Positive Home Birth Story in Wakefield
Although having a relatively straightforward birth with my son 12 years ago, I remember the anxiety I felt in the months approaching the birth.
When we became pregnant in 2024 I decided that I wanted to feel as prepared and empowered as possible. This led to myself and my partner taking part in a hypnobirthing course and also hiring Julia as our Doula. I can honestly say that these decisions definitely helped us achieve the positive home birth in a birth pool, that we had envisioned.
Early Labour & I Lost My Mucus Plug on my Due Date
After giving birth 3 weeks early with my first son, I was convinced that I would go into labour early again this time. How wrong I was! I actually reached 40 weeks exactly, which is really rare. Only around 5% of babies are born on their due date.
During the early hours of the morning on my due date, I was waking up regularly with mild period type sensations. At around 7am, I decided to get in the bath which helped with the discomfort; I was still unsure if I was in early labour, so I decided to ring the birth centre. At around 9am I went to the toilet and noticed that I had lost my mucus plug. I can't deny that part of me felt anxious about what my body was about to go through, however I also felt excited that the day had finally arrived and we would be meeting our son.
Â
I made a call to ask for my eldest son to leave school and come home. It was really important to us that he was able to be at the birth of his younger brother. He arrived home not long afterwards and was clearly excited to witness this somewhat unusual family experience.
Â
From Midwife Appointment to Labour: How Hypnobirthing Helped Me Stay Calm & Focused
As it was my due date, I already had a midwife appointment arranged at the GP surgery, for 11.15am. After calling my midwife, to query whether I should still attend the appointment, I was advised to still attend if possible. By 11am my surges were coming at regular intervals and were lasting just less than a minute. At this stage the breathing I had learnt during the hypnobirthing classes were proving brilliant. A deep breath in and a longer breath out was keeping my focus. I was feeling the pressure in my lower belly and also lower back. I found myself imagining a flower opening up in my pelvis at each surge; this visualisation definitely helped.
On arrival at the GP surgery, I had a surge and stood in the foyer until it passed. The surges felt quite intense and I didn't talk through them, but with the breathing I felt like I was able to manage each one quite well. We were seen very quickly by the midwife as we told the receptionist that I was in labour. At the appointment, the midwife asked if I would like a vaginal examination (VE). I was happy to go ahead, as I'd confirmed with her that if I felt uncomfortable at any time, that she would stop. The VE actually felt okay and we were told that I was around 4cm dilated already. I was offered a stretch and sweep, but I declined. My 1st labour was 6 hours from beginning to birth, so I had a feeling I wouldn’t be too much longer and that we would have our baby very soon.
Â
Heat & A TENS Machine Helped Me Cope During Labour
We arrived home at about 11.30am. I sat myself on our dining room bench against the radiator- which was nice and warm. This turned out to be amazing! The heat against my back was so effective at relieving the surges in my back. I also tried using the comb, which I know lots of people find very useful during labour. For me personally I didn't find it had much of an impact, but I am glad I was able to try it out. Instead, I had my partner connect my TENS machine. Similarly to my 1st labour, I found this a game changer. During the most intense part of the surges, the TENS machine helped to distract my body from the sensation.
I continued to breathe through the waves and I remembered how important it was to not fight the surge and to in fact 'surrender' to the sensations and experience what my body was feeling. I believe that this mindset really enabled me to ride each wave. In between each surge I felt able to talk as normal and was fully aware of everything going on around me.
Not long after arriving home we noticed the surges were lasting longer and more frequent (every 5 minutes approximately and lasting for around a minute or longer). We decided to call everyone we needed to and my partner began filling up the birth pool.
My Mum was one of my birth partners, I called her at work and she managed to arrive for 12.15pm. I had been speaking to and messaging Julia since early that morning and after a short amount of time with just myself, my partner, my son and my Mum, I decided to ask Julia to come over. Julia arrived about 1pm. I was still sat against the radiator, utilising my TENS machine, and able to chat between the surges.
The Moment Everything Intensified: My Waters Broke & Labour Took Off!
Shortly after, I'd needed to have a wee. When I stood up to head to the toilet, I felt that all the sensations ramped up and the surges became quicker- this made me feel that the birth was very close. I made a call to the birth centre again and asked that they send the midwives over. I sat back against the radiator as this felt like the most comfortable position for me.
At approximately 1.30pm my first midwife arrived. She read through my birth plan thoroughly and made sure she understood how I would like things to go. I would say that this was when the surges became the most intense- almost as if the midwife arriving let my body know that it could do its thing. I had a big surge and my waters broke whilst sat on our bench. At this point the only thing my body felt it could do was shout out- 'WATERS' which everyone did find quite amusing!
