Waterbirth Stories

This is the homebirth of Miss Maggie Rose, and looking back I had prodomal labour for at least a week prior to her birth. After numerous false starts, especially in the evenings ... it was all starting to wear very thin. On the 16th of May when I was 40 weeks 3 days I had a stretch and sweep where I was already 3-4cm & 50% effaced with a posterior cervix and could be stretched to 5cm. I had an

Nine months ago Lia was born and it now seems like an eternity ago. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get around to writing Lia’s birth story. Life is very full and there never seems enough time. My Pregnancy My pregnancy was very much wanted and it took me a long time to conceive. When I managed to fall pregnant, it was during the most stressful period of my life. This was punctuated with horrible

Being my 2nd baby I was feeling relatively confident however with a 20-year gap in between and a greater understanding of pregnancy, birth and beyond I also had many anxieties and a thirst for new knowledge, practices and strategies to ensure a happy and healthy time for my baby, my partner and myself. My first birth at 18 years old had been fast so we were expecting another quick labour. It had also been in a hospital, my waters

When I recall back to the early weeks of being pregnant, I am amazed how my belief system and fear had already unconsciously chosen a planned, elective caesarean birth for our baby. After overcoming exhaustion like I have never experienced before, I started to question what I was doing being a so called ‘patient’ for our chosen obstetrician, so after many hours of research on the internet, a month later I was a changed woman. I realized that my

Jasmine was born on Saturday 21st November 2009 at 42+1 weeks. Her birth was much anticipated, especially as I had been having braxton hicks contractions on and off for over a month before labour started, and gone past my “guess date” by two weeks. On Friday morning I woke up around 4:30am with bad back pain and couldn’t get back to sleep. It came and went and seemed to settle in a pattern of waves every 5 mins or

I had wanted another child for ages, but the time never seemed right. After Joshua’s birth in 1989, I chose to study and establish my career in midwifery. By the time we decided that we should try for another child, Joshua was nine years old. I was so excited and expected that I would fall pregnant easily. You can imagine the disappointment when month after month my periods occurred. Positive pregnancy test Ten months later the line on the

From the beginning things had gone very smoothly for me, I had a wonderful pregnancy in which not only did I grow physically but also emotionally and spiritually. I felt a strong connection with my baby, and permanently had my hands on my belly- so much that all my tops started getting worn in the mid section! During my pregnancy I had many different emotions arising, and as they arose I felt that I did my best to deal

I don't know how to start. I'm both happy and sad at the same time. I'm so happy that we've got a little baby girl and that the whole experience was exhilarating. The birth was pretty much exactly what happened in a dream I had before I even fell pregnant, and the dream is where I got the name Kyra from! I am sad because I want to wind back the clock and go through it again! The experience

This is Finn's birth story. My first inkling of labour came on at approximately 4pm one Saturday afternoon. It had been quite a hot day and I was feeling very big and uncomfortable. I had reached that point where you “just wish this baby would come out”. I was only 3 days past my due date, but it felt like an eternity. Earlier in the afternoon I had lay down for a nap and when I stood up, something