Born at Home
		Holistic Birthing Centre Ltd & Holistic Counselling Centre Ltd
	Here are some birth stories, we hope you enjoy them.....
			Student Midwife - year 3 of training During my time with an independent midwife I was privileged enough to attend the birth of one of Tracy's clients, for which I am truly grateful. It came at a time when I was feeling frustrated by not being able to provide continuity of care within the current NHS system. Seeing the relationship Tracy had with the family reminded me why I wanted to become a midwife and the birth was so calm and quiet and the understanding between mother and midwife was obvious from the beginning. The support and knowledge gained during the antenatal period and the confidence which comes from knowing your midwife meant there was no need for spoken communication and the mother was able to tell the midwife what was happening to her body. Whilst every birth I have ever attended has been a privilege I will always remember this as my first natural birth; birth the way Mother Nature intended, wonderful, instinctive, natural and beautiful.
			Sally's Home VBAC My first baby was born in hospital. His birth was the culmination of a very traumatic and violent chain of events ending in an emergency caesarean section. His birth affected me in many emotional and physical ways. I always felt that his entrance into this world was not right, that the caesarean and events leading up to his birth was unnecessary and unnatural. I felt betrayed, abused and alone. I suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a consequence. When I fell pregnant with my second baby, I'd already carried out research into vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) and knew my best chance of achieving as natural birth as possible with minimal obstetric intervention was to have my baby in the safety of my own home. I initially booked in with my NHS Trust requesting midwifery led care and a homebirth. I struggled to gain support of my plans from them, and in the end, I engaged Tracy as my Midwife. I should have engaged her sooner. It was like a breath of fresh air. Tracy fully understood my fears, concerns and how strongly I wanted to give birth to my baby. She advised me of the risks involved, and ensured I was making an informed decision regarding having my baby at home. Tracy was fantastic, and it was her brilliant care and support that enabled me to have the confidence in myself to follow my instincts and give birth to my baby at home. The whole experience was very healing and cathartic, and helped me put to rest old emotional issues from my first son's birth. There now follows the story of my triumphant and glorious homebirth! I woke on the Thursday with the same regular braxton hicks that I'd had for the past week or so, I started to get James ready and clean the kitchen and bathroom. A couple of the braxton hicks later in the morning had begun to travel into my back as a crampy feeling. I was expecting a visit from Tracy that morning and when she arrived, I told her about the crampy contractions. When she was palpating my tummy, I had one; she kept her hands on my tummy and said jokingly that she'd probably be back later. She went home after visiting me, and I carried on with my usual day, thinking that nothing was painful enough to be anything serious. My mum came later on that afternoon and we went for a walk to the beach, the cramps were coming about every 15 minutes or so, but still were not painful. We got back from our walk around 5.00pm ish, I was still timing them at between 10 and 15 mins, but they still were not painful. I had asked Tracy earlier how I could tell if the cramps became proper contractions, and she said if the crampy pain went all over my bump to the top. Well, at this stage, I could only feel the cramps in the lower part and into my back, so I thought they were still just the braxton hicks. I got James into bed and Stephen came home from work at about 6.45pm, we had dinner, a (large) glass of wine and settled down to watch a film on TV, continuing to time my cramps, which were between 7 & 10 mins apart, still only in the bottom of my tummy and into my back, becoming uncomfortable, but not painful by any means. We went to bed at about 11.00pm. I dozed between cramps and after about midnight, I found that I had to breathe deeply in and out whilst having one. I still thought I was just niggling. I got up at about 1.00am and put on my TENS, thinking that these niggles are becoming a bit uncomfortable, but they may fizzle out soon. Stephen thought he may as well set up the pool, so got on with that whilst I played with the TENS on the sofa. We set up the music in the lounge, and I thought I'd better call Tracy to let her know I was niggling and I might need her in the morning. She said it would take her an hour and a half to load up the car, and get across to us, so she would come out and if necessary go home again if nothing serious was happening. I then called my mum, who arrived about half an hour later. At about 3.00am Tracy and Linda arrived, they came in and