Episode 26: A New Year is a new beginning...a new birth

Dr.Sophia:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Dr. Sophia Obgyn podcast. I'm an ObGyn practicing for over 15 years in my native New York City. I love to help women learn about their bodies, empower them, and embrace themselves. On this podcast, we talk openly and with heart about all things affecting women from pregnancy, menopause periods, sexual health, fertility, and so much more. Disclaimer, this is general medical information based on my professional opinion and experience. For specific medical advice, please refer to your physician.

Hi everyone, it's me, Dr. Sophia. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Dr. Sophia ObGyn podcast because today is year's day and we are so happy that you are here to join us on this new day where we are going to be exploring new beginnings and what better place to start than with the thing that's so near and dear to my heart, but new births.

Touseef Mirza:
Hi everybody, this is Touseef. Happy New Year to everybody. We are in 2025, which is unbelievable. We wanted to do this podcast because as we know with the first day of the year, we always thinking about, okay, it's new beginnings. What are the things that we want to maybe engage in more and we have a little bit more excitement. We thought from an obgyn perspective, what does that actually resemble? That's really when you bring new life, new beginnings, new life.

Dr.Sophia:
I mean new life is the reason why I went into obgyn in the first place. It's happy medicine for me. It is the place where I continually am able to feel renewed and rewarded with the work that I do every day. So for me, I am so excited to talk about birth because it's just an area I feel like we take for granted even sometimes. You know, like it's just expected. Okay, she's pregnant and she's gonna have a baby. No, it's a process, an emotional process, and it's an emotional process for everybody who's going through it, including me.

Touseef Mirza:
It's miraculous that this is happening.

Dr.Sophia:
We are all one in a million.

Touseef Mirza:
We're all one in a million. Each one of us has gone through this miraculous process ourselves.

Dr.Sophia:
That is correct. We all have gone through being born.

Touseef Mirza:
That is, it's true. When you think about it, it's a commonality of all human beings, is being born. We all started from that point.

Dr.Sophia:
All birth is birth. So whether that birth is vaginal birth, whether that birth is a cesarean birth, whether that is a planned birth, whether it's an induction, whether it's a home birth at a birthing center, in a taxi, because Lord knows I've delivered quite a few babies that are just pulled up in front of the hospital and can't make it to a room.

Touseef Mirza:
So sometimes did you have to like get out literally in the parking lot, like in the hospital parking lot?

Dr.Sophia:
Not the parking lot, like on the ambulance bay. In the taxi, she's like, I gotta push. The baby's coming right out, because that's what they do.

Touseef Mirza:
Wow.
Dr.Sophia:
So exciting. It's 2025. We're excited.
Touseef Mirza:
We are excited and 2025; can we even grasp the concept? I mean, I'm 51 and 2025 is like, I've lived already through a quarter of a full century from 2000.

Dr.Sophia:
I mean, I know for me, I just remember Y2K, you know, 1999 and thinking, oh my God, what's gonna happen? What's gonna happen? Here we are, 20, 25, and not only have we all survived it, but you know, in so many ways life has just gotten so much better even, and we just have to keep thinking about it in that way that we're always progressing and living life through a journey that always looks different. It all started with us being born.

Touseef Mirza:
I just wanna say, I remember when I was, I think like when I was a nine or 10, and like I understood much better the concept of time. I realized that, you know, it was okay, I don't know, like 19 94, 19 95, and going, going, and I went, wow. then it's gonna hit 1999, and then it's gonna go 2000 and oh my God, I'm going be 28 when that happens. I'm gonna be so old . here I'm at 2025 and it's gone like this,

Dr.Sophia:
Like that, like that. I think part of why we wanted to have this talk today just about birth. It's still the very favorite part of what I do. I especially, especially feel a special connection when it comes to vaginal birth. I wanted women to walk into their birthing processes, just feeling like they can truly embrace it. It's however way you are going, going to go through it, you know? And that we all have our own ideas of what is going to make it their own, you know, and it's not always exactly as you picture it. Mm-Hmm. You know, women come to me all the time with like a, a birth plan. I love that they come with a plan that they, they think about whether or not they want music, whether or not they wanna be able to eat, how they wanna be able to move throughout labor, et cetera. So

