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Haifa's Homebirth Story

I had been drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea every day since the fifth month of the pregnancy to help tone my uterus, so I was feeling regular strong contractions on and off for the past few weeks, but they would always start in the evening and disappear when I fell asleep.

I noticed that it might be the real thing at 7:30pm on December 29 when I had to close my eyes through the contractions at the dinner table and they were coming quite frequently (5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute). So I called my midwife, Sara, and she checked to see what was going on - my cervix was softening but not yet dilating. She recommend I try to get a good nights sleep because if it was the real thing I'd want to be as rested as possible. I wasn't able to sleep much that night and the contractions slowly got stronger and closer together.

The next day at 2pm Sara came over again to check out how I was doing and I was 4cm dilated. Up until now I had been mostly lying in bed relaxing between and through contractions, so Sara suggested I try walking around and also eating a little. The contractions came much stronger while I was up. When the contractions felt strong enough that I needed to moan through them she suggested I spend a little time lying in a warm bath. It really relaxed me and gave me a break. When I got out of the tub around 5pm she said that she would call the other midwife to come and when she arrived she would break my water.

Sara believed that the baby would come very soon after the water broke. When the other midwife, Kerstin, arrived, the contractions were strong enough that they brought tears to my eyes and I had to moan through each one but I always stayed relaxed and felt in control. Sara would cheer me on and say very positive things through the contraction and Mishkin would massage my hand - these things helped tremendously. There was still a few minutes between contractions, I felt positive, relaxed, and quite rested. Sara broke my water shortly before 6pm when I was 8cm dilated. The contractions were dramatically stronger after that. The first contraction brought me to 9.5cm dilation, the second one brought the urge to push, the third one almost delivered the head, Sara got me to touch Haifa's head so that I knew she was almost out and to bring me joy, and the fourth contraction she popped out.

So my active labour lasted only 4 hours (from 4cm dilation to 8cm) and the second stage (pushing or delivery) lasted only 6 minutes. Sara and Kerstin immediately put Haifa on my stomach and I got to rub her and look at her while they were busy doing their things. Mishkin cut the cord. The whole experience was as perfect as I could ever have expected. I remained relaxed and in control, I never became exhausted, it hadn't been very painful at all, when Haifa came out I didn't really have to push. It was quick and easy. My episiotomy from the first birth tore a little bit (which the midwives had warned me would be hard to avoid) so I needed a few stitches. I was able to walk to the bathroom less than an hour after Haifa was born (whereas after Justice was born I couldn't walk for a few days). By the fifth day after Haifa was born, I felt normal again. I could do stuff around the house all day, I didn't even take a nap, did laundry and made dinner and visited the neighbours for a while.

Melanie and Haifa less than an hour after she was born at home.
December 30, 2000.

This experience was so dramatically different from my previous birth. A far cry from nurses and the doctor getting upset and impatient with me and me feeling a lack of control and fear about my doctor having the power to give me a cesarean section or other interventions without consulting me, and a feeling of insecurity and stress doing such a private thing in a public facility. Haifa's birth was shorter, quicker, much more relaxed, much less painful, less tiring, and enjoyable (well - as enjoyable as labour and birth can be). The atmosphere of a homebirth feels relaxed, unrushed, loving, safe, secure, and peaceful. I know that Sara loves her job and really cares about Haifa and I. I trusted her completely and she is so sensitive to how I felt. She always makes me feel relaxed, confident, positive, and loved. I highly recommend a homebirth to people who feel relaxed and confident about such a decision. I can't wait until the next one. :-)

Our midwives, Sara (holding Haifa) and Kerstin
2 hours after Haifa was born at home.

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