need any stitches so Dr. Yang prepares to leave after telling the nurses that the baby can stay with mom for two hours to get breastfeeding establish.

We move into the recovery area and do just that!

07/10/2025

Birth Story Recap👶 ( Mom’s Personal Story)

My water broke on Monday (9/22), but contractions never came. We went for a check with our doctor. Everything looked ok so we signed a waiver form and went home to wait for labor to start.

After 36 hours, still nothing. At the advice of my doctor + doula, we checked into the birthing center on Tuesday evening for my first dosage of prostaglandins.

By Wednesday morning (about 50 hours later) I was only 0.5 cm. They didn’t insist on antibiotics and kept vaginal exams to a minimum.

The doctor put me on Pitocin, but again barely progressed. At 11:40 AM, my doctor gave me the second dose of prostaglandin and by 12:30 PM contractions finally kicked in FAST and strong.

My husband was my rock... pressing on my tailbone, shaking my hips, reading affirmations + prayers over me. By 3:50 PM, I was already 6cm. Transition hit hard. I felt my body bearing down. My doula and my husband rushed me to the toilet and then she told us it’s time to get in the tub. A nurse checked my cervix: 10 cm😱
Thirteen minutes in the tub + two contractions later… Baby FLEW out! Born at 4:33 PM on 9/24. A nurse caught him and placed him on my chest—my doctor didn’t even make it😂Baby’s grand entrance. Our miracle boy.💙

10/08/2025

Birth class is always fun but especially when you get a group like this! ❤️

They planned to hang out after second class and ended up renting the space for an extra two hours and ordering take out!

17/05/2025

VBAC

Emily’s first birth ended in a c-section after pushing for a while without the baby moving down and then the baby’s heart rate dropped.

This time around, she decided to try for a VBAC.

I had mentioned the labor might go quickly as it was still her second labor.

I get a message that labor might be starting but contractions still weak and inconsistent. Emily and her mom go for a Chinese acupressure foot massage. She texts that the contractions are starting to pick up and they’re ready to head in to Dianthus.

I head over to meet them there. Dad messages that things seem pretty intense. A few minutes later he calls me and I can hear mom screaming in the background. I put them on speakerphone so the nurses can hear. Nurses suggest heading to the nearest ER but there’s none around. Closest place is still Dianthus and they’re 20 mins away. I get mom to pant and avoid pushing.

Wait downstairs for the car to pull up and get the guard to grab a wheelchair. We zip upstairs and sure enough she’s fully dilated. She starts pushing put after 20 mins it’s evident that baby will take more time to be born.

We push on the bed while holding her legs, push on her side with a peanut ball, push on all fours, push on the toilet. Push for a couple of hours before the nurse asks if she’d be ok having a vacuum assist.

Mom agrees and just a short while later, baby is in her arms.

Born the evening before Mother’s Day ❤️

01/11/2024

Very excited!!!

Dr. Lin at Dianthus was able to successfully turn two of my clients babies this week! This means they can now avoid a cesarean section and have a vaginal delivery.

The amazing Dr. Chen is able to do vaginal breech births for some women but this is an amazing first step.

Another client asked their doctor about external versions and he said no one in Taiwan does them ;)

https://www.facebook.com/share/17MQpxpv3e/?mibextid=WC7FNe

13/09/2024

My Positive Birth Story:�10th August 2024

It all started on a seemingly normal day. I had a fun and productive morning with a bump photoshoot (just in time!), wrapped up a business meeting, had lunch with some girl friends and ended the day with an unintentionally spicy dinner.

The doctor had told me the day before that, although the baby’s head was down, it wasn’t engaged yet, and delivery that week seemed unlikely. Which I why after dinner, I decided to go for an evening walk in an effort to help the baby’s head
engage, as per my doctor’s suggestion.

I also spontaneously treated ourselves to a foot massage around the corner— was heavenly. Highly recommend.

So when my waters broke at 22:28pm that night I was in a bit of shock! I had been convinced I’d go over my due date following in my mother’s footsteps , not deliver two weeks early… !

I wanted to be sure it was my waters, so popped in a pad and after walking around a bit and seeing a steady flow of clear liquid, I knew this was it.

Too excited and full of adrenaline to sleep, I put on a movie & cuddled up in bed. We went for Hitman’s Bodyguard (not the most obvious choice for relaxation, I know, but I wanted something light-hearted and funny). Felix ran out to Family Mart to grab ion drinks and some snacks, and I spent the time chatting on the phone with a close friend who was also expecting. That call was so comforting, and I highly recommend speaking with a loved one if you’re in the early stages of labor. It gave me reassurance and calm, a great tip from the birthing courses we’d done.

By midnight, I tried to sleep and managed a few hours before the contractions kicked in. Around 4:00 am, I was up, trying to stay quiet and let Felix rest as long as possible. I pottered around, unloaded the dishwasher, and indulged in a weird but delicious snack—peanut butter, jam, and cottage cheese on a bagel. I highly recommend eating early on during labor because you never know when you’ll have the chance again!

I also spent some time bouncing on my exercise ball, which felt great, and kept myself moving.

*****rest in comments

19/07/2024

This is one of those births that really show interventions have a time and place.