Touseef Mirza:
When you say plan, this is like when they're going to be delivering that they come up with all different ways that will make it more meaningful to them or more pleasant to them

Dr.Sophia:
Meaningful, more comfortable, more connected. I think the other part of it is just understanding that things can change kind of in an instant. Also to understand that you can try to find as best you can, the way that it's going to feel the best for you. So whether you are trying to have perhaps like a home birth or you want to have a repeat c-section, for example. These are all things that are okay, because at the end of it, it all leads to birth.

Touseef Mirza:
I think what's important here is to recognize that you can plan it, even that you have the choice of how you want. Well, to a certain extent, obviously not fully, but like for example, if you wanna have a home birth or if you want to

Dr.Sophia:
Have, right? If you wanna have a home birth, that you seek out the ways and the means and the resources in order to allow for that to happen. Like with a doula, set it up doula, for example. Well, more than just having a doula, but having a home birth midwife or you know, who's, who may be supported by a physician in case of an emergency or what have you. But rather the concept of having a plan and then being able to go through with that plan as best you can. Now the birthing process can change. so it's just being able to be prepared for that, but also be prepared for having things exactly as you want it. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. You know what I mean? I know for me, and it's funny, we're in 2025, I mean, 25 years ago I had a baby, right? And so it was interesting to have music and it was good to have. So you

Touseef Mirza:
Did have music?

Dr.Sophia:
Actually I did have music with Tyler. I didn't know what was going on when I was having Tyler, to be fair. Okay. Sometimes the first one, you don't know what's gonna happen. You don't know what to expect. You don't know what to do. He came early, there was so many things. Mm. But certainly for Max, who also came early , like totally unexpected. My water broke at 35 weeks, but at least at that time, I knew who I wanted in the room. I knew that I wanted music playing.

Touseef Mirza:
What music

Dr.Sophia:
I had Miles Davis.

Touseef Mirza:
Oh, nice.

Dr.Sophia:
I did very nice. I had Miles Davis. it's funny because both of my boys are such music aficionados. Mm. You know, they listen to everything. Mm. Literally everything. I feel like they're kind of old souls in that sense. they're always putting me on actually to good music. But I wanted to have, I had like incense.

Touseef Mirza:
So when you were planning for all of that, did you like talk to your ob, GYN your physicians, this is how I want to bring things. Is that okay? Or you just knew they were all in a bag and you were just gonna do it? Like how

Dr.Sophia:
Girl, nothing was in a bag. Listen to me. Let's, so let's start again. Max came early. Tyler came early. They, neither one of them were necessarily super planned. Right. But at least in the moment, I was able to have a little bit, I don't wanna call it control, but feel more comfortable. I did get an epidural, for example, although a little later than I probably would've liked at the time. But nonetheless, I was able to, yeah. Bring in the music. Have the incense. it wasn't necessarily something planned. I just felt like that was what was soothing me at the time. I was happy that we were able to deliver in low light, you know? And so having had the experience myself, I think about it now, even when I deliver my patients, that if I don't have to put on light, I don't, I let it be just the You mean the light

Touseef Mirza:
In the room?

Dr.Sophia:
In the room? Like, don't make it so, so bright. You know, I, I, I think about those poor little babies who are in darkness. They're the whole nine months that they're in the, in the womb. You know, they're just swimming in a dark, hot tub, , woo. then they are, they're born and they have to come out to this brightness. Mm-Hmm. so, I don't know, I feel like that's my little way of being able to say, I want this to be as gentle as possible for you.

