Birth story - Mary and baby Robin

My first birth was an induction as there was no sign of labour at 42 weeks. This time, I was keen to avoid so much time in hospital, and opted for a home birth if all went to plan.

I had been expecting to go overdue with this baby as I had with my son and booked in for monitoring at 40+15 at my 41 week appointment. I chose to have a sweep to see if that would get things moving and the midwife told me I was already 2cm dilated, which made me feel a lot more optimistic - I hadn’t got to that stage until 48 hours into induction first time round.

The next morning, I woke to find I had started losing a lot of plug, and mild cramping and regular tightenings started mid morning. These continued but eased off in the evening, picking up again the next morning but again tailing off in the afternoon.

I had a nap but was woken up by a stronger surge in my lower back about 5pm. These were manageable, especially with up breathing, and got more intense with activity, so I took a couple of strolls round the block then ate a good dinner and drank a glass of red wine!

At this point, I was having 30-second surges every 2-5 minutes, and my husband decided he would feel happier if we called triage. They sent out a midwife who arrived about 30 minutes later. She examined me and I was 3-4cm, and we decided it was safe for her to go home for a rest for an hour or so. She helped us position the TENS machine and left us to fill the pool - I settled down to watch Brooklyn Nine Nine draped over an exercise ball!

Six episodes in, I decided I wanted to move to the pool, which was such a relief initially. DH put on my playlist and I relaxed in between, but the surges were starting to get really strong by then and I couldn’t get in any position that would relieve them. I was still managing with up breathing but felt I needed a little extra help, so I asked DH to call the midwives again so I could have some gas and air.

This is where I really needed to use everything I had learned on the course to stay positive... the midwives had been called to another home birth and we were told we would have to go in to the birth centre. I had not been at all organised, so my husband had to start running around finding and packing my stuff, waking my parents. My dad helped him load the car while my mum supported me in the pool (she was an absolutely incredible additional birth partner!).

When everything was packed, he came back to help me out. But it had dawned on me that it might be too late... I was mooing like a cow (yes, it really happens!) and could feel things “bulging“. My husband got back on the phone to the MLU who asked me to see if I could feel anything. There was what felt like a balloon, which I assume was the sac, so they called an ambulance and started instructing us on how to deliver the baby!

I had to be out of the pool as no trained midwives would be present, so I moved to a mattress on the floor and onto my hands and knees. I was now pushing in earnest and could feel the head moving down, but this felt a lot more purposeful and less uncomfortable than the previous surges. My husband squealed when the waters broke quite forcefully then told the midwives he could see the head. They sounded surprised (I think they thought I had been trying it on so I didn’t have to go in!) and told him to get ready to catch the baby - just as the paramedics came to the door. It was actually another couple of minutes before the head crowned so the paramedics were able to take over. I pushed out the head in one contraction and the body in the next, and she was crying and pink before she was even fully born! She latched for a feed straightaway, which was a huge relief for me as it had been a real struggle with my son.

We were still able to have delayed cord clamping and some lovely skin to skin time, as well as eating a homemade brownie and two croissants (much better than tea and toast 😁). The midwives arrived an hour later to do their checks and they gave me the injection to deliver the placenta as it wasn’t coming by itself. I had a second degree tear, but the midwife was able to stitch this up at home.

Despite it not going exactly to plan, I felt like superwoman and like I could achieve anything - I did it with breathing, water and no drugs except four paracetamol and a couple of puffs of gas and air right at then end (which I don’t think I breathed in hard enough for them to have an effect). And it was so nice to be in a home environment and not have to transport anyone anywhere!

I would 100% recommend home birth if you’re low risk - such an amazing and empowering experience.