Mom went to Loving Care and found out her water had already started trickling and they decided to admit her. Hours later she’s in terrible pain and vomiting. She decides to get an epidural which helps but in Taiwan, all the epidurals are walking epidurals. Which are great! Can still move around, use different positions and go to the bathroom. It also means that pain does break through and the meds need to be added every two hours or so.

In the early morning mom is fully dilated but baby is still high. Everyone gets as much as sleep as possible. Just after lunch, pushing starts. Mom pushes for almost five hours! At this point, waaaaaay earlier than this point, most hospitals would have insisted on a c-section. They let her “labor down” as long as possible and push for as long long as mom and baby were stable.

After all that, we discussed using a vacuum.

Pros: Baby born in minutes. C-section avoided.

Cons: More violent for mom as often includes fundal pressure and sometimes an episiotomy.

Be sure to think about this possibility and include onto your birth plan!

Vacuum assured deliver was decided on and baby was in her arms in under 20 mins. Relief all around! Immediate skin to skin and baby stayed with mom the whole time. ❤️

28/06/2024

Birth last month at Dianthus. This couple had a different situation than many of my clients, by being told that the baby was “too small” instead of “too big”.

One doctor was worried about placental function and was suggesting induction. Mom is a strong minded woman and decided to wait and get another opinion. Other doctor said placenta looked fine and baby was doing well. At 41 weeks mom started to feel some early labor symptoms. Cramping, bloody show and some fluid. They went in for their regular appointment that day and were told her waters had broken. They monitored the baby for a while, during which time her heartbeat dipped down into the 80’s. It was decided they would be admitted and baby monitored for a few more hours and induction meds were discussed again. However, mom went into labor all in her own. At 4:30pm the decision was made and the couple moved into the birth room. At 6:00 she was 2 cms dilated. Within two hours fully dilated!

Mom then labored in the tub but baby wasn’t really moving down. So we tried toilet, shower and standing. Finally, midwife had her on the bed in traditional position and used some perineal massage and pressure to show her where to push. Within minutes we could see baby’s hair. Got mom back into the tub when WHOOSH……. Out came baby all at once! Midwife had just turned around to get gloves on so the couple scooped up baby from the water and held her together on mom’s chest.

When baby decided to come, she made a quick appearance and mom got the birth she was waiting for!

23/06/2024

This is amazing! Husband and child both allowed in the OR for the birth of the second child. Everyone welcoming THEIR new family member together. ❤️

It’s time for Taiwan hospitals to stop excluding even husbands from caesarean births. This is a family and dad deserves to be able to support his partner and witness the birth of their children.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/u9eqxFeCRb9sPVky/?mibextid=WC7FNe

02/05/2024

Did you know I also offer postpartum doula services?

Whether a few hours assistance with taking care of your newborn while you get some rest or full time night nanny care from a licensed nurse midwife.

11/04/2024

I recently attended a home birth in Taichung. Mom and dad decided early on to keep everything as intervention free as possible. We found a fantastic team of midwives about an hour away from Taichung that were willing to travel for the birth.

The day before the birth mom loses the mucous plug. Next morning shes having some cramping and bloody show. Just before one o’clock dad says she’s having irregular, mild contractions. Suddenly, at three o’clock things become more intense. I start driving down and they call the midwives. The midwives arrive first and mom is already 9 cm! Tub is filled and she’s inside the tub pushing when I arrive.

Mom then pushes for almost seven hours. The midwives and I try every trick in the book but baby is simply not descending at all. The head midwife (who has delivered over 10 000 babies) arrives with her husband. They try fundal pressure to se if baby will move down and we can have this baby at home. Baby’s heartbeat lowers and the decision is made to transfer.

We get into two cars and arrive at the hospital. Midwives in Taiwan have hospital privileges and this doctor had already met mom for a prenatal visit.

Monitor was placed for a while and while baby’s heart became stable, he still hadn’t moved down. The decision was made to do a cesarean but we immediately ran into a few problems. One, neither dad nor I were allowed with mom for the surgery (being a big hospital this was simply never done) and they would put baby in the NICU away from the parents for five days!! 😱 😱 😭

Dad put his foot down on that one and after a number of phone calls and conversations, with the parents saying the did NOT CONSENT to this we came to an agreement. Baby would be left in the parents room after assessment but could not be sent to the nursery for care afterwards. We were all really ok with this and it should be an option for anyone in this situation! To arbitrarily separate mom from baby for no evidence based reason…

The doctor was lovely and helped us reach this arrangement with pediatrics. Then the anesthesiologist arrived and I helped him translate. Mom was moved to OR and we were told it would 4 hours plus before we saw her again.

Nurse comes out and says anesthesiologist needs me in OR to translate more. I put on scrubs and go in. Once I’m there, I start at suggesting that I could stay. Mom is less stressed with someone with her and I can keep her calm while the doctors do their work. I assure them that I’ve attended many and won’t get in the way. OB says he’s ok with it if anesthesia is. He also agrees and there’s a mention of how mad the head nurse will be tomorrow 😆

Finally, baby is born. Posterior again 😢 baby is placed next to mom for almost an hour and then dad also gets to meet them and have a cuddle before going to be checked out.

They spend the next three days in hospital and discharge early with doctors approval

Quite the ride and a good example of knowing all your options, being open to a change of plans and also advocating for your self and your family ❤️

09/04/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/7iJVRGLcmCfBi8of/?mibextid=WC7FNe

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