Rach & Ed’s Home Water-Birth Story

As a first-time mum with a longstanding fear of hospitals and medical interventions, it was incredibly important to me to approach birth in the most natural, holistic, and non-medical way possible

We’d spent a lot of time learning and mentally preparing for the pregnancy and the birth, and a home birth was something I really felt comfortable and confident aiming for. Ed was also fully onboard as he knew how stressful I would find being in a hospital and how this might impact the arrival of our first child.

During this research I learned what a Doula was and felt an immediate draw towards having one. 

Someone that would support us, inform us and bridge the gap between us and the medical side of the maternity system. Then I found Millie!

In the months leading up to the birth, working with Millie really helped us to understand the process and our options. She really helped put my mind at ease and reassure me that birth didn’t need to be scary.

I also felt like we had gained a friend and someone who I was totally comfortable with having at our birth.

A few days before the birth, my only aim was solely to be as calm as possible! I felt I was ready and I had given over the birth to the universe! I was relaxed enough to accept that I had done all I could do, and that whatever the outcome, we could deal with it. 

My waters broke (not the film gush as imagined!) at 12.30am on Wednesday morning. I remember calmly waking Ed up to tell him, “it’s happening!” They also (unusually), broke before any contractions started which surprised us a little. From my research and working with Millie, we knew that if we informed the hospital, the 24 hour clock to get the baby out would start and this was something we knew could impact the chances of having the baby at home. We held off informing the hospital at this point.  

In hindsight, sticking to my gut and feeling confident in my body and knowing that the risk of infection wasn’t significant at this point, was the linch pin of the birth. It would have gone very differently if we had called the midwives at that point.

For the next 24 hrs, not much else happened and we had a walk and some ice cream! We set up the birth pool in the lounge, had pasta in the garden to get the carbs in, and got ourselves ready.

At 1am on Thursday morning, the contractions gently began. We let Millie know it was progressing and she kept in touch all day, sending us exercises and giving us advice and support the whole time. Having someone calm, knowledgeable and confident at the end of the phone was absolutely imperative on this day for the birth to have gone how it did.  We stayed at home for the rest of the day and tried all the early labour things (birth ball, drinking liquids, food, stair exercises etc) and Millie arrived at around 3pm.

My memory is a bit of a blur after that, as my mind and body were working calmly together and I just let it take over. Millie really helped with some biomechanics movements and we timed the contractions as mentally it helped me to track knowing where we were up to without examinations.

The lovely home birth midwives who were on call, came around 5pm. We called them as the contractions were around 3 every ten minutes. I decided not to have any vaginal examinations as I knew the implications and non requirement of this. They were ok with this approach and checked that I was ok, and said they would come back later once things progressed further. 

By 11pm things had moved on. Ed, my Mum and Millie were with me and the two midwives had returned and could see that I had significantly progressed. I was in the birth pool in our lounge and really felt in my own zone. We had candles, lights and music and I played the hypnobirthing meditation tracks that I had been listening to over the past few months.

I breathed and breathed! I used the combs for pain relief and didn’t even think about using the gas and air. 

I had total trust in my body, the baby, my amazing support team, including Millie, who I literally could not have done it without. She was by my side for the whole phase and manually put pressure on my back during every contraction for hours!

I feel, (as with anything), luck was on our side and that, combined with the mental preparation and knowing I was in it for the long game, helped me get through it. 

Sam, our boy, arrived at 1.40am on Friday morning. The midwives and Millie confirmed it was a calm entrance to the world, just as I had hoped for! 

The birth was everything I had hoped for - calm, within my control, non medicated and I completely let my body do its thing.

Two hours after the birth, we unfortunately ended up having to go to hospital due to bleeding and a tear that wasn’t apparent at first. The midwives were still at our house and were brilliant at explaining to the hospital how the birth had gone, and making sure that I was safely handed over. They also checked in with me for weeks after which was great. Millie was also on hand still, and we really couldn’t be more grateful with how she helped with the handover and tidied our home after we had left so that it was a fresh space to come back to. 

We all stayed in the hospital for a couple of days whilst they kept an eye on me and then thankfully everything was totally fine to come home. My experience of the maternity ward and all their staff was also a good one, and helped to rebuild my perception and faith in the hospital environment.

I really feel so positively about the birth and the hospital stay, I couldn’t have been luckier and more proud of what we did. 

Rach, Ed, Baby Sam and Doggy Burt xxx 

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