Touseef Mirza:
Not as a shock,

Dr.Sophia:
Not as it's, it's already gotta be a shock. Yeah, that's true. But going through the whole birth process is a process, you know, not just for the mother, but obviously for the baby also. so, you know, I, I just think it's so important that we are cognizant of all these little things and for wherever we have space to ease it, make it something that we are gonna make memorable for us.

Touseef Mirza:
And is that something, for example, that you even talk to the, your patient with before? Like, is there something you want to bring? Or, or that's not, that's

Dr.Sophia:
I do. I, I do, I try to say, if you have a plan, let's talk about it. Come, you know, let's, you know, bring it up. I, they can bring it up at any point in the beginning, they just found out they're pregnant, and then we talk about it again in the middle or at the end. I think the, the biggest thing that I try to do is reassure patients that however way you give birth, you're still giving birth. I think What do,

Touseef Mirza:
What do you mean by

Dr.Sophia:
That? Well, I say that because I, I do feel like we can get bogged down and it has to be a natural birth, or it has to be a vaginal birth, or it has to be an unmedicated birth. It has to be that I don't have an epidural or else it's not a, or, or quote unquote, real birth, or it's not, yeah, as you say, it's not quote unquote a real birth or it's not a natural birth. I am the biggest advocate for everything going as naturally as possible. But at the same time, we are in a place where we have access. it can be how you want it to be, and things can change. Also, the goal of this is to understand that things can change. Let's say a woman who comes in in labor and she's laboring on her own, she's tolerating her contractions really well. then the pain becomes intolerable. then decides at that point that she would like medication to help ease her pain. Whether that's something that we can give her, offer her through the iv, or whether it's something we have to then look to something like an epidural.

Touseef Mirza:
And that's okay if they ask for,

Dr.Sophia:
And it's so pain relief. Yeah. Okay. If they ask for pain relief, the birthing process, however way it happens is new. It's a new feeling of bringing in life, whether it's their first birth, their eighth birth, that every single time it's new, it's different. It could be that they had five vaginal births, and then their last one, it happens to be a C-section for whatever reason. I actually, this just happened to me, , where I had a woman who'd had four previous vaginal deliveries, vaginal. then here we are, she's in labor and the labor's not progressing. we're talking about something that should have felt very easy. We were kind of struggling along to get her dilating. then the baby kind of like, was showing signs that, hey, I don't think I'm really that happy inside. going through this labor process and then having to have the con the conversation with the patient, but also for myself. Like, something's just not right.

Touseef Mirza:
And were you saying it wasn't right, because in their previous pregnancies it didn't react that way? Or just as a baseline something wasn't right?

Dr.Sophia:
No. In the moment of recognizing that in, for that particular process, that particular birth mm-hmm. That particular baby and her, that particular mother going through labor, she's falling off the curve. This is supposed to go a different way. Mm. being able to recognize that, but it's not, it's more than just being able to recognize that. Like in my heart of hearts, I'm like, she should be able to have this baby. She's had four of them. No problem. This is what's happening. So a part of it is, all right, let me see what I can do. What, what else can we do to try to get this to happen? And then having to make the decision that, okay, it's not happening this way, it just isn't gonna happen this way because she's been in labor for so long. Not even that she's been in labor just for so long. But yes, she was in it for a couple of hours already at that point. But moreover, she wasn't making any progress. not only was she not making progress, but the baby also started to like, you know, we monitor the babies. If you're in a hospital setting, oftentimes it's what we call continuous monitoring, where we're looking at the baby's heart rate. then the baby just kind of started showing me signs that, hey, hello, A, I need to come out and b, I don't care how you get me out, but get me outta here.

And unfortunately, she wasn't close enough for me to try to get her out vaginally. Mm. Right. So I had, from a dilated perspective, from a dilated perspective, right? Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. So I had to do a C-section. then sometimes it really pains me in a woman who's had, you know, four vaginal births who I now have to say, I'm so sorry, but we are gonna have to go for a C-section. then doing that C-section. then I feel so validated at times, because sometimes you don't even know why the, the baby was responding in the way that it was.

