Birth story - Philippa and baby Etta

*Trigger warning* - Tear/stitches.

My dream birth!

This is my second birth using the Positive Birth Company and second home birth. The first was Jan 2019 and my husband caught the baby (on his birthday) as the midwife didn’t arrive in time. It was the most incredible experience but my husband was keen to have a little help this time! The story is on here if anyone fancied a look.

The birth.

I woke up around 4.30 in the morning with quite strong surges. They felt different to how I’d felt previously, a lot more intense early on. I woke my husband up to tell him but stayed in bed. They were coming quite quickly but I wasn’t convinced it was it just yet. I called the delivery suite to let them know as I was planning a home birth but I said not to worry just yet. I decided to get up and have a bath, in which time the surges completely stopped. I went back to bed until 11am, woke up and had a pretty normal day! My other children had already gone to their grandparents at this point.

At around 2pm I went outside to help my husband in the garden, I helped him drag a few small trees to the bonfire pile. I’d noticed some more twinges but as they still didn’t feel very ‘periody’ I didn’t really pay attention. I had started timing them but they were coming very inconsistently, some would be 30 minutes apart, others would be 5 minutes. I had noticed that if I sat down they would stop completely!

I came in around 6pm and made some burgers for dinner. Again, when I was sat down the surges would disappear, so I stayed on my feet. I was a little more convinced it was happening now! At around 6.30 they really ramped up. At around 7pm they were 3 in 10 and lasting a minute so I called the midwife and asked them to send someone out. My husband started filling the pool - and flooded the kitchen in the process as our tap was too powerful for the attachment which bust the pipes - luckily I’d ordered the longer hose which stretched to the bathroom tap! The flooded kitchen and broken tap was a problem for another day…

3 midwives arrived at 7.30pm (much to my husband’s relief, as the last labour ramped up fairly quickly and I left it too late to call them) and we were very happy just quietly enjoying the music.

I got in the pool as soon as it was full enough and the relief was amazing!! It was now around 8pm. The surges were coming thick and fast and I started with the gas and air. It’s brilliant stuff 😆

I could feel baby shifting down the birth canal and before I know it I was ‘mooing.’ I breathed down, hard, and her head was born at 8.49pm.

My husband was ready to catch her and I could feel the rest of her slide out (I can’t even say I really gave it much effort…) My husband passed her through my legs and I sat back in awe of everything.

After about 20 minutes we got out of the water and onto our soft area, where she latched on. The placenta was delivered about an hour after she was born and then we just laid there peacefully, taking it all in. I had a second degree tear which was stitched. I had gas and air for this but could’ve quite easily managed without - but it certainly made it a little more fun 😆

After about an hour and a half I had a very quick shower, some toast and sat on the sofa while the midwives and husband cleared the birth room. The midwives left around 11.30pm - they’d been there 4 hours in total! We went to bed, still not having named her (all big decisions should be made in the morning 😆) and excited about introducing her to our other children.

It was honestly my dream birth. Even my husband said it was an absolute privilege to watch. I’ve been very fortunate to have had 3 amazing births and with the help of The Positive Birth Company, 2 home births. I finally managed to have the water birth I’d always wanted too!