Interview with Kayla Holtz - Birth Story

In this week’s episode of Form, Function, and Flow Lab, I interviewed my brother-in-law’s sister, Kate Holtz. I talked to her about her birth story regarding her first child, who suffered from a brachial plexus Injury during his birth.

Kayla Holtz is a physician assistant and a Crossfit athlete. She is a mom of two boys and she has a unique birth story for both her sons. She had a traumatic delivery with her first son and was able to deliver successfully in almost a cathartic way with her second son.  

Kayla shared that during her first pregnancy, she had no issues whatsoever. She never imagined that she would struggle with natural labor and delivery. She already had a doula and her birth plan was to have a natural delivery. She even went to labor naturally. She labored at home for four to five hours before going to the hospital and when she went in, she was told that she was only two centimeters dilated, but she was already in a large amount of pain. She then went on to labor for another eight hours at the hospital and it was all natural. When she was checked after eight hours, she was still only two centimeters dilated. She was admitted at that point and labored for many more hours. 

Kayla then realized that she had to get an epidural and gave birth after around 42 hours of laboring.

It was not smooth sailing and the baby would not progress down into the birth canal. Later she found out that he was OP or sunny side up. His face was facing the front side of her body. This makes it much harder for the baby to navigate out of the birth canal.  She then had to have a vacuum used. She knew it was a dire situation as the room started to fill up with people and the anesthesiologist was there ready to put her out and rush her to surgery if they could not get the baby out.  

They ended up using the vacuum three times and the baby, Ty, finally came out.  She was not able to hold Ty at first while he was assessed, she did not hear him cry at first, and she finally found out that they had a boy.  A pediatrician came to talk to Kayla about the situation regarding Ty. She was told that he ended up getting stuck on her pubic bone. When the doctors tried to pull his neck, some of his nerves were injured in the process. Kayla was able to use her medical background to research the injury her son had sustained.  He was not able to move his arm, shoulder, or wrist. He did have some movement of his fingers.  They were told that they could dress the baby but they should not move the right arm very much and to give it a chance to possibly heal on its own. This added such an element of stress to take care of an infant (an already extraordinarily stressful job). She had to dress him carefully, nurse him differently, etc. Kayla also had residual numbness in her legs front he epidural that made her uncomfortable walking and holding Ty at the same time when she got home from the hospital.  

Kayla underwent years of therapy to process the emotions she felt from the trauma of giving birth to her first son. She struggled with a lot of guilt of what she could have done differently during the birth.  She sought a lot of the self-forgiveness she needed to be a better mother and to be better to herself.  It think this is so important and a lacking part of the post partum process. You don’t need to have clinical post partum depression to benefit from therapy.  In any birth, you undergo one of the hardest things you will do in life and radically change your life forever.  Not to mention the wild swings in hormones, sleep deprivation, and stress. 

Kayla also underwent pelvic floor physical therapy, which she believes should be mandatory to all women who have given birth. She had a lot of trauma from her delivery and a Grade 4 tear. She had to sit on a donut, had extreme difficulty with going to the bathroom, etc.  She could not imaging returning to any activity, exercise, movement of any kind, sex, etc. She underwent her pelvic floor therapy for over a year. Her episiotomy scar was painful for months after giving birth. She had the scar treated through dry needling and ultrasound therapy. Kayla said she had no idea about the treatments for pain alleviation, but she is happy she underwent such. I also guide my patients through doing self release of their tears or episiotomy scars at home on their own. It is also never to late to address the scar. You can it a few months post partum or 3 decades after. I have clients who come in and have chronic pelvic floor issues, which can be tied to stress levels, a traumatic birth, postural habits, or sexual assault. That is why I think assessing the area must be addressed and must be the norm. I see stress manifest physically every day in the office. 

Ty’s arm is now fully functioning and Kayla shared when was the first time they saw that there was movement in his right arm. She shared that it was just a day before her first Mother’s Day and it was the best gift she received. Ty does have 85% use of his arm again after his brachial plexus injury, but it was a long and hard road. He has had two surgeries and had to travel from where the were living in North Carolina to Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia often to get him the most cutting edge treatment possible.  He is now a super active little boy with a love for baseball just like his mama.  

Kayla said that for her second birth, she still saw a therapist, an OB-GYN, and a doula. Her OB-GYN gave her options on her birth plan for her second child after what they went through with Ty. She is so thankful that this doctor always made it a point to see her and spend time with her during her pregnancy.

She even listed her fears about her second birth. The doctor went through the list so that they could deconstruct everything and come up with the best birth plan for her second pregnancy. Her top fear was getting an epidural again because she already experienced a bad side effect for her first pregnancy with Ty. Her feet and shins were numb for three weeks. She felt fully supported and was able to have as stress free of a labor as possible. 

Kayla advised others to find an OB-GYN or midwife who will take the time to listen to you and support you on whatever you choose to do with your pregnancy and delivery. She also is open to talking with anyone who has had a similar experience or a child that suffered from a brachial plexus injury and needs some guidance.

If you have any questions, you can drop it in the comment section or you can send me a message through Facebook or Instagram. I’d be happy to do another podcast about your questions. Also, if you want me to talk about something specific, let me know!

You can also check my TikTok account as I use the platform to educate viewers about movement, chiropractic education, yoga, pregnancy, and more!

Thank you for listening and see you next week!