But in this particular case, literally the baby had the cord around its neck, like wrapped three times and wrapped around its body. Like, it was like the longest cord I'd ever seen, . this baby was clearly doing somersaults in there. it's not because babies are not born many times with cords all around them, around their necks, around their bodies, what have you.

And it's not to say that you can't have a vaginal birth, but this one could not, it was not happening. every time she got a contraction, and every time that baby tried to move, that cord was getting tighter. Hmm. I was so thankful that, A, I have the experience, and B, that the mother was like, you know, 'cause sometimes when you have had vaginal births, you're like, but please what? We gotta try something else. You know? And you try to work with the patient and sometimes you just can't. sometimes the signs show you something different. for this mom, and, and mostly, most of the time the mothers are like, please do whatever's gonna be safest. Please, let's do what's gonna be safest for me, and what's gonna be safest for my baby.

In this case, it was to do a C-section. I was so thankful that we did, and that we did it at the time that we did, because the baby is fine, right? Fine home with mom. Here we have someone who could have had, or we should have had, or we think about it, she should have had a vaginal birth. She's got a tested pelvis, this is what it should be. then it had to turn into something else.

And that, that's still birth.It's still new. So that's a brand new experience for her. Now she's had these four other deliveries, and now she's having a c-section, a completely different type of birth in terms of how it actually happens. it's accomplished. yeah. Every single one is a different experience, even for me.

Touseef Mirza:
So let's talk about like, in terms of a vaginal health delivery and the process of birthing at that, from, from this particular approach, when you are going to the delivery room, and it's time for the delivery to happen as an obgyn what are you seeing? What are you feeling? What are you getting prepared for as you're recognizing that the time is coming close for this baby to arrive.

Dr.Sophia:
Make its entrance. Yes. Still now, 15 years later, I'm still, I super excited every time.

Touseef Mirza:
And you're excited because,

Dr.Sophia:
Because of all of the just raw emotion that is usually happening in the room between the parents. You know, if the, if the mother and the significant others in the room between the family members that might be in the room, everybody gets excited that the baby's coming, the raw emotion. So sometimes the woman is agitated even almost because she's in pain. She's got, she's like, I gotta go, I gotta push, I gotta push, I gotta push her. Whatever. you have to kind of manage how, you know, to get her to like, okay, I know how you're feeling. Let's, I need you to just focus for a second, push this way. Or, you know, breathe this way or bear down this way. Or, and sometimes it's hard to, to get them, you know, they're in so much discomfort and pain or, you know, it feels almost like they're losing all control. Mm. allowing that woman to kind of go through the process. when the contraction is over, to be able to be like, okay, in this moment, let's regroup.

Touseef Mirza:
Focus, focus

Dr.Sophia:
You know, breathe. Take a deep breath. When you're pushing, the pushing is beared down as if, you know, listen, pushing is like as if you're on the toilet. It feels like a hot brick is coming. Okay. So this is not, there's nothing, it, it, it's beautiful, but it's, it's not beautiful at the same time. Right. For other women, they're just so calm and stoic and supporting them through it. The family, the dads that wanna see the dads that don't wanna see the dads who are like, kind of in the corner, the dads that are, or fainting, or fainting. then the ones who are like, you know, I wanna cut the cord and holding the legs or what, whatever the grandmas who are like, I remember when this happened to me. I remember when I had you and-

Touseef Mirza:
Reminiscing.

Dr.Sophia:
That right at that moment. But it's the mothers and the baby. And watching the little head as it turns a little bit, or wiggles a little bit with every contraction.

Touseef Mirza:
So then, so you're sitting at the edge of the bed, bed the bed, right. On a stool or something.

Dr.Sophia:
Yeah. I'm u I'm never sitting.

Touseef Mirza:
You're not sitting ever.

Dr.Sophia:
You, I don't, I don't sit for births.

