Mum Rebecca shares her “perfect” home birth story to celebrate our home birth teams 10th birthday | News

Today, we’re celebrating our Birmingham Women’s Hospital Homebirth Team 10th birthday, and Mum Rebecca is sharing her journey with a home birth for her second child.  
The home birth team at our Women’s Hospital is made up of a group of highly skilled midwives and maternity support workers who are on-call day and night and offer the opportunity for women and families to give birth at home. 
 
Rebecca recently decided to have a homebirth for her second daughter after having her first at our Women’s Hospital. 
 
She said: “I knew about home birth, but I couldn’t ever imagine having one with my first child. 
 “I then did hypnobirthing and learnt all about home birth and why it was beneficial. However, I chose to give birth at the Women’s with my first daughter. 

“I was very much hoping to be in the birth centre and in a birth pool, but unfortunately, after having an infection and a back-to-back labour, I ended up on the labour ward and having to go into theatre for a spinal and forceps. 
“When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I wasn’t sure what to do, but I did my research about home birth outcomes, and I also did hypnobirthing again and I made up my mind to contact the team.” 
 
Rebecca spoke about how she felt supported by the homebirth midwives, and how she was supported through family bereavements, and supported in her wishes for how she wanted to give birth. 

    

She said: “I loved having the continuity of care from my midwife and her colleagues in her absence. They were all so caring and kind. I genuinely can’t thank them enough for their care. 
“Sadly, I had two bereavements during late pregnancy, and they were so compassionate. I was also very worried about being pressured into induction (I seem to carry babies for longer than average!) and ending up with a medicated birth or not being able to give birth how I had envisioned, although I am aware things don’t always go to plan! 
“Hannah, my midwife, told me that ‘no’ was a complete sentence and that nothing could be done without my say so. I think she was so reassuring that I relaxed and went into labour the very next day!” 

 
For Rebecca, everything went according to her plan, and she gave birth to her second daughter at home with the help of the home midwives. 
 

“I had my homebirth, and it was perfect. 
“I was a week past my due date, and I was sat having lunch with my parents and I realised the ‘period pains’ I’d been having were getting more insistent. My daughter was at nursery and my parents could take her to their house and the house was fairly tidy for the midwives (not that I ever felt judged or anything!) and everything was ready so I could just relax. 
“I sat backwards on a chair or bounced on the birth ball and listened to my hypnobirthing tracks whilst the app timed the contractions.  
“There was no one available during the day from the homebirth team so I went to the Women’s to be assessed, but I was just so determined to stay calm and get home! 

 “Thankfully, in the nick of time Siobhan rang to say she had come on duty and we could meet her and Beth at home!  
“We got the pool set up and Siobhan sent me to have a bath as things were getting a bit more intense, and I also had some gas and air. 
“Once I got in the pool, immediately it was time to start ‘pushing’. The membrane was intact, so Siobhan broke it and after a few tries my little girl was born in the water.”  
 
Rebecca spoke about how great an experience she had during her home birth, and how she felt so relaxing during the birthing experience and supported by the midwife team. 

  

“My homebirth was so calm and chilled. I really appreciated being left alone to get in the zone, but I was also really confident that the support was there if I needed it and that they had a complete handle on the situation.  
“The worst part was waiting for the pool to be ready and getting a bit uncomfortable in the bath! Siobhan and Beth were fantastic, so supportive. The care I received after birth was also brilliant, especially feeding support as I have difficulties with milk production, both my daughters have also had tongue ties too.  
“I was open about the fact I wanted to combination feed if possible and this was met with positivity and practical advice.  
“Hannah was determined to be the one to discharge us, so she came back to do that, and we got to say goodbye properly. 
“I can’t recommend the homebirth team enough. Even if it’s your first baby and you don’t end up having a homebirth, the care is second to none.” 

   
Rebecca now has two daughters, and named her second daughter in honour of her brother.   
 

“We named my daughter Ismay for my brother, David, who passed away whilst I was pregnant.  
“Both names mean ‘beloved’ and we were so happy to have our daughter born at home.  
“My three-year-old daughter thought it was like magic! She came home and the baby was just there. We’re moving soon, and it feels very strange to be leaving the very house where she was born, such a special memory.” 
 
If you’d like to find out more about the home birth team, you can visit this page: https://bwc.nhs.uk/homebirth