My dream birth…

The birth story of Isla Dawn, born 2:05pm on 12/12/2023, 3.5kg, 51cm.

Isla was born at 40 + 4 weeks in a hospital by spontaneous vaginal birth with no interventions or pain relief.

I began experiencing “intense period cramps” at 8:30pm on 11/12/2023. After a couple, I realised they were all exactly 15 mins apart. I tried to fall asleep, but they were just that bit too painful to allow sleep, so I got up and had a shower.

They were still there when I got out, so I set myself up in the lounge room, creating a Zen zone with my favourite candle, David Attenborough documentary on Netflix (there is something about his voice that is just so calming) and pillows and birthing ball. I spent the whole night labouring in this area. I really got into my headspace during this time as well and breathed each contraction away.

At 4 am, contractions were 10 mins. I got back in the shower until 6am, and they were down to 6 minutes at this time. 45mins later, they were 4mins apart. The midwives at hospital said to come in.

By the time we reached hospital at 9am 12/12 they were 2 mins apart…I spent about 3 hrs in a shower before getting put into a bath. The bath was incredible, and I found that I was able to control my breathing much better in the bath because the pain was somewhat decreased. It was incredible how the contractions changed getting in water like that.

I wasn’t in there for long, when my waters broke, and meconium was present. The midwives got me out of the bath to monitor mine and babies heart rate. I wanted so badly to be in water, but they could not have the monitors in the bath and were unable to get a reading in the shower.

By this point, I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept or eaten, I was surviving on Powerade and two lollies I had eaten over that time period. It was 1:15pm and I was in transition. I kept saying “how much longer is this going to take” and “I can’t do this anymore”. But my midwives and hubby were there and supported me and said “you can do it” so I did. I pushed as hard as I could for 45 minutes, before Isla’s head came out. That moment was absolutely incredible. I don’t know how I did it, but I trusted my body, and it birthed my baby, safely into the world 18hrs after I felt that first contraction. It was a marathon effort, but worth every ounce of effort and energy.

The Calmbirth course was optimal for teaching me all about mindset and labouring as long as you can at home. I believe these principles are what helped me push through to the very end. My hubby also said that he was able to identify every stage of labour I was in, and he would not have been able to do this if it wasn’t for Calmbirth. This meant he was able to help me in each stage accordingly.

We cannot thank Karen at Southern Highlands Calmbirth enough for her course and imparting her knowledge to all. She is an incredible asset to the birthing community, and I want to tell the world to do Calmbirth and that every woman can have the birth of their dreams if they want to!