Touseef Mirza:
So you stand. Yeah. Okay. All right. So you stand and so then you, you are fully solidly implanted, and so what is the feeling or what do you feel, or what do you think when you first start seeing the head of the baby in the vaginal canal?

Dr.Sophia:
I'm thinking a lot of things. I'm thinking, okay, how can we do this the most controlled possible way? Because I really don't want her vagina to tear . How can we make this as a traumatic as possible?

Touseef Mirza:
So it's almost like, okay, here we go.

Dr.Sophia:
As much as I want to be in my, like, just, this is so beautiful, emotional. Right. I gotta be a doctor. Yes. You know what I mean? Like, and I want to preserve that woman's vagina as best as possible. Okay. So there's that part. then there's the part of how can I just kind of usher, I'm like an usher. I'm ushering this life into the world. I'm not the one giving birth. I'm just helping. She's giving birth.

Touseef Mirza:
So when you mean ushering, is it like a welcoming, is it like a bringing slowly?

Dr.Sophia:
Yeah. Slowly. For sure. Slowly. let me tell you, I will say one thing. Women have a strength that is like 20 tons, man. When they're pushing a baby out. Like sometimes the amount of counter pressure that I have to give so that that baby is coming out slowly, like I said, so that we're as a traumatic as possible. I, I, I have to put in all of my energy. Every ounce of me has to go into this, you know, every ounce of my muscle.

Touseef Mirza:
So this is a workout, right?

Dr.Sophia:
This is a workout.

Touseef Mirza:
So, alright, so let's, let's just talk about this. So when you say counter pressure, you're asking the woman to push, but at the same time when she's pushing too hard, that's not good. So you're trying to control that.

Dr.Sophia:
Slow it down to control. Yes. Balance that out. Yes.

Touseef Mirza:
Yes. 'cause Again, you don't want to tear the vagina.

Dr.Sophia:
You're doing it in a way that's trying to be as controlled as possible. so oftentimes, I tell them, okay, give me a slow push. Okay, give me a light push. Okay. You know, because as the head is coming out, it's coming. I always like to ask also, would you like to feel the baby's head as it's coming out? Or would you like to, you know, as the baby's coming out here come, can you reach down? Do you wanna grab your baby? You know, there's so many different ways in which you can just have the experience, be a connected experience. You know? And, and not everybody wants to do that. Some people feel really like, oh no, it's too soft, it's too squishy. I'm gonna hurt it. You know? Like there's a fear, but other women really want to be a part of it.

Touseef Mirza:
It's a very personal, it's-

Dr.Sophia:
A very personal experience. Personal experience. Even doing things like, like I said, I try my best to keep everything in natural light as much as I possibly can. Not putting on big overhead lights until after the baby's born.

Touseef Mirza:
So then when the baby is coming and then you're counter, you're putting counter pressure. Is it to slowly, slowly bring the elasticity?

Dr.Sophia:
Yes. The vagina's a very elastic organ. It's wonderful in the sense that, you know, it can expand as much as it does. then literally after the baby's born, it like, goes like, it's like a rubber band. It goes amazing. I mean, women's bodies, oh, we're so amazing. We are so amazing in all the things that we are able and capable of doing, including the birthing process. gosh, I I, I wish I had a way to give you, like, I wish I could bottle it the way that it feels.

Touseef Mirza:
What feels?

Dr.Sophia:
The whole experience. I wish it was something that you could just bottle and then and give it to someone so that they could feel it.

Touseef Mirza:
So then the baby is slowly, slowly, going through the canal.

Dr.Sophia:
Yeah. We want the baby to go through the canal, and while the baby's going through the canal, it actually is being squeezed. all of that, that's squeezing and stuff is actually helping the baby to push whatever secretions may be in its lungs, in the nose, in the mouth. All of that stuff is important. All of that is happening. All of that is happening. What a design, what a design. We are perfectly designed.

