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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]