Iona's
Home Water Birth
Iona
was born on 26th November 2000, in water at home. It was a beautiful
sunny Sunday afternoon.
This is the story of her birth.
A
natural birth at home in relaxing surroundings was the plan. Some
family members, friends and professionals had expressed their
concern that we would be far safer at a hospital or commented
on how brave we were. We felt somewhat unusual in our quest for
a natural home birth while most of our contemporaries were discussing
which type of pain relief they preferred. We believed that being
at home would give us more control over the birth and also not
being in a hospital would minimise the chance of intervention.
In retrospect we believe this was exactly right.
Three weeks before the due date it was suggested to me by our
midwife, that there was a possibility we might have to go hospital
for the birth. As there were a lot of people wanting home births
at the same time, there may not be the staff to cover everyone.
After some distressing deliberation we decided to opt out of NHS
care at this late stage and took on Virginia Howes, Independent
Midwife. She was wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive.
The
birth.
Pre-labour
started late Friday night. For five hours I had horrible backache
around the sacrum area. David supported me by massaging the area
with pain relief herbal oil. I applied a hot water bottle and
took a homeopathic remedy. Being upright also helped. Eventually
this wore off and I slept. Around 10am I had a show, the blood
stained mucus, things were hotting up. I went to my weekly yoga
class, which really helped then opted out of the busy, social
day I had planned and had a quiet day at home.
At 9pm that evening, contractions started. They were regular from
the start, about 20 minutes apart. David and I were playing scrabble
and I was winning by a long shot, unusual for me !!! The game
soon had to be abandoned; my heightened intellectual capabilities
were rapidly diminishing. We called Virginia and Helen, our birth
partner to let them know things were happening. At midnight we
asked them to come. Contractions were about 8 minutes apart.
There
was a wonderful atmosphere in the house. David had got the logburning
stove and rayburn going, while our heating system started heating
up water for the pool. The equivalent of five baths was needed.
There was relaxing music playing, essential oils burning and candles
going. We had hoarded up on biscuits, fruit juice, chocolate and
dried fruit. Through the pregnancy and birth I used herbal and
homeopathic tonics and had special preparations for the labour
at hand. During the birth Helen gave me the herbal tinctures in
water every 15 minutes prepared to aid me in labour, one each
for: pain relief, fear and opening up. Unfortunately these made
me vomit, due, I think to the red wine they were preserved in.
Helen also gave me homeopathic remedies throughout labour, as
they were appropriate. We all also used the Bach Flower, Rescue
Remedy.
Early in the labour I used a Birthing ball to sit on. It was the
only thing I felt comfortable on. It does not put much pressure
on the Perineum and keeps the body constantly moving as sitting
needs constant adjusting. I used a beanbag to lean on and managed
to sleep a little. During these early contractions I felt most
comfortable leaning against a wall. I got into the pool for a
few hours, which was lovely and relaxing.
For me, this early stage was the most difficult. Although I had
been with a friend through her incredibly short labour and had
read loads, I really did not know what to expect. It was intense
and over-whelming, my body was giving birth and I had little choice
but to go with it. This was the most challenging aspect of the
birth experience, learning to let go into the process. Probably
because of this, I was really aware of the need to be on my own
and asked all of my birth companions to leave me alone for a while.
It was all hard work but for me, not extremely painful. I would
rather use the word 'endurance'! It was like climbing a mountain.
Around
4 o'clock Virginia offered to examine me. I was declared to be
4cm dilated. I was a bit disappointed; I had hoped it would all
be over by then! At this point we all tried to get a few hours
sleep. My contractions slowed right down and I did managed to
sleep a little bit. About 6ish it got going again. I re-entered
the pool about 8am for the rest of the labour. I got out regularly
to have a pee. It was wonderful to be in the warm water in my
own personal space. I was on all fours most of the time and with
the aid of a woggle (buoyancy aid) I managed to have a deep sleep
between contractions. Some of the sleeps were reportedly only
15 seconds long, but deeply nourishing. However waking up to big
contractions (they all felt different intensities) was not nice.
David and Helen continued to attend to my needs: water to drink;
music; maintaining the temperature of the pool; affirming that
I was doing wonderfully. Virginia kept vigil; monitored me regularly,
reminding me to breathe through contractions, encouraging me.