Touseef Mirza:
And so then eventually it comes to the end of the vaginal canal and you actually see the head coming out. So what are your, your feelings, your, your thought process as you're realizing, okay, now the baby's literally coming out into this new world.

Dr.Sophia:
Okay. Again, Dr. Hat back on. Yes. is the rest of the body coming. There are things that can happen. It can get stuck, the shoulders can get stuck, the mom can be exhausted and stop pushing and giving her a moment to gather herself in order to, 'cause we've still gotta get the rest of the baby out. Just giving the baby also a moment.

Touseef Mirza:
A breather. Yeah.

Dr.Sophia:
Like literally a breather because the baby will help you.

Touseef Mirza:
The baby will help you.

Dr.Sophia:
The baby will help you. The baby will move. I have to give this shout out to Dr. Comy. the reason why is because we were partners and we've talked about how the, just the sheer joy that we have of doing the work that we do as OBGYNs and specifically in birth. she's like, just give it time. Just give it time. she's so wise and so Right. I'm so thankful to just even have heard that little piece because, you know, there was a time when, you know, I felt like, oh my gosh, how come so many babies get stuck? And I asked her, and I said, so Dr. Carmi, how many shoulder dystocias have you had? Shoulder dystocia meaning exactly that. A, a baby whose shoulder gets stuck in the canal.

Touseef Mirza:
When we say stuck, it means that it's just hard to like-?

Dr.Sophia:
So stuck, meaning that the shoulder gets stuck when the baby's coming out through the birth canal. It's gotta go through the pubic bone. It's gotta pass through all those bony parts of our pelvis

Touseef Mirza:
And our shoulders are, are larger than our heads,

Dr.Sophia:
And our shoulders are definitely larger than our heads. So the baby's shoulder can actually become stuck under the woman's pubic bone. Okay. for multiple, multiple different reasons, which I won't go get into, but it can happen. she said to me, honestly, I just don't remember the last time, and she said, maybe a couple of times in my career

Meanwhile, this woman has been obgyn for 40 years. I was like, how is that even possible? Like, I had two la you know, like, like, it was just like, how is that possible? She said, let the baby, let everybody give it a moment. that was the best thing. She, she said, I just wait. I'm not saying that that's you, you don't, are not doing other things if the, if it should happen. But sometimes we rush so much that, oh my God, the head's out. Okay, now the baby's gotta come out the whole thing and heads out, baby's all right. Give the baby a chance to work with you, not against you. Let the mother work with you, not against you. Give her a moment to regather her strength. sometimes it's just that, it doesn't mean that the shoulders don't actually get stuck.

They do. It doesn't mean that you don't have to do maneuvers in order to actually get the baby unstuck. You have to at times. But sometimes we think that the shoulders are stuck and they're really not stuck. Mm. That's what the, that, that was really the moral of the story here.

Touseef Mirza:
You know what's interesting as you're talking about it, is that we've been on this planet for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. There weren't OBGYNs like thousands of years ago. We've, you know, evolution and everything. So obviously for the better part, again, to your point, not in every case, but for the better part, the body is already designed to do, to do this. so to, to your point, to let it do what it is designed to do-

Dr.Sophia:
That is correct. Let it do what it's designed to do. That's why I say I'm just ushering, there's no right or wrong way. there's no magic here. I'm not saying that it's so easy. I don't want people to walk away from this thinking, oh, well, well, Dr. Lubin said it's, no, that's not what I'm trying to get at. I'm no miracle worker. I'm saying work with the body. Work with what's happening. then we, if we need to, we can always adjust.

Touseef Mirza:
Right. You, you are there to, like you said, to usher and just to be there to make sure that it is as comfortable as possible to address any issues that come up. But we also have to respect the natural processes. t

Dr.Sophia:
Exactly. I think that's what the lesson was for me in that moment when I asked her that question, game changer

Touseef Mirza:
Again, if everything is going smoothly, it's also respectful for the baby, right?

Dr.Sophia:
Yeah.

