”We are delighted to share our home birth story below, I’m going to share a little background about the journey to get there because hopefully it will be of help to others.
Without too much detail, we already have a beautiful daughter who is almost 4. Her birth was a hospital birth that leaves me unsettled still, so my initial thoughts towards having another child were that if we were going to do it I would have a planned section. I couldn’t allow myself to go through the trauma I had been through before so I would take away all of the “unknowns”. Deep inside I knew this wasn’t what I wanted but all I could focus on was “but what if” eventually I went with my heart and decided to put my faith in my body and have the birth I wanted.
My husband and I decided to do the hypnobirthing course with Janet Naylor who we had met in various capacities with our first child… the course was fantastic, we felt like a really strong team and we felt in control of our experience. It was then that we took it another step based on a class visualisation that we would have baby at home by the fire and so we went away and practiced daily for what would be our perfect birth. I also had a few reflexology treatments with Janet which were the most relaxing treatments, I hope I didn’t snore too loudly Janet !
It was a tough time for our family leading up to the birth due to the passing of a very special relative. The funeral was to be held on the 18th January in the Cotswolds and we were to soon have to accept that we would be unable to attend. Our emotions, mine especially were all over the place but in the times of clarity I used the tools I had been given. Tools given to me by the wonderful Janet during our Hypnobirth course. I focused my energy on the outcome I most desired, my home birth and with the amazing support of my husband we would achieve this.
On Monday 15th I started having some surges, quite close together. My husband was keen to get the pool up just so it was ready, only to discover the liner I had bought was too small!! No need to panic, I thought I have friends in the home birthing world, someone will be able to sort this. A quick message to my wonderful friend Alice and a new pool complete with liner arrived. When I found out about the liner I was ok, I remembered Janet’s voice saying if plans divert use the tools, keep calm, everything will be fine and sure enough it was… then came the bomb shell.
My husband reluctantly tells me at around 3pm that after 8pm there is no one on call to come the the house for our home birth, so we will have to go to hospital. Calm did not save me this time.
Every part of my body was conflicted, all that hard work, practice and dedication….. to have the choice taken away from me. I was devastated, luckily or perhaps not so much luck… my body stopped, no surges would run through my body until I was ready again to do this right. (No surprise that the crucial oxytocin hormone stopped!)
On Wednesday morning around 11:30 I felt a little pop. The same experience I had had with my daughter, no big gush but maybe my fore-waters? No surges, so at 7pm we decide to take a trip to the supermarket, back at home at around 9pm I pop to the toilet and this time my waters have definitely gone. We go downstairs back to our birthing environment with the candles on, log burner lit, the lavender diffuser, lower the lights and eat some food. At some point through the quiet, my husband kisses me and says the midwives are on their way, one of them is Janet.
I had visualised Janet being on call at night the whole way through this process and sure enough all the energy I had focused in the right places was having an effect. Anyone who knows Janet will know the calm I felt, hearing her arrive in my living room. I can’t really tell you any time frames or much really after that other than the surges came and the up breathing I had practiced gently saw me through, I sat, breathed, relaxed and listened to the hypnobirthing tracks, mainly the Affirmations and “River Dawn” (Hypnobirthing music).
Then I felt my breathing change and my body was pushing down so after a few confused breaths I went with it. I could no longer sit down but stood and swayed until I decided I would like to get in the pool. The pool was warm and the weightless feeling was really calming. I don’t again know any time frames but what I can tell you is gently and without fear or pain my baby’s head arrived, followed by a little wiggle of his shoulders and he was born at 6:15am on the 18th January weighing 7llb 11 1/2oz in the pool.
I looked at my husband and said “We did it” – a moment I had visualised for many years that I almost didn’t allow myself to experience! P.s no pain relief, no internal examinations and no stitches. I don’t remember having my temperature, blood pressure, baby’s heart rate taken/ monitored although this did happen. We delayed cord cutting and had a physiological third stage.
Words cannot express how grateful we are to Janet who supported us above and beyond throughout the whole pregnancy, the fact that we were privileged enough to have her at our baby’s birth still hasn’t quite sunk in. She really is a special person.
What I have learnt is to trust your body is the most powerful gift you can give to yourself. Focus your energy on the outcome you want to achieve not on the what if’s. Relaxation is a very powerful tool. The skills Janet gave to our family were clearly invaluable in bringing our son into this world but they are skills we will use for life.
Thank you again Janet, we love you xx