Kate's story

This is my absolute favourite photo as I slept in the birthing pool. After three years of trying to fall pregnant and  30 weeks of active birth yoga classes, I felt so excited to meet my much longed for baby and to become a Mum. 

I went into labour naturally at 42 weeks. My labour was around 14 hours, most of which I laboured at home then went into hospital for the delivery. 

I had the water birth I dreamed of, and breathed my baby out with no gas, drugs or intervention at all. I had written in my birth plan that I was not to be touched or spoken to and this was respected and I felt the strongest and most powerful that I have ever done in my life. I was totally in control and was doing this like nature intended. My beautiful little girl was born in her amniotic sac weighing in at 8lb 12oz. 

With my second pregnancy I wanted the same feeling of control, strength and peace that I felt with my first birth, however I was told I wasn’t able to have a water birth that I so wanted because:

1) IVF baby
2) I suffered from tears in my previous birth
3) I had Group B Strep
4) baby was transverse
5) baby was 2 weeks over due 

After being given the confidence from my active birth yoga teacher to seriously research my options and looking into the details I decided that my personal belief was that none of these reasons put me or my baby at risk so I told them my decision was to go ahead and have a water birth.

Luckily I was in hospital having a check up when I went into labour as the baby was coming super fast, I demanded the pool and was still having water poured over my back from buckets as the pool was still filling up when my beautiful baby girl arrived 45 mins later. Weighing in at 9lb 2oz.