Touseef Mirza:
'Cause if the, if if the baby is designed to come the way it's supposed to come and everything's going okay, then that's sort of a nice way to enter the world. versus like forcing it to like come out.

Dr.Sophia:
I like to implore upon all breathing persons that it's your story, it's your story, it's your baby's story. unfortunately, yes, sometimes it's, it's a traumatic one. But this is why we say honestly, every birth is different. Every single one, no one birth is the same. It just speaks to the individuality of all of us. It's speaks to the newness, the, you know, gen se quo of each of us. it begins from our birth story. It's so wonderful that we get to talk about this on New Year's. Yes. Because that's what it's about. It's about being new

Touseef Mirza:
And also as you're talking about this and, you know, I'm imagining all of the scenarios and seeing you and seeing the baby and the vaginal canal and all that. then to realize that, you know, I went through a vaginal canal with my mom. So I'm just like, wow. I'm so grateful. Yeah. I'm so grateful that everything turned out amazing. Amazing. , and how amazing is it, is that I popped out, you know, and here I am.

Dr.Sophia:
And here you are. Here you are. I think I just want to go just one little caveat to this is that a birth is a birth is a birth. some women may choose to not give birth, not have children. It doesn't change the experience of motherhood. It doesn't change. So, so for some women, they may choose to never be mothers, but they're the best aunties.

Touseef Mirza:
That's me.

Dr.Sophia:
You know, or they're the best friends. all of that plays a role in, in that new, that new, you know, and that new baby's life. If you're the best auntie, the best friend. it's still an experience. I don't want to, I don't wanna take anything away from women. I don't want women to walk away from this particular episode thinking that, oh, you know, she's just saying you have to give birth. No, it's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying embrace what is yours

Touseef Mirza:
And also embrace the fact that you were born and embrace.

Dr.Sophia:
Actually, it's really about that, right? That you were

Touseef Mirza:
Born. Yes. That we all went through the birthing process.

Dr.Sophia:
We all through the birthing process to be here. that's really what this is about. the celebration of life,

Touseef Mirza:
Celebration, hallelujah.

Dr.Sophia:
Like that is celebration of life.

Touseef Mirza:
Yes. I mean, I'm actually very grateful that I was born in this time and that I was able to reap the full benefits of my freedoms and that I was born to my parents. that my dad was a trailblazer and my mom was this nurturing soul, and they enabled me to open up the world of what I can be and to think to myself. So, and that all started from when I was born.

Dr.Sophia:
We all have a story from once we came from where we started and just embrace it. Embrace it. Where

Touseef Mirza:
Were you born?

Dr.Sophia:
Brooklyn, Kings County, .

Touseef Mirza:
Okay. So you just moved from Brooklyn to Queens. That's all that happened.

Dr.Sophia:
I am a Brooklyn girl. You're a Brooklyn girl. I'm a Brooklyn girl from two Haitian immigrant parents, but I am a Brooklyn girl.

Touseef Mirza:
And so to, to finish off the birthing process is when the baby now finally fully comes out, like for the different, like videos here and there, that, that I've seen, it almost feels that the last part comes like, like in one shot, almost like, you know, once, like at least half the body is out, then it's just a, it just comes out. Is is that how it happens? Yes.

Dr.Sophia:
That is very much how it happens. So you

Touseef Mirza:
Have to be fully prepared

Dr.Sophia:
For sure. I'm a football catcher. Yeah. I don't know. What is that? The quarterback? Like you have to, I don't know what, who, who catch the catcher? The person who catches the ball.

Shooting. Don't listen to me. I don't, I don't know anything about football. I barely know what I'm talking, I know, I know about giving birth . Yes. That's what I know. yes,

Touseef Mirza:
You're the catcher that's in baseball.

Dr.Sophia:
I don't know. Okay. I know how to get the baby. Catch the baby. Okay.

Touseef Mirza:
But you have to have good reflexes, right? Like you have to be for sure.
Dr.Sophia:
Yeah. You don't want to drop the baby?

