Ceri, Paul and baby elin
Ceri and Paul chose to use My Independent Midwife because they wanted to guarantee that they would have access to midwives for a homebirth and to ensure that if they chose to birth outside of standard NHS guidelines that their informed choices would be supported. Elin is their second baby and arrived at home.
Ceri had a planned a homebirth with her first child, Mali, and found it to be a wonderful experience. Ceri was supported by a different private maternity company in her first pregnancy, but found that their policies and restrictions did not fully support her preferences for care in pregnancy and birth. Therefore, she chose to use My Independent Midwife for this pregnancy.
In her last pregnancy Ceri did not labour until 43 weeks gestation and she felt very confident that this current baby would not be making an appearance until 43 weeks either. Last time she was required to attend consultant appointments at the hospital to discuss the risks and implications of prolonged pregnancy. Ceri did not find these appointments useful and was very keen not to repeat the process again this time around, especially since her choice; to decline interventions, would be exactly the same again.
To reduce the cost of the care, Ceri and Paul chose the homebirth only package plus 5 postnatal appointments. The homebirth package includes 3 antenatal sessions with Jenny and Sarah and these were used to get to know each other, discuss labour and birth preferences and of course have a lovely aromatherapy massage.
The NHS provided all of Ceri's antenatal care and this worked really well for her up until 41 weeks, when the midwife coerced her into booking an induction of labour appointment for 42 weeks. Ceri contacted Jenny, after this midwife check-up, to discuss her options, as she knew (throughout the whole pregnancy) that the baby would not naturally arrive before the 42-week induction appointment. Jenny offered to take over Ceri's antenatal care for the final few weeks and advised Ceri that she can cancel the hospital appointment for induction at 42 weeks if she did not want to have this intervention. Ceri was already well aware of the risks of continuing pregnancy beyond 42 weeks, following many discussions in her first pregnancy and did not feel that a consultant appointment, to discuss these risks again, at the hospital would be helpful. Jenny supported this fully informed decision.
At 42 weeks and 4 days Jenny and Sarah noted the full-moon and accurately predicted that they would be attending Ceri's birth that night. Ceri woke up at around midnight and thought that her waters had released and then she started having some tightenings soon after. These quickly intensified and at 2:15am Paul called to ask Jenny to join them, as Ceri seemed to be pushing all of a sudden. Jenny rushed over in record time, with Sarah close behind, but the main event had been missed. Ceri gave birth to Elin with Paul at her side in the shower (the birthing pool had barely begun to fill). Ceri and Paul report that they felt calm and confident, knowing that Jenny would soon be with them. Ceri kept Elin close to her in skin-to-skin contact and felt so happy that labour had been quick and straightforward (her last birth took along time).
Ceri soon experienced some more tightenings and delivered her placenta with no assistance uneventfully. She then requested to pass baby Elin over to Jenny and Paul so that the cord could be cut and Paul could enjoy some cuddles with Elin, whilst Ceri had a shower (well she was already in there, so why not? Ceri even washed her hair!)
Once Ceri was ready, she headed into bed where she spent the next couple of hours in skin-to-skin contact with Elin whilst giving Elin her first breastfeed. Paul took charge of the food and dominos pizza was delivered to enjoy in bed together. When Elin had finished feeding Sarah weighed little Elin and then everyone had the biggest surprise, little Elin weighed an impressive 10 pounds!
Big sister Mali had woken up when Sali, the Labrador, had greeted Jenny with a loud bark as she arrived. Despite Paul's best efforts, Mali was far too excited about meeting her baby sister to be persuaded to go back to sleep. So, Sarah and Jenny left the whole family, including the dog, tucked up together in bed enjoying dominos pizza in a perfect postnatal moment.
Mali had a tongue-tie and Ceri had found breastfeeding to be uncomfortable throughout their feeding journey. The next day when Jenny visited, Ceri's nipples were sore and damaged. Elin was constantly breastfeeding and Ceri felt worried that Elin might also have a tongue-tie. As an IBCLC and CQC registered tongue-tie practitioner, Jenny was in a perfect position to assess Elin for a tongue-tie. Jenny confirmed that Elin did have a tongue-tie and discussed all of the risks and benefits of dividing or leaving the tongue-tie. Ceri felt that she would prefer it to be divided but wanted a bit of time to discuss it with Paul and think about it first. The next day Ceri requested that the tongue-tie was divided, which was done. Jenny also helped with Elin's positioning and attachment at the breast and gave Ceri tips for helping her nipples to heal. Elin's breastfeeding continued to improve over the next week and she is now gaining lots of weight. Most importantly, Ceris nipples have healed and breastfeeding feels much more comfortable.
Message from Ceri .......
It was a privilege to be cared for by Jenny and Sarah. Their approach in providing evidence-based care focuses on providing comprehensive up-to-date information and promoting autonomy in a truly individualised, person-centred way. Through this process I felt empowered and fully supported to make the choices that felt right for us. I was able to fully enjoy the last few weeks of my pregnancy, knowing that I would go post-dates, trusting my intuition and focusing on, and looking forward to, birth.
When I woke up to my waters releasing, Paul and I felt calm and excited that the time had come. What we didn't expect was the speed at which things unfolded! However, knowing that Jenny and Sarah were on their way I relaxed and lent into the familiar feelings of labour, knowing that baby Elin was well on her way and there was no stopping her! It was an incredibly intimate and empowering delivery, even though it was quick. Shortly after, Jenny and Sarah ensured we were all cared for and even packed up the birth space for us and tucked us up in bed.
As my main midwife, Jenny has provided fantastic postnatal care. A full holistic assessment of Elin's feeding has ensured that breastfeeding has got off to the best possible start. Feeding is now pain-free and we are enjoying the start of our journey.
I have really enjoyed every appointment and have really enjoyed learning so much about all things birth and beyond from Jenny and Sarah. I hope there will be a next time to do it all over again!
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