Chloe’s home birth story

When myself and my husband first talked about trying for a baby, I knew a hospital birth wasn’t for me if I could avoid it.  The birthing centres near me were all being closed due to staffing, and home births on the NHS were very hard to obtain. We had also heard horror stories of last minute cancellations. I therefore decided on an independent midwife, and thats when I chose Debbie to bring my son into this world.

At around 4:30pm on Thursday 17th April I was tidying my house and felt a gush of water, I went to the toilet and sure enough I was leaking a lot of fluid. I called Debbie who confirmed it sounded like my waters had broke. She said I could go to the hospital to have it confirmed, but after talking it through with Debbie and due to the amount if fluid I was confident it was my waters and did not need it confirmed. We discussed the hospitals advice, how long we wanted to give my body to start contracting and the potential risks of waiting without intervention. We decided we felt comfortable to allow my body time to progress and to keep in touch.

Fast forward to the next morning and still no contractions had arrived. To take my mind off of it, myself and husband went to a nearby coffee shop for a little trip out. At around 11am I started to feel consistent tightening in my stomach, but could not be certain that it meant anything. We went home and decided to do some curb walking around our estate to try and bring on active labour, and then relaxed and watch some tv.

By around 2-3pm I started to get period like contractions and updated Debbie. They were nothing more than bad cramps and I could certainly walk and talk through them. I had something to eat and a shower, and at this point they intensified. I went upstairs to my bedroom with my birth ball and my husband called Debbie, she said to give it an hour or so and then update her.

After about 30 minutes I quickly progressed and the contractions were to the point that I had to focus on my breathing through them. My husband called Debbie at around 8pm to come around with the second midwife, Sonja, and he started filling the pool.

Once they arrived they asked if I wanted a vaginal examination, as I had said I was open to this in our earlier chats. I was checked and at that point was around 5-6cm. After a little more time passed I got in the pool and soon felt the urge to push. I started involuntarily pushing and opted for gas and air to help. Things stalled and after (very reluctantly) trying different positions, a small amount of head could be seen, but no progress was being made, even after a couple of hours.

I was advised to stop the gas and air as this seemed to distract me from pushing, to get out of the pool and for go for a wee as this could be causing some issues. Despite trying, I could not go to the toilet, so an in and out catheter was used to help me to empty my bladder, and make more room for the baby.

*At this point it had been several hours and due to not having any sleep for over 24 hours I was exhausted.*

The midwives suggested I lie down in bed with my husband, not to focus on pushing, but to try and rest in between contractions, and that they would go downstairs for a cup of tea.

I rested and an hour later they came back up, we started to focus on pushing my baby out. After a little more time had passed my son’s head had moved down, but still not enough. His heart rate throughout this was steady as a rock, he really was a little trooper. They then suggested I squatted down with my husband supporting my arms and back. We very quickly could see this was a good position for me and my baby started to move down. After a lot more pushing, breathing and reassurance, my baby was finally born after about 5 hours from the very first urge to push.

I had an hour of skin on skin with him, my placenta birthed naturally, delayed cord clamping and a calm, slow and love filled environment throughout this time. Everything I had hoped for. I then got stitched on my bed and took my newborn son downstairs. It was truly a magical and incredible experience. And to top it off, alongside guiding me through labour and birth, keeping my baby safe and reassuring both myself and my husband, she also took photos and videos that we will cherish forever.

Thanks to Debbie I had a truly magical, calm and positive first birth, with no intervention despite 5+ hours of 2nd stage. I know I would not have had this experience anywhere else and we are truly in awe of what she does. I hope we are lucky enough to use her services again.