The tide swirls around my ankles. I look out at the vast expanse of blue and feel nervous, excited, scared, and overwhelmed all at once. The current pushes and pulls the sea in all directions. My body sways to and fro, forcing me to anchor my feet firmly…

After letting all the important people know, I relaxed and enjoyed feeling my body preparing for your arrival. I lit our candles from my mama blessing, put on my birth beads and admired my birth blessing bunting- I smiled and thought…

If I do manage to pass on one thing with this birth story it has to be a firm and confident recommendation for everyone planning the birth of their child, that you consider giving Calmbirth a go. As the name would suggest, you will learn…

I was exhausted physically and mentally from labouring all day and night. I knew my state of mind would influence my labour hugely, but I just could not shake the grumpiness hanging over me. I had been waiting to have this baby for what seemed like…

My older sister had had a beautiful home birth with her first child and this example combined with my distrust of the medical establishment meant that I didn’t even consider hospital as a viable place to give birth to a baby. I interviewed several midwives…

We were at my parents for dinner and I didn’t want to miss out on the roast. I managed to eat between contractions which were getting stronger. I told Ben he would have to finish his dessert in the car because the baby was on its way…

It was absolute bliss to get into the pool. It did not stop the pain, but my tummy didn’t weigh anything, and it seemed to just make things a bit more bearable. Margaret had checked my backside for that line that goes up as you labour while I was still…

Having that mindset of fully declaring yourself and your body to the power we as women achieve when birthing is something I firmly believe helped me.  To birth successfully without fear, you must be fearless. You must embrace the pain…

Our midwife said that often the early contractions can be the hardest to deal with as your hormones have not kicked in yet. She recommended I try tensing everything up on one contraction to see how important it was to stay relaxed, but I never did that…

During this hour in bed I used breathing from the hypnobirthing classes we’d attended and from the Birth Skills book I’d read, and also wheat packs, which were LIFESAVERS! I had only put them in the homebirth kit that day and I am so glad I did…

She told me to go and have a bath and see if the contractions stopped. First, I rang my mum and dad to let them know that I thought I was in labour (mum was 5 hours away) then off I went. Shortly after getting in the bath the contractions intensified…

The baby was moving so much, I thought that maybe something was wrong. At 4 o’clock I got up to go to the toilet, for what felt like the hundredth time and as I went, I heard a pop and there was a huge gush of water. I still wasn’t sure that this was anything…