Birth story - Anna and baby Iris

I feel so grateful to have found the positive birth company and it has given me so much confidence and empowered my birthing experience more than I could have imagined. 

I get terrible white coat syndrome and find it very difficult to have the voice to express my wishes confidently in medical situations. This was true for my first two children and looking back I certainly gave myself up to the ‘conveyor belt of care,’ which left me feeling like I’d failed both times and took months to come to terms with. 

After reading the book and starting the digital pack we talked about trying for a home birth again and I felt confident that it was the right choice for us. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 there was a lot of uncertainty that it could go ahead and I felt very anxious about this. I looked  forward to listening to the digital course every evening as it really helped to calm me.

Throughout my pregnancy my bump was measuring small, but growth scans suggested I was going to have a ‘big baby’. I was told by a doctor that I would be induced and probably have a caesarean. Not something I wanted and very scary to hear on my own at the hospital. Thankfully my husband supported me in thinking through all the information, assessing any risks and we persuaded our community midwives to support our home birth wishes. (A fight I would never have even considered in the past) 

I started feeling irregular and mild contractions for a couple of days before Iris was born but they always settled during the night and nothing happened. In the evening the day before she was born something felt different and during the night the surges became really regular. Our little boy had come into our bed and was asleep next to me so I told my husband to get some sleep in the other room and used the Freya app, positive affirmations and up breathing to manage the surges. I didn’t want to wake anyone and although I knew ufo was best I decided to rest in bed so that everyone could sleep and quietly breathed through each surge. I told myself to get to 6am because that would be a reasonable time to wake my family and call my sister to look after our 2 children! 

At 5.30am things intensified and I got in the bath to help stay calm and relaxed. My husband woke up and came to support me, together we decided to call the midwives at around 6.30am. Although it was intense by using up breathing and remembering I needed to give my muscles oxygen the surges were still manageable. At 7am my husband woke our children who excitedly came in to me to tell me it was the best day ever and they got dressed and went to my sister’s house. The midwife arrived at 7.25am and started to quietly set up downstairs. I managed to put a dressing gown on and get into our bedroom before calling her up. (I couldn’t walk downstairs by this point!) Nothing was ready in the way that I’d imagined because I thought we’d do that once the children were settled and I assumed I still had a long way to go because my other labours had been so long! 

My husband arrived home at 7.30am and came into our bedroom just in time to see Iris being born. I felt confident my body knew what it was doing and embraced it. It was perfect timing and just amazing!

I had to have some stitches but it was all done in my own bed by the kindest midwife and we were all chatting and drinking tea within the hour! 

I honestly feel that the positive birth company book and digital pack changed everything for us. We were able to navigate and advocate for ourselves during a very uncertain time. I felt brave and strong and that I truly understood what my body was doing the whole time so I felt no fear, no real pain and I was able to have to birth I’d always hoped to have. 

Thank you so much.