Birth story - Joanne and baby Albert

I decided to purchase the online course when I was around 30 weeks pregnant. I was interested in hypnobirthing and given the cost of the course, I thought why not. I watched all of the videos on the train into work and found the science behind birth really interesting and helpful since it provided me with the knowledge that I needed to understand what was going to happen and what my body would do during labour.

Although I had always been interested in having a homebirth, my husband was more cautious and so I initially opted to give birth in the midwife led unit that is part of our local hospital. However, when we attended our ante natal classes, the course leader spent some time discussing homebirth and dispelling some of the myths around the statistics that the media so readily promote. The session opened up a further discussion between my husband and I about having a homebirth and by the time we attended the second part of the course the following week, we had decided to go for it as had another couple on the course.

On Friday 26 April I woke up to see that I had been bleeding overnight. I had an appointment with the midwife that morning and when I showed her the blood, she advised that it may be my show but was more blood than she would expect and she recommended that I go into the hospital to have it checked out. The hospital examined me and confirmed that it was not fresh bleeding so they were not concerned that there was an issue however I should stay in overnight to be monitored. I was discharged on the Saturday and didn’t think any more of it; I still had three days left at work the following week and had a surprise baby shower thrown for me on the Sunday.

When I got home from the baby shower, I unwrapped all of the presents with my husband, we had a lovely dinner and finished the evening watching Line of Duty. I was happy and relaxed. As I was getting ready for bed ‪at around 10.30pm‬, I bent down to pick something up in the lounge and felt a “popping sensation”. I also felt slightly wet and thought for a minute that it may have been my waters breaking but when I checked, there was very little there so I didn’t think anything more of it and went up to bed. As soon as I was about to get into bed, I started getting cramps in my back. My husband asked whether I thought I was having contractions and after telling him I had no idea because I had never had a contraction before, I decided to google “what do contractions feel like?”. Within half an hour I quickly realised that I was having contractions and decided to start using the Freya app. The contractions were manageable but were coming quite quickly. My husband asked whether he should start getting the house ready and I told him to wait because it was likely to be some time before the contractions were significant.

By ‪12pm‬, the contractions were approximately 4 minutes apart and lasting for around 45 seconds. We decided to call the hospital who informed the home birthing team and I spoke with the midwife ‪at 12.15pm‬ who said she would be with us as soon as she could. My husband went about getting the room ready and blowing up the pool (which we had only collected 2 days earlier). He lit candles, put my relaxing playlist on and turned on the diffuser with a calming blend of essential oils. Meanwhile I made sure to “Up Breath” through my contractions and tried to work out how to use the TENS machine that a friend had lent me.

By ‪1am‬ the midwife had arrived and my contractions were 3 in 10 and lasting for around a minute each time. The pain was manageable and I was simply focussing on my breathing each time I had a contraction.

The midwife asked what my birth plan was and I told her that I hadn’t written it yet but that I wanted to give birth in the pool. I think she was slightly bemused but just went with it. I would say we were definitely winging it!

The midwife asked to examine me to which I agreed. She informed me that I was 6 cm dilated already and told my husband to start filling the pool. I was desperate to get in the pool which took some time to fill up. The midwife said I should wait until there was enough water to cover my bump and as soon as there was, I jumped in. The water wasn’t quite hot enough and we had used all the hot water so my husband kept running through with kettles and saucepans filled with water as I was labouring in the pool!

I remember overhearing the midwife telling my husband that she had gas and air but since I hadn’t asked for it she wasn’t going to offer it to me! As it happens I did the whole thing without any gas and air or other pain relief except the TENS machine and the pool. I just didn’t really feel that I needed anything and actually quite enjoyed being able to really feel what was happening.

About an hour after I got in the pool, I felt the urge to push. I was on my knees and started pushing but also allowing my body to do what it needed to. I tried to focus on down breathing but to be honest I am not sure whether I managed it or not. I could actually feel the baby moving down and then going back up and moving down again, as Siobhan describes in the videos. It was such a strange sensation. He took a little while to come out as his hand was next to his head (and the ring of fire is no lie) but soon enough his head was out. I then waited for another contraction before his body could come out. While waiting, I felt something turning inside me and asked the midwife what she was doing – she told me she wasn’t doing anything but baby was turning himself so that his shoulders were in the right position to be able to come out. It was the strangest sensation but quite incredible. Then with my last contraction he was out and the midwife handed him up to me for skin to skin. My husband cut the cord about 5 minutes later and I opted for a physiological third stage. I decided to get out of the pool and the midwife told me to try and see whether I could push. I gave a little push and the placenta came straight out, around 10 minutes later.

Bertie was born ‪at 4.07am‬ and the best thing was that by ‪9am‬, the midwives had left, my husband had cleared up the room and washed all the towels and we were sat our dining table having breakfast with the new member of our family.

The whole thing was incredibly surreal but really was the best birth experience I could have asked for. I felt like superwoman! The digital course was fantastic and really helped me to remain calm and understand and enjoy the whole process. I also have to say how amazing the midwives were. They encouraged and supported me before, during and after the birth and respected my wishes throughout. If anyone is considering a home birth, I would highly recommend it as I am sure that the reason the birth was so enjoyable and fast is because I was relaxed in my own home with familiar surroundings.