Mama A's Story

"AMAZING BIRTH AFTER A TRAUMATIC FIRST BIRTH

My little lady is now 7 weeks old so it's time I shared my birth story. I'm hoping this will be helpful as I am not the most obvious candidate for a homebirth...or that's what I previously thought.

Before I talk about the birth of my second child it's important to my story that I share the details of my first child's birth back in 2015 at hospital.

Its fair to say that I had very few positive memories of this labour and birth other than getting my gorgeous son out of it.

Fast forward 3 years to my second pregnancy, I was determined to not repeat this experience! I had heard lots of positive things about One to One and so I decided to use them for my care. I was assigned to the amazing Dani Grange. I didn't have the intention at first to have a home birth, in all honesty I was seriously considering an elective section due to my previous experience and a registrar telling me that was my safest option. I was really disappointed with the registrar I saw at the hospital and I was left feeling like I didn't really have a choice but to have a c-section and that anything else would have been irresponsible on my part. Luckily Dani and Kirsty swept into action and restored my faith and empowered me to follow my instincts and challenge what I had been told. When I eventually saw the consultant rather than the registrar she too agreed that there was no reason I shouldn't have a natural delivery. This is why you should ALWAYS challenge any advice you aren't happy with!

During my pregnancy my midwife visits where great, really personal, not rushed and Dani always included my son in helping to do all the checks on baby, which he loved.

People always tell me I was brave to have a home birth after my first experience. They ask me what made me make that decision... I always reply with the same answer- One to One midwives. Dani educated me about labour and birth and made me question what I had previously been told and what I thought I knew. I learnt that its all about options and informed choices. She empowered me to question what consultants said. We looked at studies to establish what the rate of recurrence was for another bad tear and retained placenta (They weren't that high at all surprisingly).

On the day I had my little girl I had seen Dani for a sweep in the morning as I was 6 days post due date. Then at 15:08 I had my first contraction, theses were soon coming every 5 minutes. I gave one to one a call and they said to run myself a bath, have 2 paracetamol and monitor my contractions for the next half hour. I also rang my partner and told him to come home. Dani rang me back not long after and told me she was on her way and so was Kirsty her buddy midwife.
When they got here Kirsty and my partner set up the birthing pool and filled it while Dani stayed with me and helped me focus on breathing through my contractions. The pool really helped with pain management and being in the water made it much easier for me to change positions as and when I felt I needed to.

By 19:00 everything had become more intense so I started on gas and air to help me through. I knew my little girl was soon going to be here. Dani reminded me about what we had discussed on how to minimise tears. The plan was for me to breathe this baby out and allow lots of time for crowning so my body had time to adjust and stretch without tearing, it was going to be nice and slow. Dani and Kirsty both reminded me not to push as my daughter arrived. Their voices were so calm, consistent and confident that it made it really easy for me to focus on them and follow their guide. At 19:53 my daughter was born weighing 9lb6oz, I scooped her out of the water commenced skin to skin while Dani took some lovely photos for us.

The placenta delivery was something I had worried about quite a lot after having a retained placenta last time. I'd discussed this with Dani quite a lot and decided that unless there was a clinical indication to do otherwise, I wanted a physiological third stage and for my placenta to be delivery naturally. Thankfully my body knew what to do and my placenta was delivered after half an hour. My blood loss was also normal, I had a small superficial tear that didn't need any stitches.

Sarah the one to one mama had also arrived to help me establish breastfeeding and provide any support I needed which was so nice to have. I can say from experience that you really don't get that level of support in hospital as they are simply just too busy with other women.

Kirsty also showed me my placenta and showed me all the various parts and how it all worked. Which was very interesting to learn about and see.

Now for the bit everyone asks me... "But what about the mess???" there really is no mess. Dani, Kirsty and Sarah emptied the pool (It's pumped down the toilet), deflated and packed away the pool, put the towels we had used in the laundry. It was like nothing had ever happened but there was this new little person here and a lot more love in my home ❤.

I don't think Dani has any idea just how much she gave me and how grateful we will always be for having her as our midwife. It's amazing how infectious and empowering it is to have someone who believes in you. The knowledge she provided us with was invaluable.

I'm so proud that I achieved a home birth given that at the start of my pregnancy I thought there was no way that I'd even be "allowed" a water birth in hospital and that my only option was to have an elective section.

So if you are considering using One to One...do it! I guarantee it will be the best decision you make! And my other advise is not to discount the option of a homebirth.... it was the best thing I ever did and has provided some wonderful memories for both me and my partner.

Thank you Dani Grange, Kirsty, Sarah and the One to One team. You have been truly AMAZING!"