Frances' Waterbirth Story - Rex is born
We had hoped to have a homebirth, feeling that it was uneccessary to go to hospital where I felt that things would posssibly move out of my control and the chances of intervention may be higher. I was very active throughout the pregnancy and confident that the birth would be normal and with a strong desire to go through the process with as much awareness as possible (no drugs!).
The first midwife we met however did not feel a confident as we did and warned us that I would most likely end up in hospital. So we were very fortunate when we bumped into Sally, a friend of Caroline's, when we were on holiday in Spain. She suggested that if we wanted a home waterbirth we could speak to Caroline in England.She could give us some advice.
So we were over the moon when we met up and discussed our hopes to discover not only that Caroline would be delighted to be our midwife but that, amazingly enough, had been at Tarn, my partner's birth, years ago in Ireland, acting as support to her friend (Tarn's mother), Hannah.
I woke at around 6am with period-type pains and lay in bed for as long as I could bear, getting up about 7:30, drinking tea and trying to read a book as the contractions got steadily stronger. I remember thinking it was odd that I had to put the book down as I was having one! I also felt a litttle anxious as we had emptied the birth pool the night before (after it had stood ready for a week) and really wanted to wake Tarn up so we could start filling it.Tarn couldn't understand why I hadn't woken him sooner and flew into action and got the pool filling up and set me up with a set of straps to hang from to ease my back.
Then we had a lovely walk in the beautiful nature garden where we live, stopping every 5- 10 minutes for a contraction. It was very distracting to be out in nature and by the time we got home things had sped up quite a bit.
Caroline was on the way; after talking on the phone and her listening to how I seemed and talking me through a couple of contractions, she decided it was time to come. Tarn made us breakfast and I did a bit more hanging as he added more water to the pool. Caroline arrived about noon and taking one look at me said that she thought it was fine to get in the pool which I was very pleased about! She then helped Tarn carry buckets of water which was so helpful- ( I don't think an NHS lady would have!).
I brushed my teeth in between contractions (it seemed very important to get that done!) and got into the water….what sweet relief! Being supported by the water made me much more comfortable and the contractions eased off enough to have a chat with Caroline and drink a banana milkshake which gave me loads of energy to get on with it! i feel that one of the most helpful things about having a homebirth was that I ould have all the food and drink I felt I needed - there was no-one restricting in case I had to have a Caesarian - one thing I was led to believe could be a distinct possibility in hospital.
Things started to speed up with more contractions than rest. Caroline was sitting calmly and observing - it was fantastic that she was there and just letting me get on with it and ready with a word of encouragement if I needed it. Tarn brought ice cubes and cold flannels and I was able to go deep into myself knowing that we were safe.
My memory of the second stage is quite dim. Things progressed quickly after Caroline told me I was in transition and that was why I was feeling a bit tearful. She helped me get control of my breathing by asking me to think of the cows in the field - which got me using my voice (if that's what it was) to much better effect. The water was wonderfully supportive and I was really able to let go and recover between contractions and it seemed that the currents of water as more warm was added to maintain temperature soothed my nerves and lessened discomfort.
Caroline's presence was so warm and supportive - she was there with a word of advice when I needed it and very happy to muck in with water-fetching etc but no examinations, which I was dreading. Her experience enabled her to "read" my body and sense the progress of birth with no physical interventions. Of this I was particularly grateful. I was able to put all my energy into the task, feeeling supported and free of distraction.
My back started to hurt a bit during the second stage and for a moment I felt quite panicky, just wanting the baby to be out. But as soon as I thought I'd have to get out of the water if we were to change venue (to say nothing of a 10-mile car journey), I realised I'd better just get on with it. Shortly after the baby's head crowned and I was told it had black hair. This was remarkable heartening and I pushed with gusto. I remember asking repeatedly for Rescue Remedy at this point!
Tricia arrived to find everything in full swing and managed to disengage Tarn from my steely embrace, offering herself as a neck to hang on, enabling Tarn to rush round the back and get ready to catch the baby. By this point I was feeling completely elated and really quite cheerful, if a bit burny round the bottom end! Tricia kept talking to me about the best way to push, asking me at one point to try and resist and save it for the next one…..I did, and the head was born. What a relief!
Tarn told me later that it was amazing to see the baby facing up towards him and watching him breathing out fluid in little swirls. Next push he came out under the water. Tarn caught the slippery little fish baby and passed him between my legs. I lifted him from the water to my breast and exclaimed "It's a baby!". We decided he was a boy - I said I knew he would be.
The most wonderful moment of my life was intruded upon as I noticed the feeling of the cord between my legs and I started to feel a bit squeamy. Tarn cut the cord which I considered was his job - he put the baby there so he should be the one to separate us.
Caroline and Tricia asked if I'd like to get out of the pool to deliver the placenta - I declined but then noticed a piece of detritus float past my precius baby's head and it was time to leave the water.Everything else was a bit of a blur apart from sitting on the sofa with my beautiful fresh baby boy, drinking tea and eating chocolate biscuits. Things got even blurrier as we moved on to champagne and I heard Tarn letting off fireworks outside! I needed a few stitches which Caroline and Tricia got on with very efficiently and they managed to go in time to attend a gig they'd been looking forward to... all in a day's work!