I was expecting my first child and felt strongly that I wanted a home birth. My husband, Neil, was supportive of my plans and knew that I was interested in hiring an independent midwife. A friend of mine had birthed all her three children at home with the support of an independent midwife, and I knew that the service they could provide could be much more individually tailored than anything I would find on the NHS. I also wanted some sort of guarantee that they would come out to me for the birth and I liked the idea of having the same midwife throughout my care. I knew from talking to my community midwife that with the NHS I would not see the same midwife for antenatal appointments and birth, and that they couldn’t absolutely guarantee there would be a midwife free to come to me when I went into labour (if the hospital was very busy for example). It was with all this in mind that we called Liz and met her. We decided pretty quickly that she was the midwife for us.
Eight days ahead of my due date (though I don’t really believe in those!) I noticed that my stomach cramps and lower back pain (which I had had on and off for a few days) were more intense apart from when I took a bath to relax. By late afternoon I wondered whether this was early labour and contacted Neil to make sure he wasn’t staying late at work. By 7pm I had had a bit of a show and the pains continued though they were anything from 20 to 50 minutes apart and lasting up to a minute. I rang Liz who offered to come and check on me or said I could ring back in an hour. She suggested eating dinner and trying to carry on as normal. I didn’t like to eat too much if I was in labour but I managed a small amount. Within half an hour I had thrown it up and at 8pm I rang Liz and asked her to come over. She was with us by 9 and still wasn’t sure whether this was early labour but offered to stay with us if we wanted. We made up a spare bed for her and I got into bed but the contractions weren’t stopping or slowing down. I had taken up an all fours position on the bed as it was the best way for me to contain the sensations. By 11pm I didn’t feel I was coping too well and was asking for Liz. She now agreed that this was early labour and in our notes later on she said that established labour started around 11.15pm. I didn’t have any internal examinations so the length of my labour is guesswork based on the length/intensity of the contractions.
Neil was dispatched to set up and fill up the birth pool in the lounge downstairs. I stayed in the bedroom for some time but it wasn’t really where I wanted to be and eventually I tried to move, making it as far as the bathroom where I sat on the toilet backwards leaning over and clinging onto a small pillow I found really handy to pull on during the contractions. Eventually I heard that the birth pool was ready and thought I should try and use it. I got in the pool but I have to be honest and say that the water didn’t really do it for pain relief but I found it hard to move once I had settled! As the contractions intensified I struggled with the breathing. I’m afraid I didn’t always make those long out breaths. I vocalised through the contractions, sometimes finding the omm, or ahh, sometimes finding my breath escaped and it got a bit high pitched! The second midwife, Sarah, arrived at 2am. She put some frankincense oil on some cotton wool in front of me and it was really quite soothing. I would definitely investigate aromatherapy if we manage baby number two. Not long afterwards I felt a pop and announced that I thought my waters had broken. They were apparently clear so all was well. I found the peak of the contractions very intense and because I hadn’t had any internal exams I didn’t know where I was in labour and at times I was worried that it would get lots harder and I wouldn’t be able to cope.
I did try some gas and air but I don’t think I got the hang of using it properly. It all seemed too complicated trying to inhale at the right moments and keep breathing! So it was unceremoniously abandoned down the side of the birth pool. I figured I would keep shouting/moaning the contractions away. After a while, Liz and Sarah were concerned that I seemed to be flailing around in the birth pool so they asked me to get out and use the birth stool for a couple of contractions. This was at about 3am. Once I’d psyched myself up to move and got on the stool I found it a real comfort to lean back into Neil’s arms who was sat behind me. Up until then I’d found being touched a bit too intense. Sarah came round the front to examine me and said ‘Liz, I can see the head’. So I had been bearing down. With hindsight the sensations had been feeling a bit different and the contractions had slowed slightly. I thought I would get more of a break in transition having heard that sometimes they stop altogether for a while. Not true!
Liz then asked me to vocalise with lips together during the first wave of each contraction. She assisted me with a compress to my perineum. I found the crowning very stingy but at the same time I enjoyed the pushing stage more because I had a focus, and I could feel the movement of my baby bit by bit. Liz encouraged me to reach down and feel his head which I managed the first few times. He had hair! Later on I was putting all my energy into the pushing. I could hear Liz saying eyebrows, eyes, nose but I couldn’t look. Neil says he looked down when the head was completely out. At that point I felt a sense of relief and I put all my energy into panting and gentle blowing for the last couple of contractions. He slithered out and I reached down for him and Liz placed him straight into my arms and I brought him onto my chest. It was amazing to see this baby at last, my baby.
My perineum stretched pretty well but Daniel had one hand up by his chin so I had a couple of small tears in my vaginal wall which Liz sutured for me. When he was coming out he apparently bought his head out but then instead of bringing the shoulders out next he took his head back in a bit, wiggled and then came out with the shoulders. Liz thinks this was because he had his hand up and he was making more space for himself. They really do know what they are doing! I had a managed third stage because Liz was concerned by the initial blood loss. She realised afterwards that this was just the placenta separating very quickly rather than a heavy bleed and I could have had a natural third stage. Neil was able to cut the cord anyway and I wasn’t too upset about losing my natural third stage as I was comforted that Liz wasn’t taking any chances with my safety. Having a managed third stage also meant I was relaxing on the sofa with my cup of tea much sooner with my baby latching on!
Looking back, the whole experience was really positive and I’m very grateful to Liz and Sarah for helping me achieve the birth I wanted. I definitely want another homebirth and would hire Liz again.