Vol 6. Positive Home Birth Story + Video
One year ago our beautiful son Memphis arrived...and I finally got time to write and edit the video
My intention for wanting to share this personal and private birthing story with you all is to shine a light on POSITIVE HOME BIRTHS. To normalise something that should be normal, as this is how women give birth all over the world, but it is only in our Western culture we think it is not normal and more normal to give birth in a hospital.
I know myself. I had to do my own research on it, but it was the friends and people I followed who inspired me to consider this option. In my heart, it felt most natural and beautiful to birth at home.
To me, the worst outcome would have been to end up in the hospital, but with birth, you never know what can happen. I am just very blessed I was surrounded by expert support to my wishes and guide me to stay safe throughout this birth.
I started my Motherhood Series by answering this question, so please go back to this article to understand why we decided to give birth at home. YES, it was the BEST thing we ever decided to do for the health and safety of my birthing and also for our son Memphis.
COMMUNITY MIDWIFERY PROGRAM
Julie was my midwife. She made both Tony and me feel so calm and relaxed about having our birth at home. She readily answered all of Tony’s questions and concerns about home birth and made us feel like it would be a fantastic experience to look forward to.
My only regret is that I didn’t know about this program beforehand as I would of preferred to have birth to both boys at home. Having it at the Birth Centre was a great experience as well, and I still have to write and share the difference between the two births.
PLANNING FOR SUPPORT
We knew we were not going to have our parents around for Memphi's birth as they were just here in Perth a year ago, and travelling from Canada and England isn’t easy. Other issues were going on in their own lives, and they had to attend to them.
So we asked our Perth family friends for support, and they all went above and beyond having my besties by my side.
When the midwives showed up, they were surprised to see all the women in the space helping us.
DAY BEFORE
It is incredible how the body knows more about what's going on in pregnancy than you do as a mother. I had been having Braxton hicks every few days, and I never really experienced them at first, so it made me confused if the baby was coming or not.
But the day before the birth that afternoon, I had the most extended nap in my pregnancy. That nap, I now know, was preparing me for the birth that I was going to have to go through that morning.
IN THE MORNING
At midnight, my contractions/surges started… they were manageable, just laying in bed with Tony, and as they began to grow, I knew I had to inform the birth team (besties) that it was time to head over to the house.
Joey (Amanda) arrived at 4:30/5 am to help me with surges while Tony prepared the birthing pool. I listened to Australian Birth podcast interviews with Elise Cook, who said she used an inflatable hot tub, which was good because you can control the temperature of the water. One less thing to worry about on the day is keeping the water warm and at 36 degrees.
However, with me shooting out at Tony asking if it was done only 2 minutes after he left me to start inflating it… he forgot to turn on the heating pump!!!!!!!!
So when I was laying on the sofa wanting to get into the tub to help calm down the pain, I felt, the water wasn’t at the temperature!!!!
Tony quickly released and turned it on whilst the midwives added hot boiling water from the kettle.
Lorraine and Syari showed up around 7 am to help with Phoenix as he was just about to wake up for breakfast. They were also on duty to film and take photos of the birth, but Lorraine soon found herself right beside m,e holding my hand or pushing on my back through the birthing journey.
Our house is small, so it quickly became full, but it all worked, and our midwife Julie and the backup Midwife stood back and monitored.
Brooke, our student midwife, also joined us again for this birth, and it was special to have her as part of our birthing experiences.
PHOENIX BEING PRESENT
My favourite moment was when Phoenix came up to me for kisses when he wanted to check on me to see if I was okay. I was cautious about how he would be around me, loudly moaning. However, he was not fazed by it, and because of that, I felt safe keeping him in the house through birth as I knew Syari was looking after him.
There are wild opinions about whether a child should be present in a birthing space, but I felt that I would decide on the day if I could handle him there or if he could handle it and judge it at the moment.
I treated the moment as if it were any other day of the week. I stayed calm and focused on the birth and rested whenever I could between surges.
Seeing Phoenix not be bothered by any of it and just enjoying having all these women in the house was such an incredible feeling because I knew this is what I had visualised my birthing space to be.
MORNING VS NIGHT
I prefer having it be darker to birth a baby vs. bright light, as I feel like you can go more inward into yourself in a dark room. My ideal situation was with just candles lit.
It didn’t pan out that way, and it was bright, and the house was full of people moving around doing things to get me all to feel comfortable.
It was never going to be up to me, and it was always going to be up to Memphis when he decided to come out. He wanted it to be a full house of women and just Dad and Phoenix there when he came into this world.
*It was perfect, as I was able to have all 3 of my besties there before they went off to work*
Having my besties there for this birth was such a gift, as I could not have done it without them.
9:32 am Memphis was born into our lives, and we are forever changed by experiencing it together.
But more than anything, the one person who is my EVERYTHING in life, my dear husband Tony, was the ultimate unsung hero, managing everything behind the scenes, getting everything ready for the birth, and assisting the midwives when they needed something. I am so proud of him because he had his concerns about doing it at home, and now he is the biggest advocate for having home births.
If you wish to see my POSITIVE HOME BIRTH VIDEO, you can as a paid subscriber
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