Her contribution was definitely what she did not do rather than
what she did! She supported me by encouraging me to listen to
my body and let us do the work.
Sunday morning became very sunny. At 10am a second examination
showed I was 8cm dilated with the membranes still intact (the
waters had not broken yet). Around midday the pushing contractions
began. I remember the first one most vividly. It came, like the
others, out of nowhere. My body was doing the pushing, I couldn't
breathe. This was quite shocking. Again each contraction differed
in strength. At last, I realised I could participate physically,
I could also help push. Towards the end I learned that the louder
the noises I made the stronger the pushing could be. This felt
very primal. This stage lasted about an hour and a half. It felt
like doing a poo, a big one. Around the time these contractions
began Kay arrived, the second midwife. I remember there was suddenly
a lot of activity while the midwives made their preparations at
the other end of the room. I am not sure what this all was. I
was very aware of it. Virginia got a mirror in the pool and showed
us all the top of the baby's head emerging. We could now see that
the baby had a lot of hair. At this point I remembered Leboyer's
ideas, some incorporated into our birth plan: the moments of birth
to be peacefully quiet and with subdued lighting, and requested
that the curtains were closed. David and Helen supported me in
a squatting position. Virginia warned me I might feel like I was
being torn in two. This gave me confidence, so I did not hold
back. Her head came out. Virginia asked me to push hard. I waited
for the next contraction and then gave it all I had. This was
a very satisfying sensation.
Next
moment Virginia handed me the little person who had been inside
me for the last nine months. No more contractions, just a purple
blue baby that I thought looked rather large to have been inside
me. I was not sure how to hold her. I remember saying to her,
"Hello you are very wanted, welcome to the world". It
was an unforgettable moment to meet the little person who had
inhabited my body for the last nine months. I was surprised that
I did not recognise her! It was 1.29pm. Kay (the second midwife)
took photographs for us, recording this special time.
I asked David, Helen and Virginia to join me at this point in
the pool. David and Helen quickly stripped and stepped in. Virginia
declined, she still had a professional role to play. This was
a special shared, emotional moment. Although the baby came through
me it felt like a team effort, as if somehow we had collectively
given birth. I was in awe holding this child, who quickly practised
using her lungs. We did not check for the gender straight away
so there was a little suspense, although she looked like a girl.
I started handing her to David but Virginia reminded me that we
were still attached. After about 15 minutes I felt a contraction
and pushed with it knowing it was the placenta. It popped out
easily turning the pool, literally, into a blood bath. David was
handed some scissors to cut the now obsolete cord. I picked the
placenta up from the bottom of the pool to examine it.
I was moved gently to the sofa and gave the now calm Iona her
first milky meal. We were all very hungry, so after showering
David and Helen created a delicious pasta meal. I felt a bit tired
but alert and had no tears, in fact felt the best I had in months.
At 8lb 10oz, Iona was a fair size.
As hoped, I had needed no drugs for pain relief, I had not even
thought about it, apart from the point when I must have been in
transition when I made a half joke about wanting a Caesarean.
Being at home with people that cared for me helped me be relaxed.
The birth pool and focused breathing really helped me keep relaxed.
Iona
is a beautiful peaceful child. We feel grateful we were able to
give her a gentle entry into the world
Contributions to our birth experience
· Having the support of our birthing partner, Helen before,
during and after the birth was a huge help for both myself and
David. Helen attended the NCT ante-natal classes with us and helped
us prepare for the birth. After the birth she stayed and helped
me breast feed, showed us how to change a nappy and is still at
the end of a phone as a friend.
· Virginia's strong confidence in 'normal' (natural) birth
was essential. Her contribution was more what she did not do than
what she did! By standing back and encouraging me to listen to
my body, leaving me to labour as I felt moved to, my body was
able to do what it was designed to do. She was there with her
experience observing and guiding me if necessary.
· I found the local active birth ante-natal and yoga classes
invaluable and empowering. Apart from meeting other pregnant women,
learning how to use my body to encourage the baby to get and stay
in a good position, practising breathing techniques and birthing
positions were all invaluable.
· Attending the NCT ante-natal class, talking to mothers
about their pregnancy & birthing experiences and reading lots
of amazing books also helped.
