Georgie contacted me in June (between lockdowns!) to enquire about Birth Photography. She'd had her first baby arrive at 31 weeks so was unsure when this little one would arrive but was adamant that she was going to have a home birth and not another c-section. She was fully knowledgeable and had done a ton of research into her options, the risks of VBAC's, the benefits and knew that home birth was the right thing for her.
We managed to meet outside for a socially distanced cup of tea in her beautiful garden in August where we chatted about Birth Photography as well as placenta's, cords, doula-ing, Covid-19, essential oils, and our children! Our next catch up was over the phone and then again when I began my on call duty.
As we approached the 40 week mark Georgie began to get some mild period type pains for a few days and lost her mucus plug! We always wa-hoo at this point! That same Thursday evening Georgie had lots of surges that she tried to doze between and when she messaged Friday morning we spoke about when I needed to come (normally at the 3-4 minute apart stage but because they are an hours drive away, the 5 minute apart stage!). Friday morning they seemed to just fade away to start up again around early evening so I patiently waited with my phone and apple watch on very loudly. I didn't have to wait long as Jem, Georgie's husband, phoned at 21:38. The conversation went like this -
"Hi Sophie, Georgie's contractions are 2-3 minutes apart"
"What! Wow! Ok I need to leave now then don't I! (I can hear Georgie groaning in the background)
"Well, only if you want too" (Georgie in the background shouts "It may all stop again!")
"Tell Georgie, its not going to stop again and I'm leaving now"
I arrived just over an hour later to see an ambulance outside their house. My first thought was, no, don't take her! She doesn't want to go anywhere! As I ran up the path towards the house, Jem opened the door and told me baby had arrived just as the paramedics arrived. Georgie had successfully free birthed her second baby! And a VBAC as well! I got to work straight away, taking photos of Georgie and Baby Jude in the pool whilst chatting to Jem and the paramedics! The doula, Caroline Spear arrived just after me and assisted in getting Georgie out of the pool and onto the settee and immediately giving her some arnica (brilliant for assisting in reducing bruising and stimulating tissue repair).
Georgie's Mum arrived to meet her new grandson, she couldn't believe that she'd only been there a few hours before and kicked herself for leaving! It was the most wonderful atmosphere. We chatted and laughed, Jem regaled us with the story of how he had shaved off his eyebrows that morning in a fatigued state and had then proceeded to fill them in with Georgie's eyebrow pencil! Myself, the paramedics, Jem and Georgie's Mum all sat around drinking coffee and eating flapjacks (at midnight!) whilst Caroline waited with Georgie to deliver the placenta. The placenta did take over 2 hours to deliver and a midwife was called but to be honest despite her medical concerns, with patience and a dark and quiet atmosphere the placenta arrived safely.
After Dad cut the cord (note the beautiful crocheted daisy cord tie!) Caroline showed me how she prepared the placenta before putting it in her specially prepared freezer bag for encapsulation which will provide Georgie with essential vitamin and minerals to help replenish her body after birth.
“Birth is an opportunity to transcend. To rise above what we are accustomed to, reach deeper inside ourselves than we are familiar with, and to see not only what we are truly made of, but the strength we can access in and through birth.” – Marcie Macari