Touseef Mirza:
No, we don't. Definitely. But so you're really like, okay, yeah,

Dr.Sophia:
You gotta be present. Okay.


Touseef Mirza:
And then you have it, and then what, what happens?
Dr.Sophia:
Oh my gosh. So sometimes I'll, I'll tell you one last story, because I had the beauty and the joy of delivering one of my own baby cousins.


Touseef Mirza:
Oh, wow.
Dr.Sophia:
Oh my gosh. What an amazing, amazing experience. I literally delivered her and I, I, I just held her. I was just like, I'm the first person who gets to hold you. It was so incredibly emotional and joyous and happy. yeah, sometimes I deliver the baby. , and for sure I always ask, you know, would you like the baby right on top of the mom's belly and chest? And, and immediately we do skin to skin. But that one, that delivery always is such a great memory for me.

Touseef Mirza:
So the first thing you do is skin to skin, and then you go and-?

Dr.Sophia:
Yeah, I put the baby onto the mom and you know, we take off all the things, pull down her gown and, you know, put the baby on.

Touseef Mirza:
How long has that been around, like that part of skin to skin? Like when was it always the case or do you feel that that has evolved with time?

Dr.Sophia:
I think we now understand even a lot more how important it is for mom and baby to connect right away. It helps with mom's regulation of her hormones. It helps with baby's regulation of its temperature and heartbeat and all these things that are happening and breathing and, and calming down. It's, it's just a simultaneous thing that really happens when you're able to provide that concept of skin to skin. So it's not

Touseef Mirza:
Both just good for the baby, it's

Dr.Sophia:
Good for the mom. No, it's good for the mother too. It's good for both of them. I'm not exactly sure when it really became like a big, big deal or not big deal. I don't know what to call it, but where we just simply had the awareness, but I'm so glad that we do it now. Mm-Hmm. That it's, for me anyway, in practice, it's, it's automatic.

Touseef Mirza:
And how many babies do you deliver? Like on a weekly or like, monthly basis?

Dr.Sophia:

I mean, there was a time when I was so busy delivering babies. I don't know, we probably did like 30 deliveries a month or something.

Touseef Mirza:
So almost, almost once a day.

Dr.Sophia:
Almost once a day. Yeah. Almost once a day. I, but I'm sometimes the most that I've delivered in a day is about 10.

Touseef Mirza:
Wow. You should get a medal for that. Like, sad .

Dr.Sophia:
You know, I'm sure there's so many of us who work in these really busy institutions and I'm, I'm happy that I'm, I'm in a place now where I feel a good balance so that I really can give women the attention that they deserve. Sometimes when you have to do delivery, you have to delivery. You have to delivery. You're literally hopping from one room to the next, to the next, the, or to this, to that. It's just, it can feel really insane. But yeah, 10 babies in one day.

Touseef Mirza:
I, I can't even imagine. you know, we talked about it from like the, the baby's perspective, but then there's a whole mother there. Like maybe she's screaming, maybe she's disconnected or fear, like there's, so I think the, the word that you said at the beginning really rings true to me, which is like the whole rawness of it. Right? There's so much vulnerability that occurs because it's, it's all like right there in front of you.

Dr.Sophia:
Yes. It's amazing.

Touseef Mirza:
So I'd like to say as we are closing, have an amazing, beautiful day and enjoy yourself as the magical person that you are, as we all are.

Dr.Sophia:
As we were all born. We all came from new beginnings. At some point, let this New Year's be whatever the new beginning it is for you. Just embrace it, embrace yourself, embrace your body, embrace all the things that 2025 has to offer us. Thank you so much for listening to the Doctor Sophia OB GYN podcast. Happy New Year. Happy New Year.

Touseef Mirza:
Bye

Dr.Sophia:
Bye.

This is General Medical Information based on my professional opinion and experience. For specific medical advice, please refer to your physician. Until next time, embrace your body. Embrace yourself.