Finding Comfort & Calm in the Birth Pool
At this point, I suddenly felt an urge to get into the birth pool. It was now 1.45pm and I was quickly helped into my bikini top and my TENS machine taken off. We were still waiting for our second midwife to arrive, who had the Entonox (gas and air) and so I continued to use my calm breathing techniques, through each surge.
As I got into the pool, my body naturally relaxed into a position on my back. Floating in this way, in the warm water felt ‘right’. I allowed my legs to just be where they wanted to be and my arms were behind my head, holding onto my partner, who sat outside of the birth pool. Feeling my partner’s skin, having him kiss my head and tell me words of encouragement really helped me to feel like we were birthing as a team- I didn’t feel alone. I believe the love I felt for my family in the room really boosted my flow of oxytocin- helping to speed up the labour.
The water undoubtedly served as an aid due to the weightlessness you feel in water. However, I would say the pressure in my pelvis was now at its strongest. Throughout it all, Julia was fantastic at reminding me of my breathing and positives affirmations- her calm and relaxed approach encouraged me to stay present.
The Final Moments Before Birth: Holding Out for Gas & Air
In the birth pool, I began to feel the urge to push; as I didn't have the gas and air that I wanted, I could feel my body almost pause any further progression. At this point I was asking my midwife how long the gas and air would be, as I knew birth was imminent. Again, from my first labour, I knew how much the gas and air had eased things in the final part of birthing. Thus, I was eager to take advantage of the benefits again if possible.
At around 2pm our second midwife arrived, also bringing the gas and air with her! I was immediately handed the mouthpiece and our son was born at 2.09pm! During those few short minutes, I had two surges where I pushed and birthed my son’s head, and on the third surge I birthed the rest of his body. This is the only time that it felt instinctual to make some noise- when pushing I let out some deep and long groans. The vocalisation of these sounds really helped me to create as much ‘oomph’ as possible to birth him. I finally got to hold my baby- all 8lbs and 13oz of him.
Â
The midwives were fabulous, and applied my birth preferences really well. I was able to have skin to skin with our son, and also able to have a physiological third stage; where I birthed my placenta naturally. My son had Optimal cord clamping, and our cord tie was used. My placenta was saved and placed in my freezer.
My Mum and eldest Son shared how powerful the experience was, to be able to watch their new family member enter the world. My partner even said that he felt the experience made birth look so much smoother and more beautiful than he had ever imagined it could be.
A lovely bonus for us was that Julia had taken pictures and filmed the birth as we had requested. Upon watching these back we realised just how magical and precious these memories are. It is so special to have these to look back on whenever we want to; we have also been able to share these with a few close friends and family. They will be treasured forever.
A Positive, Perfect Birth Experience, But Didn't Go Exactly To Plan
I think it's important to note that not everything went exactly to our 'plan' but that it honestly did not interfere with us having a positive birth experience. After giving birth I was bleeding a little more than expected. One midwife attended to me on our sofa whilst my partner held our son. It turned out I had some ragged membranes of the placenta, which needed removing, I also then received an injection to stop any further bleeding.
Nevertheless, the familiar and calm environment of my home, having my birth partners by my side including Julia, and the collected nature of the midwives, all left me feeling safe. Additionally, as a precaution, due to a skewed RESP score of our baby, we were transferred to hospital to make sure he was okay. This consisted of an ambulance journey around 5pm and returning home later that evening at 10pm. Everything was fine when he was checked at hospital, and we didn’t feel that this affected the positive birth we had at home.
I feel very grateful to have experienced a positive birth. For me, knowledge definitely is power- all the preparation and learning during pregnancy really did pave the way for our wonderful birth!
Home Birth Increase The Chances of Having A Positive Birth Experience
Tara was incredible during her labour. She really did make labour and birth look so easy. Due to her calm, relaxed body and positive mindset during her labour and her trust in her body, this will have made her labour progress much more quickly and feel more bearable. Being at home, surrounded by her family and familiar environment, will have also increased Tara's oxytocin and allowed labour to progress just as it needed to.
Tara was in control throughout her labour and she knew exactly what she wanted and needed to do, instinctively. I am so grateful to have witnessed such a beautiful, natural, positive birth and so happy that Tara birthed her baby exactly how she had envisioned.
If you would like to increase your chances of having a positive birth experience and would like me to support you as your Doula or Hypnobirthing Teacher, please get in touch or visit my website to find out more.
P.S If you would like to hire or buy a TENS machine to help you to feel more comfortable during your labour, I can offer you a 10% discount by clicking the link below and using code 10JULIA.
Julia x