Birth story - Amy and baby Theodore

We were lucky to have a relatively straight forward pregnancy, although an anxious one due to lockdown. I was placed under shared care due to my bump measuring ‘big’ but our consultant was home birth positive so we got booked in with the home birth team at 36 weeks after a growth scan confirmed baby was doing great and on the 50th centile.

On finding out we were expecting I was very much on the side of ‘drug me to the eyeballs’ and ‘I can’t do it without an epidural’! As time went on it was clear that the best choice for a calm birth and a happy Mama was to try for a home birth. We watched the digital pack together in the evening and learnt all we could. My husband was an incredible source of strength and positivity throughout planning a home birth. Even when my confidence wobbled in the lead up he was always there to reassure me that together we could do this!

At about 9:30am I heard an audible pop while I was watching videos in bed. It took me off guard being 38+4 but I wandered to the toilet to investigate, by then it was obvious it was my waters coming out in a steady stream. I called Rowan to come back from work, nervously laughing that this was it, we were going to meet our baby soon! I then called the MLU so they could keep the on-call midwives on stand by, they assured me first timers normally take a little while and to get comfortable. Rowan started putting the finishing touches in the dining room where our pool was set up and I packed the final bits of our ‘just in case transfer bag.’

From there everything progressed quickly, I monitored my surges with the Freya app and by midday it told me I was in established labour. We called our midwife and she assured us she was on her way and I felt ready to get into the pool, which felt incredible!

20 minutes later the first midwife arrived and confirmed we were already 5cm. I worked on my up breathing and had some much welcome gas & air. We carried on our relaxation techniques and massage in the pool until about 4:30pm when I began to feel the surges change and the pressure begin to bare down. I didn’t understand this was my transition at the time and had a wobble as I tried to fight the feeling. The midwife examined me and confirmed I was 10cm and said if I felt the urge to push I should follow my body.

I pushed in the pool for about 20/30 mins when we decide to move to the bathroom in the hope gravity would help little one make his way down as things has slowed a little in the water. After a little while I wanted to try on all fours on our bed, then back in the bathroom, but I didn’t have any luck with baby coming down. By this point the midwives expressed concerns as it had been over their guideline time for pushing before a transfer and we might need to consider moving to the hospital 45 mins away for an assisted delivery. We discussed each option all together and decided to try one last position on the bed to give me a final chance at my home birth. I was reluctant at first as it went against our carefully written birth plan, but on the bed with my husband behind me and a leg on each midwife I was determined to push our gorgeous baby boy into the world.

They encouraged me to make the most of my contractions, assured me I was making progress and they could finally see the top of his head. The baby crowning was an unreal experience, ring of fire was the perfect description! Two pushes after the head he quickly slid out and was placed straight on me for skin to skin after two hours of pushing. There were even some very well timed fireworks set off outside as we enjoyed those first few cuddles as a family, then my husband enjoyed lots of skin to skin while I was stitched up.

I could not have done it with the support of my wonderful husband who’s confidence in our ability to birth calmly and safely at home made it possible. He was always exactly where I needed him. We are also eternally grateful to our midwives who followed our plan with us and fought so hard for me to have my home birth!

In the process of making us a family I’ve gone from anxious first time mum to powerful Mama who can take on anything! ❤️