Birth story - Chelsea and baby Elora

When I first joined this group, I didn’t believe there really was such a thing as a positive birth story. I thought the posts being sent in were possibly being exaggerated and all I was looking for was any help to make this birth experience an improvement from my last, as it was very traumatic to both my husband and myself due to lack of knowledge, tools to get through the birthing process and lack of support during the after care.

Being able to have a midwife and this digital course changed everything and gave me a birthing experience I honestly never thought was possible.

We had planned to labour at home during the early stages, meet our midwife at the hospital and labour in a birth pool if one was available until I either required an epidural or felt like I could give birth in the pool (I am from Canada and although we have great healthcare our birthing options are quite limited).

Around 6:00 pm I noticed that I had been leaking a bit of extra fluid possibly since that morning and went to see if it was my water that had broke. My midwife confirmed my water had broken, and the that it had started earlier that morning like I suspected. I was hooked up to a monitor and she said baby was good and even though I couldn’t feel them, I was having mild random surges. I was told to go home, take some gravol to sleep through any early labour and if active labour didn’t start, I would be induced first thing in the morning.

Throughout the night I would periodically wake up and feel a mild surge here and there but nothing to cause concern. Around 7:00am I started to have stronger surges although they were really far apart still. I couldn’t believe how well the up breathing was working. I only felt pressure not pain, but I was remembering my last labour and starting to get concerned that perhaps getting a shot of morphine and gravol would help get me through so I wouldn’t tire out.

I called my midwife and she said if the surges were getting stronger that morphine wasn’t a good idea and my best bet was to have a bath until active labour kicked in.

I got in the tub and everything escalated extremely quickly surges got very intense and went from 12 mins apart to only one or two in a matter if minutes. I had my husband call the midwife to meet us at the hospital, but when I couldn’t make it past the hallway I knew we were not going to make it and he had to ring her back and say the baby is coming here, Now!

There was a brief break in back to back contractions that my husband somehow managed to get me back into bed. At this point I was mooing a lot but it sounded more like yelling. The vibration took away any pain at all and I felt fully in control, just very tired between surges.

When the midwife arrived I was 8cm dilated and she began to set up with her team and ask my husband to fetch things we would need such as towels and bowls. My mother had been called to watch our toddler downstairs. I probably should have been scared as this was not our plan at all but something innate took over and I was in the zone. I kept thinking about all of the positive affirmations and thinking “I’ve got this.”

It only took 8 mins to push my baby out and I cannot even describe the amazing feeling of feeling my body change and go into down surges to push her out. I felt primal and powerful. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life.

The cord was wrapped around her neck but our midwife got her breathing speedily and I got to hold her and bond while we waited for delayed cord clamping.

The aftercare from our midwife team was amazing. They took such good care of me and my baby and even helped to clean the mess that was my bedroom after our surprise home birth.

The entire active labour to birth was only 1.5 hours long and I managed to breath through it all without any pain medication whatsoever. I didn’t cry once. I only faltered for a brief moment twice (once, when I realized I would be having the baby at home, and once when I was told even if I did want pain medication it wasn’t available). But to be honest I felt little to no pain with this labour I wasn’t afraid and kept thinking of breathing through and going back to green from amber between surges.

I finished this birth feeling empowered, natural, and so proud of my body for doing what it was capable of.

I truly believe without this course, I would have had a much different story. Thank you so much Siobhan Miller for creating it. And for everyone out there who is waiting to deliver, believe in yourself and do whatever feels right for you in the moment. If I can have a truly positive birth, then honestly anyone using the right tools can too.