Category: Birth Stories

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Gemma’s Story

This is my home birth story. I wanted to make this; as whilst planning my own home birth, it surprised me how many women don’t know that this is an option for them too. My goal is not to belittle hospital births in any way, as I had a hospital birth of my own. If a woman wants or needs to have a hospital birth, then that is certainly the perfect place for her to be. My hope is just for women to know they have the capabilities of making the choices they wish. Every single pregnancy is different, so this is just my experience.

I am not promoting the act of going against medical advice, but rather listening to the advice given by your medical professionals, and understanding it is still your choice to make. It is always advised to do as much research as possible to support the decisions you make throughout your pregnancy.

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Becky’s Story

On 24th August at 2.25am my second little boy was born into the world weighing 9lb 1oz. His birth was not what I had planned or envisioned in my head, however I feel it’s an important story on how to deal with changes to birth plans ‘in action’.

I had written a very simple birth plan with the following wishes:

  • Home Birth
  • Water Birth
  • Active Birth
  • Able to move around
  • Calm environment
  • Support & Reassurance that I can do this
  • No offer of pain relief unless I ask
  • Husband to cut cord & tell me the sex
  • Physiological delivery of the placenta

At 10 days overdue I was getting very fed up and trying not to focus on the impending induction I was booked in for. All week I had been getting lots of Braxton Hicks and twice thought I was in labour but things just stopped. Very frustrating! Especially when everyone is giving advice as to how I could ‘get things going’.

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Sara’s Story

Birth story whilst it’s fresh in my mind …apologies for the length!!

Woke up on Friday morning and felt different. Had an urge to really deep clean the house (I’m clean-the-house obsessed anyway, but this was a whole new level!!), had eyebrows threaded, washed hair and painted nails, lovely meal with husband. I had mild cramps all day and felt a bit achy, but since Darcey was 12 days post dates, I had convinced myself this baby would be too.

We watched some Only Fools & Horses then went to bed about 10pm. John read me a hypnoscript for helping baby come out!

Then the drama started! Darcey (our 3 year old) started shouting for us. We went in and she had vomited everywhere. I then spent the next 4 hours changing sheets, washing mattress, getting us both showered and hair washed, into our bed…same thing happened so back up again. In the mist of all this, the cramping I had, disappeared.

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Hannah’s Story

I started getting pains at about 11pm on Friday, but after having a bit of a false start on Wednesday I decided it was nothing, took paracetamol and went to bed for a bit. I woke up at half 2 and contractions were every 10 minutes and getting painful, I ran the bath and Gary rang my mum as my little boy was stirring in bed and I needed other half to fill the pool.

Mum got here about 3am, at that point contractions were every 5 minutes. Midwife got here at 4am and I was 7cm (I requested to be examined as still wasn’t convinced I was in labour 😂, she rang the other midwife and I got in the pool.

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Hayley’s Quest for a Physiological Twin Home Birth

On Saturday 10th March 18 I woke up at 6.45 am having a few niggly pains. I asked hubby to take the girls downstairs so I could have time alone to see what came of them. I was 40+8 and hour later I knew this was definitely labour. Hubby took kids to grandmas and I phoned my independent midwife (who is over an hour away) . I know my body pretty well now and always go into urinary retention in labour which slows me down and distress me. I got in bath to relax then when got out put in my tens machine. Debs my midwife got here around 10.30 . She helped me get some urine out and checked I was 6cm. Pool was ready now and I got in . It was heaven. I love being in water.

The rest of the amazing Yorkshire Storks midwives turned up . Then at 12.03 twin A Tobias was born at home weighing a healthy 8lbs 3oz It was a surreal and fantastic experience. We had some skin to skin in the pool , our first breastfeed and waited for cord to stop pulsing, I was still getting contractions for twin 2 and felt quite conflicted on what to concentrate on. So cord was cut and he went to daddy for skin to skin.

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Paul’s Story

“Our first child Finley, was born in hospital “

Our first child Finley, was born in hospital and without going into too much detail, and on reflection it appeared to us to be mostly unnecessary and an overwhelming complex way to achieve a “natural” birth. We therefore decided to strive for our second child, Isla, to be born at home.

In hindsight had we done the research and I had a bit more courage we would have done this with our first born also. After all medicalised births are a relatively new thing… doing the research will show you that unless there are good reasons to be at hospital, you should do what you believe is the best for you.

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