we all had a cup of tea and laughed at Tracy's husbands slippers which she was wearing. It was very calming and reassuring to have Tracy there. Linda was feeling my tummy through every crampy tightening, and said that they were contractions. I was quite surprised, as I'd expected them to go home again saying I wasn't in labour. They went to unload the car, and then we discussed an examination to determine if I was dilating. Tracy examined me and I was 7cm with bulging membranes, thrilled would be an understatement! I was labouring effectively - my body was doing it!!! I'd niggled my way to 7cm. During the next few hours things progressed quite slowly, and I laboured very gently. We had cups of tea, and chatted about all sorts. Tracy kept checking my pulse and the baby's heart. My pulse never got above 65, and baby remained happy. I got in the pool when I heard the dawn chorus, it was heavenly, so relaxing and I felt so comfortable. Unfortunately, I became so relaxed that my contractions stopped, so I decided to get out of the pool and walk about to get things going again. The contractions were beginning to get quite painful, so I decided to have a bit of gas and air with each one. I asked Tracy to examine me at about 8am, and I was about 8cm with membranes still intact and bulging. She said they may rupture with the next couple of contractions. I laboured another couple of hours, walking around the house, using the birth ball and sitting on the loo (which I found really comfortable). At about 10am I started to feel that everything was taking too long, and it was never going to end. Tracy suggested me having a feel inside to see if I could feel the baby's head and membranes. I did and could feel a bulging squashy bag before my baby's head. Tracy said that the membranes still being intact may be slowing things down a bit, but there was no problem with this. I wanted things to move a bit quicker, so we discussed ARM. Linda performed the ARM and she agreed that the membranes were quite tough and thick. The liquor was clear, and baby remained happy. From then on, I kept myself in a vertical forward position, which gave quite painful contractions. I decided to go back to sit on the loo, and then got stuck in the bathroom, unable to move back to the lounge to give birth, everyone brought all the sheets and towels through to the bathroom. I began to get pushy feelings at the end of each contraction, so I got off the loo and on to all fours on the bathroom floor. I then began to get really sweaty and leak colostrum. I was amazed that my body was working - I was going to give birth to my baby. I tried pushing in a few positions - on all fours, sitting on one bum cheek, squatting..... I eventually settled laid down on my side, and Linda held my leg for each contraction whilst I pushed like a demon through each pain. I pushed for about 50 mins then felt the most excruciating pain as David's head was crowning. I felt myself stretching and then felt my skin reach its limit as the stretch stopped, and I panicked as I knew his head was not yet born and thought how was I going to get him out. Tracy told me not to be frightened, and keep going. Then I heard them tell me to pant, which I did, and felt Tracy supporting my perineum. David's head slipped back in, so I had to do the push/pant thing a couple more times before I felt his head born. The next contraction enabled me to push his shoulders and body out. I DID IT!!!! Stephen was crying, I was laughing. I felt amazing, powerful, strong and womanly. I had a cuddle with him as soon as he was born, he was my baby and I held him as soon as he was born. I gave birth to him. I worked so hard to birth him, I felt him be born by my body. He was slippery and warm and I loved him immediately, then he did a wee on me! Stephen cut the cord when it had stopped pulsating, and my physiological 3rd stage lasted 5 mins. I needed stitches for a 2nd deg. tear, but I didn't care. I'd birthed my baby at home. My pulse then rocketed to 90-100bpm, I felt sick, weak, breathless and couldn't stand. My blood loss became heavy and I was soaking through pads. We discussed options, and Tracy decided that it was better to be safe than sorry and go to hospital to be checked out. We all went and by this time my loss had settled and my pulse had aswell. My consultant had been called from home (novelty factor I think, IM's and HBAC) she arrived and said "we're all thinking ruptured scar here" she suggested me having a full internal examination and an overnight stay. I said no thank you and went home. I had a great night sleep, David slept through the night with us and I woke the next day feeling much better. My breast feeding was established within a couple of days - so much easier than post caesarean. My homebirth was such a life changing event, and I'm so glad I decided to break with conformity and go for it. I certainly couldn't have achieved it without Tracy. I will NEVER plan to have any more children in hospital. Homebirth is how it should be! (Sorry it's so long, and if you managed to get this far - thanks for reading)