Rachel Platten welcomed daughter Violet Skye on Jan. 26, and although her birthing plan didn’t exactly go as she envisioned, the singer-songwriter says it was still “perfect.”
The “Fight Song” hitmaker, 37, recently appeared on Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast and explained that at first, she was set on welcoming her daughter via a non-medicated birth after reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.
“It was in my head like, ‘I don’t want to be tricked by the system, damn the man!’ ” Platten said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to do this naturally and not be convinced to go down this road of medicine and medical intervention.’ So I started getting really excited about being empowered around my pregnancy and making choices.”
But fate threw a wrench in her plans when she was told between 36 and 37 weeks gestation that she had intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), meaning her daughter was not growing as fast as expected — which ultimately slashed the musician’s confidence.
“I was like … ‘I need help. I don’t know [who] I was kidding, I can’t do a home birth. I don’t know enough yet, my baby might not be okay,’ ” Platten recalled, admitting she switched her birth plan to a hospital.
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The singer said that by the time 42 weeks rolled around, her daughter still hadn’t arrived, prompting her to finally agree to get induced after a doctor told her the pregnancy was getting “a little dangerous.”
Though Platten was “terrified,” she told Dr. Elliot Berlin that she made the most of it, transforming her hospital room into a “vibey” space complete with candles and tapestries, where she could dance around with husband Kevin Lazan.
After hours of painful contractions, Platten requested an epidural, focusing on meditation techniques to calm her rising anxiety.
“Something clicked in and I just started doing this mantra that I made up and I breathed in and with every inhale — through violent shaking — I would say I’m inhaling the peace of God,” she said. “I did this for 45 minutes or an hour. The shaking stopped. I got relaxed and they still had to move me, but I just refused to be scared.”
Platten was ultimately able to push her daughter out, which left her feeling “like a warrior.”
“I had the birth experience I wanted,” she said. “I did do the labor naturally for a long time and I had exactly what I wanted. I wanted to feel it. It was important to me that I felt her and I felt it and I did it with her and I partnered with her, and it was important to me also that I had intimate moments with my husband and danced with him.”
“It was important to me that I had moments of trusting my body and getting through the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I did it all,” the singer continued. “Even though it was in a hospital and not exactly the way I pictured it, it was perfect.”
Rachel Platten Is a Mom! Singer Welcomes Daughter Violet Skye: “Busy Falling Deeply in Love”
Platten celebrated her baby girl’s arrival with a sweet Instagram photograph featuring the newborn resting on her mama’s chest.
“There is so much about this massive love that I want to share but don’t yet know how to,” she wrote. “I am sure the words will come soon. For now we are busy falling deeeeply in love (and keeping our heads above water).”
The singer raved about her newborn to PEOPLE in February, boasting that Violet is “such an easy baby.”
“My maternal instinct kicked in really quickly,” she said. “I couldn’t believe how easy it felt to love her and how much I wanted to protect her and swaddle this sweet baby in love and comfort.”
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