From Water Birth Dreams to a Joyful Hospital Delivery: Wyis’ Birth Story at Bloomwell and HCA Florida West Hospital

As a Pensacola birth photographer and doula, I always feel a special spark when I’m invited into a birth space, especially at a freestanding birth center like Bloomwell Birth Center. Their team of experienced midwives and birth assistants, beautiful water birth tubs, and deeply personal approach to maternity care make Bloomwell one of the most peaceful and empowering places to bring a baby into the world.

When I first connected with mama X’s and dad Jacob, we were all hoping for that gentle, unmedicated water birth experience. All of my hospital births over the past two years have been scheduled 39-week inductions, most of them ending in cesarean births where I wasn’t even allowed in the OR. So this time? This time felt different.

X’s gave it her all. She and midwife Amber made a few gentle attempts to get labor started using a Foley bulb and castor oil, but when those didn’t work, they waited. Finally, the third try did the trick. Labor came, slow but steady, and doula Heidi and Jacob were absolute rocks. Holding space, offering counterpressure, squatting next to the tub for hours, and keeping the oxytocin flowing while I stayed on call.

By the time I arrived that morning, mama was deep in the tub, laboring with grace and grit. We all thought it wouldn’t be much longer. But lunch came and went. Then the afternoon. At 9cm, it felt like her body just... stopped. We suspected baby Wyis was either deflexed or asynclitic, those tricky head positions that make descent nearly impossible.

We tried everything. Rebozo, hands-and-knees, side-lying releases… you name it. After hours of rotating, rocking, and repositioning, Amber gave the green light to try pushing past the remaining cervical lip. Two pushes in, though, X’s looked at us and said, “I’m done.”

And it was so clear. Not defeated. Not giving up. Just a strong mother knowing her limits and choosing a new path.

We packed up in the glow of golden hour and made the short drive to HCA West Florida Hospital. And here’s the part that every expecting family in Pensacola should know: transferring from Bloomwell Birth Center to HCA Florida West Hospital was seamless.

There’s a well-established, deeply respectful relationship between these two birth spaces. Because of the mutual trust between Bloomwell’s midwives and the staff at HCA Florida West Hospital, our transition into hospital care was calm, supportive, and shockingly fast. Within 15 minutes of leaving the birth center, X’s was settled into her labor and delivery room, meeting with the anesthesiologist, and preparing for pain relief.

The transformation in her demeanor after receiving the epidural was incredible. She could finally rest.

We were still hopeful that her body might catch up with her spirit once the pain eased, but baby Wyis had other plans. And here’s where HCA Florida West Hospital truly blew me away.

I don’t often get called to this hospital, but after this experience, I would love to return again and again. Every nurse, every provider we encountered showed the same patience, compassion, and respect for X’s birth choices that we’d come to expect at Bloomwell. No one rushed. No one pushed. No one seemed irritated or anything other than happy to continue to support her. They gave X’s hours to labor down, explore her options, and decide what was best for her.

Eventually, she decided it was time for a cesarean.

And thanks to a truly wonderful nurse who went to bat for me, I was allowed in the OR too! A rare and meaningful gift. The space was tight (these Ors are truly tiny), but I stood right beside Jacob, documenting every tear, every breath, every miracle as baby Wyis entered the world.

And yes, he was malpositioned. We had done everything right.

This wasn’t a failure. It was a full-circle birth story, supported every step of the way by the incredible midwives at Bloomwell Birth Center and the compassionate team at HCA Florida West Hospital.

Transferring from a Birth Center to a Hospital Is Not a Failure

When you’ve planned a birth center delivery or a home birth, the idea of transferring to a hospital can feel overwhelming. But it shouldn’t feel like a loss. It should feel like an option. A choice. A pivot in your plan that still leads to an empowered, well-supported birth.

What matters most is how that transfer is handled. In Pensacola, families who begin their birth at Bloomwell Birth Center can feel reassured knowing there’s a trusted, respectful pathway to hospital care at HCA Florida West Hospital. This kind of continuity is rare and beautiful.

So if you’re planning a water birth or hoping for an unmedicated delivery, also prepare your heart for flexibility. Pack a hospital bag just in case. Talk with your doula. Ask your midwife how transfers are managed. Know that needing help isn’t a failure, but a sign of wisdom and strength.

Birth doesn’t always look the way we imagined, but it always tells a story. And as a Pensacola birth photographer, I’m honored to help families document every chapter, whether it's in a birthing tub or beneath the lights of the OR.