It was such a perfect birth and a magical experience

Talia’s Birth Story

Sydney, Australia
Alastair, 3.08kg
39+3
Home water birth

I had an amazing water birth at home. It went so smoothly (and quickly) and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to do a home birth. I started active labour around 4pm (which I couldn’t believe at the time, I thought it was fake labour), and things progressed fast. By 7pm I had contractions every 2-3 minutes, sometimes they were even back to back. My body started pushing, it was such a crazy feeling.

I didn’t have to do anything myself, my uterus was slowly pushing my baby down and ejecting him out! I could feel my cervix dilating and it was like my body was parting to allow him out. My two sisters were by my side and got me to walk to the bathroom from the lounge room while my husband started preparing the pool. One of my sisters is a midwife so she knew to get me moving and allow gravity to do its thing (before my midwife arrived). I used my TENS machine throughout labour and used all the breathing techniques I learned during my hypnobirthing course.

It helped me stay in control and feel as calm as possible. I kept repeating affirmations I had practiced leading up to birth and again, this made me stay focused and calm. I laboured on the toilet for a while then it was time to make my way to the pool in our lounge room. The moment I got in, I felt so much relief. It was like a big warm hug. My body stopped contracting back to back and it was giving me a break before delivery. My waters broke just before my baby’s head was crowning.

My midwife coached me through pushing and I knew to slow my breathing down (another thing I learned during my hypnobirthing course). My baby’s head came out and then his body followed almost immediately. I was bent over on all fours and he swam up towards me. I picked him up and put him on my chest. I couldn’t believe what I had done, and that I caught my baby!

It was a moment I feel like I had manifested, it was such a perfect birth and a magical experience and I would picture it every night before bed. So for it to come to life was incredible. The hypnobirthing class really helped to prepare me for this moment and I’m so thankful I did the class.