"Home birth"

Gave birth to my second son last week at home. My first son was born in hospital and I did not enjoy the experience and being on the ward, so when I fell pregnant with my second I decided a home birth was the only option. 

I was under the care of the Lanarkshire homebirth team who were amazing. My midwife (Elsie) was fantastic at the antenatal appointments, especially as I had to take my toddler with me, she included him as much as possible during the appointments which made the full idea of a home birth much more achievable, taking into consideration that he would be present during the birth.

On the run up to the birth my toddler and I watched a variety of home birth videos and practiced yoga and breathing exercises, he was even making the low mooing sounds along with the videos. 

On the day I gave birth I had been having contractions 4 minutes apart for most of the day so I called my partner back from work. After a while I felt a shower would help so I got in the shower and my contractions became intense and were only 1-2 minutes apart. I called the maternity triage and one of the home birth midwives called me back with a time of when she would be out and asking how we were getting on so far with contractions and pain. She made me feel good on the phone and assured me I could do it. 

About an hour had passed and I started feeling like I needed to push. I continued breathing through the contractions and around 5pm the midwives showed up and immediately started setting up the gas and air. Both midwives (Lindsay and Lynzi) were amazing and very calming. They were confident and were happy to let me go with what my body was doing. At every step they asked if it was okay for them to do what they needed to do ie check baby's heart, check for baby's head, take blood pressure, clamp the cord etc. They made sure they communicated what was going on before they continued. They made sure my partner was involved and took on what he was saying while I couldn't speak during contractions. They also made it possible for my son to be as involved as possible (although he didn't seem bothered until the baby had arrived). 

When baby's head was coming out, they coached me through it so I wouldn't tear and the aftercare was brilliant. They did all the checks on my baby and continually checked on me and made sure I was recovering okay. They also cleaned up any mess. You wouldn't know I gave birth in my bedroom. 

After an hour or so they left and we were able to spend time as a family and bond with our new Baby. My home birth experience was unbelievable and I can't praise the midwives and the home birth team enough. They made it possible for me to have the birth experience I wanted, keeping me and my baby calm, happy and healthy throughout pregnancy and birth. I would also highly recommend a home birth to everyone, it was the most surreal experience ever and I can't believe we are now a family of 4. 

Thanks to everyone who made it possible ❤️