At 0331 on a Saturday morning I got a message from my birth client Claire who had been experiencing tightening's for 90 minutes. We were very aware that what with this being baby number 3 - and third babies are the unpredictable, wild ones! - and the estimated journey time being an hour and a quarter, that we had to monitor the situation closely. We decided to see how Claire was doing in half hour stages as she was reasonably sure it was very early stages of labour & that it all may just stall.
At 5:20am, Claire's husband Adrian messaged to say he thought I should leave and start the 75 mile journey to them as surges were 10 minutes apart - normally I wouldn't leave this early but I trust the instincts of my clients. As I drove I saw the most epic sunrise whilst singing to Take That on the radio & smiled as I knew I had the best job on earth.
When I arrived at 635am Claire was resting in bed trying to get some sleep with surges 7 minutes apart and her younger children woke up and came down for their breakfast, settled in the lounge with Netflix on. After half an hour Claire came downstairs with surges still 7 minutes apart, had a cuddle with her babies and got as much rest as possible in-between.
Very quickly surges went from every 7 minutes to every 4-5 to every 1-2 minutes & it was at this point Adrian contacted the Lavender Home Birth Team. Claire, a trained Hypnobirthing Instructor, drew strength from all the techniques and methods that she taught her clients. There was beautiful music playing in the background, an oil diffuser pumping essential oils into the room, the huge windows had been blacked out to allow for a dark, safe space. Part way through Claire popped on her hypnobirthing track to be able to tune into what was being said and popped some essential oils on a tissue to breathe in as and when she needed it.
As soon as the Midwife arrived at around 8-830am and listened to baby's heartbeat Claire hopped on in to the birthing pool for instant pain relief. She stayed there for about half an hour before hopping out again for an examination.
It was during this next stage that I could tell that Claire was nearing or in the middle of her transition stage. The contractions were thick and fast but Claire started to pace. She walked back and forth repeatedly and in circles, similar to an animal in the wild looking for a safe place to go to to have her baby. The intensity was increasing and Claire went from leaning on the kitchen unit, to rocking on her ball, to rocking standing up, to sitting on the settee and then back to the birth pool where she birthed her baby earthside.
Adrian had made it known to myself and the midwives that he wanted to bring baby earthside and at 10:04am and weighing 8lb 4oz he placed Baby Rose into her Mama's arms. And it was the most beautiful sight coupled with this gorgeous baby girls big brother and newly promoted big sister coming to say hello!
The placenta was birthed quite quickly after Rose's arrival and then Claire settled onto the settee to nurse her baby. Claire was incredible to watch during her whole birth story, she was calm, concise with her instructions and completely in control of every aspect of her labour and Adrian whilst balancing looking after the children combined with being a birth partner did a fantastic job!
I stayed for approximately an hour after Rose's arrival and then left this gorgeous family in peace to bond over their newest member of the gang!
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