Download Home birth story: Jo

Home birth story: Jo
“It was a great
experience to have
Mabel at home. I felt
much more relaxed,
which helped with
the labour, my
husband was much
happier not having
to worry about when
to go to hospital,
and the experience
afterwards was a
lot better: own bed,
shower, able to have
visitors when we
wanted, everything
easily available”
I started my hypnobirthing course around 34 weeks
pregnant and originally didn’t even consider a home
birth. I had been very happy with the support provided by
Kingston hospital for the birth of my first daughter (Evie –
delivered naturally in water (with pethadine, gas and air
and no tears) after four days of pre-labour and 12 hours
labour in hospital). However during the course my eyes
were opened to the potential benefits of a homebirth and
we started to consider this as an option.
I asked to be considered for a homebirth at 36 weeks
and my midwife was very supportive, saying I would be
an ideal person and put it down for me as I could change
my mind even in labour. We thought we would go for
the home birth but for me it was reassuring to know I
could change my mind at the very last moment if I didn’t
feel comfortable, so we went ahead and got the pool
organised at home but also had bags ready for every
eventuality.
After worrying about being late, going over 41 weeks
and having to be induced, my labour started on 41
weeks exactly. I woke up with really bad leg cramp at
3am and got my husband Matt up to help massage
my leg, and then my waters broke. I wasn’t sure I was
in labour at that point as I didn’t think I really had any
contractions, but still had the tightenings that I had been
feeling for several weeks prior to labour. We called
the midwife around 4.30am and at this point I was
contracting for around 20-30 seconds every minute.
They asked if I would like someone to come (as I was
still planning on having a home birth!) and I said yes
given the contractions had gone from nothing to quite
frequent within the hour.
The midwife Anita turned up around 5am, and my
contractions had continued but were still not very
intense. I set up the room with dim lights, music
and lavender candles. I was finding the surges very
manageable and even more so once Anita said we didn’t
need to bother timing the surges – just pressing the
button on my phone to start and stop was taking me out
of the relaxed state. My hypnobirthing teacher Shirley
and my sister arrived around 5.30-6am.
Home birth story: Jo
My surges continued in intensity but I was managing
them really well and I wouldn’t say they were painful in
any way. I was mostly sat near our sofas where we had
made a small “nest” with old duvets and pillows and
then standing or kneeling and holding onto my husband
or a chair during the surges. I was chatting in between
the surges and was really happy with how things were
progressing. I used lavender scent on a cushion early
on to help with the relaxation and then two visualisations
and the breathing techniques, both of which were really
effective in managing each surge. I also tried a few
positions but mostly was happy stood up or kneeling.
Anita monitored the baby every 15 minutes using a
handheld monitor and she was very unobtrusive. I asked
if she needed to do a vaginal examination at all, as she
had mentioned it at the start but she felt there was no
need and I didn’t have one at all during my labour apart
from to check the baby was the ‘right’ way up during the
pushing!
Around 6.30-7am, my daughter woke up, and at this
point I thought I was probably fully dilated but was
holding back a bit as I was worried about the plans for
Evie – we didn’t have nursery arranged for that day and
my sister wasn’t sure how long she could stay and if she
would take a day off work. After voicing my concerns,
Shirley and Liz were great at telling me to ignore what
was going to happen to Evie and Anita told me I needed
to focus on my labour so I managed to put the worries
out of my head. As it happened, my sister got her a
place at nursery and dropped her off so all was well.
I got into the pool at 7.30am and had a really big surge.
From this point on they became more intense but I still
felt I was managing the surges well. After 15-20 minutes
I started needing to push and was trying to breathe
the baby down and use the other breathing techniques
that I had learnt. I also used the visualisation of a rose
opening, but I didn’t find the pushing as manageable
as the first stage. I was in the pool pushing in various
positions for a while, but didn’t feel it was very effective
and I also mentally had started to realise it was taking
a long while, things ‘weren’t working’ and my mind was
going through the possibilities of what could go wrong
and what would have to happen.
I kept trying to get myself into a more positive mental
state but was struggling so when the midwives
suggested they help with some directed pushing (around
8.50am as I had been pushing for an hour) I was very
relieved and pleased to get some help! At this point I
stayed in the pool for a little while longer, but still felt I
wasn’t pushing effectively so asked to get out of the pool
at around 9.10am.
I then moved to the sofa with Matt behind me and
squatted for the final pushes. Once her head was
delivered I stood up for final delivery and Mabel was
born at 9.24am. Mabel was 9lb 8oz and delivered with
no tears or stiches needed. She was slightly mucousy
at first so was kept lying on her back to help clear it for
the first 5 minutes, whilst I sat on sofa. She was then
handed to me (cord still intact) for a first cuddle!
Matt cut the cord, and I sat for a while with Mabel skin to
skin, which was lovely and great to have her immediately
handed to me. After 20-30 minutes Anita asked if I felt
the urge to push at all and I went to sit on the loo to
deliver the placenta – this was really easy and came out
in one easy push (with no injection needed) – I mention
this as first time round my third stage was really painful
and ended with someone pushing on my tummy to help
and I was really worried about how the third stage would
go second time around.
I was then able to have a shower in our bathroom (really
appreciated having my own shower and not the hospital
one!) and sit on the sofa with Mabel while the midwives
finished off the checks and Matt tidied up.
The midwives stayed until midday as they needed
the scales to be dropped round to weigh Mabel but
otherwise I think they could have left around 11am.
Matt was able to empty the pool and tidy everything up
by midday, and my mum and mother in law arrived that
afternoon to see their new grandchild!
Overall it was a great experience for me to have
Mabel at home and Matt agreed it was a much better
experience for him. I felt much more relaxed, which
helped with the labour, Matt was much happier not
having to worry about when to go into hospital, and the
experience afterwards was a lot better being in our own
house: own bed, shower, able to have visitors when we
wanted, everything easily available. It was also lovely to
be at home when Evie got back from nursery and she
was very happy to see her new baby sister.
For home birth support please visit Facebook/Homebirth
Kingston or email [email protected]