We chose to have a homebirth as the hospitals around here do not encourage natural births. We gave birth at home in a birthing pool with a registered midwife and doula.
Our son was born at home on New Year’s Eve at 11pm, after a gruelling and emotional 44-hour labour. He arrived exactly on his due date, right at the very end of the year.
He was born in water, in a blow-up pool under the stairs in our lounge (a converted cow barn), by candlelight. The midwives arrived about 30 minutes after he was born, checked him over, and everything was perfect. They had visited earlier but went home when labour wasn’t progressing and told us to call again when active labour began.
It was scary knowing they might not arrive in time and that the hospital was an hour away. All I could do was keep Becky calm, focused, and in the zone. Our doula, Anga, was there throughout—our guide, our anchor, our rock.
We left the cord intact and I cut it after the placenta was born. Becky somehow just knew what to do. She even had a placenta smoothie afterwards.
A perfect home birth, I think—and a perfect little baby. He’s like a tiny worm, just wriggling about. Everyone is healthy, he’s feeding beautifully, and we’re exhausted, dazed, and completely in love.
What a rollercoaster.
No doubt we will have more baby photos, family-friendly events and home birthing stories coming soon
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