Melanie’s home birth – a personal experience
Our first child Eve was born at 4.55am on Wednesday 20 th April 2005 at home as David and I had planned. We had decided early on in the pregnancy that, all being well, we would like our baby to be born at home. For both of us this seemed like the ‘natural’ choice compared to a hospital birth. My association with hospitals was that they were places were people went when they are unwell or in need of medical expertise. We did visit the QEQM hospital in Margate and also the Dover Birthing centre. The visit to the QEQM was just in case we did need to transfer during the birth. When we visited the Birthing centre it was described to us as a home from home, however, it did not compare to actually being at home. The main advantage at the birthing centre was the option of water birth. However, once we found the NCT site offered a birthing pool for less than £100 it made a water birth at home even more possible. The added advantage of being in your own familiar environment and being able to use the pool afterwards as a paddling pool!
David and I were really surprised by the reaction of others to our choice of having our baby at home. The views of others tended to fall into two categories: those who thought we were foolish at taking such a ‘risk’ both for me and my baby and those who thought we were ‘brave’ for considering it especially for a first birth. Undeterred by these voices and the over medicalised treatment of childbirth we sought out others who shared our views and employed Kay, an independent midwife. Rather than needing to conform to very narrow boundaries in order to have a home birth Kay seemed a lot more comfortable with the idea of ‘risk’. She presented us with all the options. This enabled us to make the right choice for us. After all is was my body and our baby and how many parents would knowingly put their baby and themselves at risk when presented with the information.
Based on discussions with Kay and our own research we decided to try and keep the birth as ‘natural’ as possible avoiding, where possible, drug or other interventions which rather than assist births sometimes make them more problematic and painful. I knew from the beginning however, that when the labour started if there were complications or I really could not manage the pain then the option of hospital was always there. We acknowledged too that we were lucky to have these choices available.
As well as conventional medical options I had sought support from ‘alternative’ practitioners. Throughout the pregnancy I had attended a weekly pre natal yoga class. This helped me learn breathing techniques as well as positions in labour which helped the labour to progress. We also did a lot of pelvic floor exercises! I had massage, as and when I could afford it and in the latter stages of pregnancy had reflexology. During the birth Kay had agreed to help administer homeopathic remedies that I had obtained.
With a month to go before the birth we decided to have a ‘dry run’ with the pool. It took approximately fifteen minutes to inflate and a little longer to fill. This was quite good fun to do and see the pool inflated, knowing that next time it would be the ‘real thing’.
The Birth day……..
My labour pains started in earnest around 4pm on 19 th April. I remember sitting watching the news at 6pm eating my dinner and hearing about the pope re-election and having to stop with each contraction. As soon as I could no longer eat my dinner we decided it might be time to contact Kay! However we resisted and held off until we had regular timed contractions. Meanwhile I wandered around our home leaning over sofas, beds and chairs as well as worktops with each contraction trying to concentrate on breathing through them. We tried a TENS machine but the wires were such a nuisance that this was discarded after only a couple of hours. The birthing ball was sat on for about half an hour but the best pain reliever at that time was leaning forward and breathing slowly. By 9pm the contractions had really begun to become more regular (and painful) and after being sick on the carpet in the lounge David was given instructions to call Kay and he decided to start inflating the pool. Kay arrived at 10.30pm to find me upstairs leaning over the bed. An hour later I got in the pool and exclaimed ‘What a bloody relief’!. The water was such a great help. Firstly, because I was able to move around with ease as I felt weightless and secondly the warmth it provided. The hot water hose used to fill the pool was great for running across my tummy where all the pain was centred.
As the labour progressed Kay administered my homeopathic remedies. These included pulsatilla, Kali phos, calendula and arnica. David also massaged my sacral area and this provided some pain relief too. By the time I was into the second stage of labour I was down to relying on breathing for pain relief. A brief try of entonox was largely unsuccessful. Surprisingly, I did not like feeling drunk! With the support of David, Kay and a few expletives I managed the rest of the labour without any pain relief. It was quite amusing to read the birth notes some days later to see some of the things that I had said such as ‘ I want to go home’ and ‘Just pull the baby out’. There are other less printable comments too!. It also helped to hear that they could see the Eve’s head and to be told that she had a head of thick brown hair! After about two hours Eve’s head appeared in the water and David described to me how he could see her under the water with her eyes open looking around. He saw her head and shoulders rotate before her whole body followed. He brought her to the surface where she was handed to me and sat on my chest for about fifteen minutes until the cord stopped pulsating. David cut the cord and Eve and I retired to the sofa to await the delivery of the placenta. During the following hour we chatted about all sorts of things and Eve tried to feed from my breast. Kay and I even had some toast!
After this Eve and I had a wash and went upstairs to bed, by now it was 7am. Meanwhile downstairs David emptied the pool and tidied up the lounge. When Eve and I got up later that day the lounge was back to normal and no one would have been any the wiser as to what had gone on the night before!
Postcript
I would certainly recommend a home birth to anyone who feels that this is what they would like to do. I do appreciate that I had had a relatively ‘trouble free’ pregnancy and that home birth is not for everyone. However, I felt that it was more relaxing to be at home in a familiar environment and that my recovery was better after the birth as I was left to labour without too much interference.
