Alice and Jeremy’s Birth Story - Home Birth Cancelled!

“After some cramps the night before we woke up feeling as if today might be the day.  We were doing some sorting around the house when Alice started feeling the first inklings of contractions at about 1pm.  After a couple of hours we were fairly sure that it was happening.  We had the rota for the homebirth midwives and knew there weren’t enough people on shift to have our first choice of a homebirth but we rang them to confirm it anyway.

Alice and I had agreed that we wanted to stay at home as long as possible so we set up camp in the living room, with our diffuser running, the birthing ball in constant use, the lights low and lavender as far as the nose could smell.  We had been using the contraction timer app and at about 5.30pm it suggested we call the midwives.  Alice was in a good rhythm using the tens machine and her visualisations to deal with the contractions so when they asked if we wanted to go into hospital she said not yet.

About an hour passed and Alice felt as if she was getting about as far as she could without gas and air so we agreed to go to the hospital.  She had two contractions in the car and another walking down the corridor to the birth centre.  We were so grateful to be able to hand our wonderful birth plan over to the midwives as we arrived so that they had a clear idea about our expectations.

With the lights low and rainforest sounds playing in the room Alice got into the birth pool at about 8pm.  In agreement with our preferences Alice wasn’t offered an epidural or an episiotomy and at 10.44, still in the birth pool and with only the help of gas and air and Stephanie’s amazing techniques our little boy was born and swept up into Alice’s arms.  She’d been in labour nine and a half hours and hadn’t had a single examination.

All in all, while we didn’t manage to have our birth at home this was still as close to a perfect birth experience as we could have possible hoped for, and Stephanie’s guidance was central to that success.  Even when the midwife was worried about our baby’s heartrate on arrival, we were able to ask the right questions and keep control of our journey while they did an ECG.  From the practice we had done to keep Alice’s oxytocin levels up, to the brilliant birth plan, to my confidence as a birth partner and advocate, we couldn’t thank Stephanie enough for her help and guidance.”

Birth doesn’t always unfold exactly as planned. But feeling informed, calm and empowered to advocate makes all the difference. Inside my antenatal classes in East Surrey, we prepare parents for exactly this kind of unexpected change.

If you are expecting in East Surrey and want realistic, in-depth preparation for birth and beyond, click here for further details of my upcoming Antenatal and Hypnobirthing courses.

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