Birth is a piece of cake

I am loving the current series of “The British Bake Off” and seeing all those amazing cakes puts me in mind of a birth I attended at home!

I love being a midwife; it is a privilege to support women during this precious time as they prepare for birth. Some choose to have a home birth as they are keen to avoid medical interventions such as induction, and acceleration of birth as well as pharmacological pain relief.

As part of the preparation for birth I had introduced this client to the “birthing from within” book by Pam England, in it there is the notion of having a birth project this is a task that you undertake during your birth that allows you to take your mind off your contractions.  I LOVE the idea that the labour and pain is not the main focus and that your body can and will cope.

Suggestions of birth projects are:

·         Cleaning out cupboards.

·         Playing a board game.

·         Watching a whole series of a cherished series.

·         A craft idea such as sewing, quilting or knitting.

OK what’s this got to do with Mary Berry and the British Bake-off?

Well, this particular Client chose to bake a cake at her Homebirth .She was able to go through the familiar and physical processes of preparing the cake and each time she had a contraction she could lean against the work surfaces and this upright forward leaning position helped the birth progress well.

Then it was time to get into the pool that her husband had lovingly prepared with the room equally made ready for this amazing event. The lights were dimmed and the familiar ornaments acted as positive reminders that she was in her safe birthing space. Her baby was born in the warmth of the birth pool and was greeted by the loving embrace of its mother. Having given birth to her baby she now had a wonderful homemade cake to celebrate with!

Birth is a piece of cake!