My 'birth story' by Emma

Alana May Ventris was born on 6th January 2006, at 12.28pm. She weighed 7 pounds 3oz.



It was always going to be tough to work out the ‘right time’ to get pregnant with our careers. As Opera Singers we are constantly working abroad and so, when I became pregnant it was inevitable that Chris would be spending some of that time away.

However, it happened that he would be in Venice when she was due and we were becoming increasingly concerned that I would not have the right kind of support when I went into labour and gave birth. My sister Kate is a nurse and , for the first few months we thought that it would be enough to have her as a birthing partner at hospital. It was becoming clear that all the nerves I had about giving birth were largely due to the thought of having to go to hospital. And so, when my sister announced that she would be 5 months pregnant when I was due, it spurred us to think again about what we were going to do.

We didn’t know of anyone who had had an independent midwife, but I was becoming more concerned that I was never seeing the same midwife at my NHS appointments and so Chris and I made the decision to look for a private midwife that would be there for me throughout.

Searching the web, ‘independent midwife Kent’, we found Virginia’s web-site and booked an appointment to see her.

We had assumed that we would go to hospital to have Alana, but Virginia pointed out that it was possible to have a home birth and once we had got thought through the idea, we realised that it was the only way forward for us. We didn’t know anyone who had gone for a home birth, especially not for the first baby. On telling people, they said how ‘brave’ we were, but the more we thought about it - the more we thought how brave they were to go to hospital!! A few of my friends were having babies at the same time and their hospital stories were all very dramatic and not overly enjoyable.

I became more determined to have as natural a birth as possible, to try and be in control and to actually enjoy the experience!

Meetings with Virginia often lasted about 2 hours because I had so many questions. She provided me with fantastic information from books, DVD’s, as well as her experience. By the time I was 9 months pregnant, I felt very confident about giving birth and looking after my baby immediately afterwards.

Alana was due on 14th January, but she came one week early, with the help of a birthing pool. Before this, Virginia had drawn a diagram of the ‘average’ progression of labour. This gave me so much confidence when my labour started at 5am on Friday morning. The evening before I had been experiencing very mild aches with Braxton Hicks and wondered if this was a sign of things to come, but we went to bed - until I was woken up at 5am to slightly stronger contractions. We decided to get up but didn’t get in contact with Virginia as it was so early on. After sitting around for 2 hours, we decided to try to get a bit more sleep as they were so weak and far apart. However, going back to bed seemed to strengthen them and they kept coming every 7 mins for 50 seconds. We decided to just let Virginia know what was happening and she suggested that we went for a little walk to try to get things moving!

Kate was also on call to be there at the birth and so I called her to say how things were progressing, had a shower to ease the back ache, got dressed for the Arctic and we set off around the block! After every 100 yards, I had a contraction and Chris kept telling me ‘don’t lean on people’s fences, lean on me and pretend we’re cuddling!’. We had a very surreal moment when I went into contraction, was leaning heavily on Chris and moaning - as a man passed us walking his dog. ‘Morning’ said Chris……..the man gave us a very funny look and hurried along!!!

Twice around, we returned home and my contractions had progressed a little. On speaking with Virginia again, she told me that I would know when the real Active Labour started and - at 10.30 - boy did I!!!!

We contacted Kate and Virginia and they both got on their way. Because it was so quick in turning we hadn’t given the pool a thought and so Chris busied himself filling the pool. But we don’t have a combi boiler and the very long shower I’d had earlier had meant that the hot water ran out a little too quickly. The poor thing was running boiling kettles and pans as it became increasingly clear that we wouldn’t have time to wait for the water to heat again!

Amazingly, my labour progressed so fast that by the time Virginia had arrived I was just about to start pushing! Virginia kept very calm and checked the baby’s and my pulse occasionally, in between contractions. I became aware that I was watching Virginia and because she was calm, I was calm. At one point I remember saying, ‘I don’t know how she can come out!’ And Virginia said ‘ well, she can. You just have to get your head around it.’ It suddenly became clear to me what I had to do and I started pushing. It was such an enjoyable experience and something that I still look back on fondly - something I never thought that I would be doing 9 months before!!

Alana May was born one hour later. She was so relaxed, with her eyes closed and her hands crossed over her front like an old man! Perfectly pink and perfect! I couldn’t believe that I had done it!

We waited for the blood to empty from the umbilical chord and then Chris cut it. The placenta was delivered at 12.42. Chris was the first to hold her as I was dried and taken over to our comfy sofa with a cup of tea, perfect! Then Virginia showed us the placenta as she checked it over and finally gave me first lesson in breast feeding. Alana took to the breast immediately and she hasn’t looked back since! On her first weigh-in she had gained 7 grams in two weeks!

Kate ran me a bath and I sat there relaxing while the others emptied the pool and dressed Alana. It really was the most amazing experience and one that I hope is as vivid tomorrow as it is today.

Virginia stayed for a while and then left us to bond with our little daughter. Having Alana at home was a natural, empowering experience, not only for me but for my husband as well. Kate was so impressed that she is now with Virginia and looking forward to her first birth at home in Virginia’s capable hands. You can’t have a better compliment than that!