Birth story - Hannah and baby Poppy

I feel privileged to be able to say that I have experienced 4 very different, very positive home births.

I believe that women are powerful and that our bodies are designed to have babies, it is a process which women all over the world go through in order to meet the most precious thing of all, their new babies.

I have birthed all of my babies at home, on all fours, in our living room by the sofa. Nothing fancy, no grand entrance into the world, no music or room spray, just me listening to my body and allowing it to do its work. I have been lucky enough to have a fantastic husband and wonderful midwives who have been happy to stand back and watch until the moment when they have helped to guide my babies into the world.

Birth can be simple, there is no need to overthink it, take everything one step at a time, believe in yourself and your body and, if possible, let nature take its course.

My fourth labour was my quickest at just 2 hours from waking until my baby girl was born. I completed the digital pack and found the breathing techniques and science of birth the most useful. As I live rurally we called the midwives when my contractions were about 3 in 10 mins although they never really settled into a regular pattern. I knew it would take them a while to get to us so I had a shower. Whilst in the shower I felt the urge to start pushing and informed my husband that the baby was coming soon!

I moved downstairs to the sitting room and, after an intense pushing phase (when I needed my husband to fan me because I suddenly got very hot) I delivered our baby girl just a few minutes before the midwife arrived! It was absolutely the most amazing and empowering feeling to have such a natural birth and very reassuring to have the midwife arrive to check everything was ok and to help deliver the placenta and to tidy up. It happened pretty quickly but all was very calm because I knew exactly what my body was doing.

Thanks to Siobhan for your amazing work and passion for creating positivity around birth and for helping more women have positive birth experiences.