Birth story - Jen and baby Phoenix

I had a very normal day on Wednesday - I went to meet a friend with her baby and arrived home around 18:00. I cooked dinner and then sat down to relax. At 19:44 I had my first surge. It didn’t seem too intense, but they started coming every 7-8 minutes immediately. I called the midwife to let her know but expected things to die down again. My partner went into full nesting mode though - hoovered everywhere, put the fairy lights on and got everything ready as we’d planned. I had a bath and got into bed, hugging my pregnancy pillow.

My surges quickly progressed to every 2-3 minutes, but were only lasting 30 seconds or so. At approximately 21:30, I lost my mucus plug and things started to ramp up from there. After the mucus plug came away, there was a little more blood that I’d expected. My partner called the midwife who suggested we go to hospital to get checked. I used BRAIN and made the informed decision to stay home and requested the midwife come out straight away. She was at the hospital, just 10 minutes away, and said she could be with us within 30 minutes. I was in the zone and knew that if I had to go to hospital that could all change. I could feel baby moving and felt like everything was going to plan, so felt comfortable waiting until she arrived to assess the situation. She was happy with my decision but suggested calling an ambulance just to have a medical professional present, as I’d started to feel the urge to push every few surges.

The paramedics arrived quickly and I was already on all fours, rocking back and forth and really in full swing. I was breathing in for 4 and out for 8. I was completely in the zone, and had no idea what was going on around me. I was practicing the “trusting my primal instincts” affirmation. The paramedics kept saying “don’t push yet” - I could tell it wasn’t their usual call out! But I wasn’t pushing at all, my body was just getting ready and baby girl was on her way!

By the time the midwife arrived, I was already fully dilated and I delivered our beautiful girl shortly after, watching her in the hand mirror. My partner had filled the birthing pool but baby beat us to it so I never actually made it into the water! Still, i was incredibly happy to have had an intervention and pain relief free birth in our home.

I fully believe that the hypnobirthing techniques worked wonders. I felt safe and relaxed at home, and I feel that’s why everything progressed so quickly. I also did the 6 dates a day, raspberry leaf tea and clary sage things religiously - maybe those worked too.

I highly recommend watching with the hand mirror, if you’re not too squeamish! I found that it really helped me frame the sensations to not be pain, but my daughters head. It helped me feel totally in control and meant that there was no panic, fear or pain.

Best of luck to any expecting mamas. You’ve got this. It’s the most empowering feeling in the world.