From Water to Water

WESLACO - In a big tub of water, Heather Garza gave birth to her daughter, the second child she's had at the birth center that she says feels like home.

In the Rio Grande Valley, the Holy Family Services Birth Center is the only place that offers birth in water, midwife Michell Benfield said.

"It's usually an easier birth," she said. "It's just more gentle. The babies are usually gentler. They're in the womb and they're going from water into water."

In 2005, the center began offering water birth, Benfield said.

For more and more women, it's become a favorite, she said.

"The minute I stepped in, it was instant relief," said Garza, 24, a makeup artist from McAllen.

On May 5, she gave birth to her daughter Peyton in a big tub of water.

"I felt weightless," she said. "In the water, you're weightless so you can move anyway you want. In bed you're more tense. It was an amazing experience."

For Garza, giving birth at the Holy Family center is a family tradition.

Her mother Nancy Kvapil had one of her children there, and five others at home assisted by the center's midwives.

"I think it's passed on to generations," said Kvapil, 44, a McAllen housewife. "My kids will have kids and this is where I'll bring them. You have a good experience and you want to share it."

In its 25 years, the birth center has helped mothers like Kvapil give birth to more than 6,350 babies.

"It's like a big family," Nancy Sandrock, the center's director, said.

In April 1983, the center opened on land granted by the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, she said.

Ever since, it's counted on grants and donations to offer mothers a homey place to have natural childbirth, Sandrock said.

From as far as Laredo and Abilene, the word has spread about the center, she said.

"We have people driving hundreds of miles to have their babies here," she said.

"It's mostly word of mouth."

Others like Narci Villegas live just down the road.

"All my family's been having kids here," said Villegas, 26, a hotel clerk who's six-months pregnant. "It's like a family thing. My mom came here then my sister and then me. It's nice to come back here."

From pregnancy to birth, the center's midwives care for the women who become part of the growing family, Sandrock said.

"We take the time to talk to patients and build relationships," she said. "There's a continuity of care."

Like Garza, Villegas wants her baby born in water.

"It's just normal," Villegas said of natural childbirth. "I feel very comfortable here. They treat you real nice."

Natural childbirth brings many women to the center, said midwife Benfield.

"They believe in the strength of their body," she said. "There's no anesthesia. They know they have the strength and inner wisdom."

For many women, natural birth is a sacred experience, she said.

"(The hospital) is the ideal place for an emergency delivery (but) I'm not a sick person. (If) I'm just pregnant, I don't want to go to the doctor,'" Kvapil said. "My goal is protection of my child and unless it's absolutely necessary, I think a woman should avoid all drugs."