Home Birth: My Birth Story

As we celebrate Henry's first birthday I can't help thinking back to that wonderful day when he was born and being thankful that we had such a fantastic experience. It was a beautiful day - I can honestly say I enjoyed giving birth and I can't wait to do it again!

I had a home water birth with Henry, who is my first baby. It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced!! It was wonderful to be at home in an environment that I felt comfortable in and in control of the situation.

Contractions started just after midnight on Saturday morning - I wasn't entirely sure if it was just braxton hicks as I hadn't experienced any of them before, but I thought there was no harm in sticking on the TENS machine anyway. Worst case was it came to nothing and we got to do a "practice run". Once we'd got the TENS all set up (great by the way!!! it really works!) we went back to bed to get some sleep for a couple of hours.

Around 3:30am I woke DH again to say it was getting stronger so I thought it probably wasn't just a practice run and we went downstairs to fill the birth pool. Bit of a nightmare as although we'd blown up the pool we hadn't tried out the hose for filling it and as soon as the tap went on the hose popped off the tap and exploded water everywhere! Poor DH was stood in the kitchen dripping with water & soaked through his PJs!

Just at the same time I had to grab a bucket and was sick - one word of advice, a chilli filled Thai curry might seem like a good idea to get labour started, but on the way out again you'll regret it!!!

Anyway, with the pool finally filled and everything prepared we went back to bed again for a few more hours sleep and called the MW in the morning to let her know that I was happy to stay on my own, but that things were starting to happen.

After a lovely breakfast together we went for a walk - partly to see if we could get the contractions to become a little more regular and partly because I had a letter to post that I knew I woudn't get around to posting once DS was here! The sun was shining in that lovely autumnal way and we walked around the local park getting some funny looks during contractions!

But it worked and contractions became much stronger and more regular, so back home for some lunch. Trouble was that as soon as I sat down to eat contractions stopped again. It was so stop & start and not painful at all that I began to doubt whether I was in labour or not! At this point I called the MW again as I was fed up with not knowing and could she just come and tell me whether I was in labour or not.

She arrived and did an examination (the only one I had throughout the whole labour!) and told me I was around 5.5cm - established labour! Woohoo! I was pretty impressed too as it wasn't painful at all - just a bit uncomfortable during the contractions, but nothing unmanageable at all!

She did tell me that DS was back to back, which probably accounts for the stop & start labour, so I put on my music and started dancing, doing hip circles during contractions to turn him around. (you can see the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nEdqIopqRY&feature=channel_page)

It obviously worked because not long after this the contractions changed and I was ready to get into the pool. Bit nervous about taking the TENS machine off as I had come to rely on it by now, but the second I hit the water the relief was incredible! It was exactly what I needed. I loved the way the water supported my body weight so I could kneel resting on the side of the pool very comfortably without my knees or hips getting sore.

Second stage contractions where completely different to the first stage ones, which were isolated in my abdomen, not unlike period pain. The second stage contractions took over the whole body - not painful, but an enormous effort. At first I panicked a little as the sudden change in them was so overwhelming and I felt I couldn't breathe as the effort was so intense. But I knew I had to find a way to cope and decided to count my breaths - 7 breaths per contraction. So I knew that if I kept breathing - pushing as I exhaled I was only 7 breaths away from a rest.

At this point the MW said most people have gas & air, but she said I didn't look like I needed it. I agreed and said I'd rather not have it - much better to keep a clear mind and concentrate on counting, I thought!

I was amazed at how my body knew exactly what to do - the MW didn't need to examine me at all as she could tell that my body was ready to push. I had two lovely community midwives to myself, including my own MW who had requested to be called even though she was off duty! There was no shouting "push!" at me or anything, they just stood back and kept an eye on things while I got on with it. There were candles lit around the room and a quiet, calm atmosphere.

I felt baby's head crowning and the contractions changed again - telling me not to push for a little while. Then two more contractions and my son was lying on the bottom of the pool. He opened his eyes and looked up at me from under the water, body stretched out in a startle position. The relief was so overwhelming! Contractions stopped immediately and my instinct was to reach out for him, but I wanted DH to pass him up to me so I held back while he lifted him out of the water and put him in my arms. It was such a wonderful, private moment. Beautiful. The MW took photos for us and let us savour the moment.

After the third stage the MW helped me upstairs to shower, get tucked up into my own bed and to start breastfeeding Henry. Then they left us with toast & tea and I lay with my husband beside me, holding my baby close to me and marveling in this new arrival in our life together! By this time it was around 11pm in the evening, so DH would have had to have left me if I had been in hospital. As it was, we spent our first night together as a family, which I was so grateful for.

I couldn't have hoped for my baby to have a better start in life - a beautiful, calm experience that helped to create a happy, calm and contented baby.