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Birth Stories
 The Birth of Leon - A VBAC story 8 May 2005
I have just had my last visit with Petra and her words are still ringing in my ears and heart: ‘Anja, I am so happy that we decided to have a homebirth! It has been such a special experience for me and Tobias and what an experience for the children to have been present at their brothers’ birth.’
When I first met Petra she was planning on a hospital birth as her first birth had been by emergency caesarean section and her second a hospital VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean).
We explored the evidence regarding the safety of VBAC and homebirths. We found that there is a 70% success rate for a vaginal birth after CS, which rises to 93% when women have had already one vaginal birth.
The research on the safety of homebirths showed that women have a reduced risk of intervention and infection, experience better progress and babies show increased health at birth. So we concluded that if a successful VBAC is associated with going into labour naturally; the baby being in a good position (this usually means lying with its back toward the front of your tummy); and lack of intervention, we had a good chance of a positive experience at a homebirth with me having provided the antenatal care. I spent time advising on good nutrition, exercise and positions that help the baby lie in a good way, and supported my client to learn to trust her own bodies.
However, there was another hurdle to cross - what about small children at home. There were many questions: will it harm them, alarm them, worry them?
Personally I feel that it depends on the atmosphere at the birth and the trust the children have in the people present at the birth. Children will immediately pick up if anyone is worried or not trusting the process and may then become fidgety or seek attention from their parents.
I lent my clients a beautiful story book to read with their children. It is called: ‘Welcome with love’, and is written by Jenni Overend. It describes in beautiful pictures and simple text a family’s participation in a homebirth.
The parents often talked about birth and the things mummy might do: pace the house, groan, hold onto dad, shout. The Children knew that I would be there, they knew me well as we had measured mummy’s tummy and listened to baby’s heartbeat together at many antenatal visits.
We were prepared that the children might want to leave, so a lovely neighbour was on standby. However, in the end the neighbour was only called to let her know that a new baby boy had arrived.
This is what happened:
Petra called me in the evening to say that she was starting to have contractions. She had spent the afternoon baking a birthday cake for the baby and they were going to settle the children now. I went to bed early, knowing that my night might be short.
Tobias called me at 1 am, contractions were coming every 3-4 minutes now and it was time to come.
I love driving to a birth a night. Everything is quiet and I feel like I am going to a secret party!
Very often women will stop contracting when there is a change in birth environment, new people joining the labour or walking into the labour ward. That’s what happened with us but after a little while the contractions started off again. She started to pace the living room, still unsure where she would give birth in the end. At 5 am her little son (1 ½) woke up, he settled on the sofa with Tobias and a bottle of milk and just watched mummy rocking her hips and leaning on the furniture. At 6 am his sister (3) joined us too. The birds started to sing and it became light outside. Petra went for a rest upstairs and when she returned it was clear that the baby was getting ready to come. We spread a huge tarpaulin over the sofa and the floor and the children thought it great fun to slither across the blue, crackling plastic. Petra was in her own world, breathing powerfully with the contractions, allowing her pelvis to be soft and big, inviting her baby to come. She found it comfortable to lie on her side on the sofa and very quickly she started to groan and then roar like a lion. As I was watching her son emerge, her daughter was standing right next to me, watching intently. It was amazing. The younger one had gone next door and was playing happily with his toys.
Two minutes later a little boy joined the birthday gathering. Within seconds he was snuggling up with his mum.
The birth was so calm and amazing, and thanks to their parents’ decision to have a homebirth the children experienced the power and naturalness of birth.
This little girl was able to see her mother birth her brother, in the safety of the home, surrounded by people who loved and cared for the family. This is a powerful gift to carry into the future and will surely play a part when this girl turns into a woman and in time becomes a mother.
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