Our home birth
My pregnancy was straightforward until at 37 weeks I developed obstetric cholestasis. This involved a lot of blood tests, monitoring and discussions with doctors over the best course of action. My husband works in London and so Rachel was available for every appointment, sent me lots of research so I could make a fully informed decision on the right path for me and my baby and when she could sense stress levels were rising she came round to do some yoga and massage!
I eventually did go into labour naturally and had the baby at home in a pool. My waters broke on Tuesday morning and Lucas was born in the early hours of Thursday morning. Rachel and Erika were at our house from about midnight on Tuesday until 6am on Thursday when they tucked the three of us up in bed!
Looking back it's all a bit of a blur but ( and this is with no disrespect to the NHS because they have limited time and protocols in place) if I had been with the NHS I would not have been allowed a home birth, I would have been continuously monitored and I would definitely have had some sort of intervention as I was contracting for a very long time and pushed for around four hours, both would have breached their allowed timings. Rachel and Erika (and Greta an incredible shiatsu masseuse) got myself and my husband through some tough moments and without them I would not have found the strength to get through it with just gas and air ( albeit I got through a fair few cylinders -thank you to caroline for topping us up with an emergency supply!).
It really was a dream come true, thank you wessex independent midwives, I will have my fingers crossed Rachel is off maternity leave for baby number two!!