I contacted Private Midwives when I was 8 weeks pregnant with my first baby and I had my first appointment with Madelaine at 9 weeks, so she has been with me through my whole pregnancy. All the visits took place at home, including the blood tests. My scans were arranged at private clinics, by the main office. From the beginning Madelaine was reassuring and had so much knowledge to share with me that I felt assured after the first appointment she was the right fit and I had total trust in her expertise and experience. She advised that midwife Cristina will be present at the birth, as well as lovely student midwife Jess, who came to my appointments before hand as well. So I truly had the best support available to me.
At my weekly appointment 40 weeks and 4 days, Madelaine and I discussed having a membrane sweep and she performed one at 12.30pm. I was worried it will hurt but Madelaine did it so well I didn’t feel any pain at all. She told me I was 2/3cm dilated already and that she thought I’d be having the baby that night! She gave me a homeopathic drink as well and she and Cristina (the other midwife) and Jess (student midwife) left for the time being but assured me they were not far away.
My contractions started to pick up at 2pm, all the while Madelaine was checking in on me over the phone to see how I was progressing. I got in the bath at 4pm when my husband got home from work and the contractions were closer together, but still very bearable. Madelaine said she would come to check on me at 6pm. My husband got the birth room ready, with lovely lighting, the birth pool and everything I needed. Madelaine, Cristina and Jess came back at 6. Madelaine had a little dance with me to my music and asked if it’s okay that she checks me, I agreed and we learned I was still about 3cm.
Jess was checking the baby’s heart beat throughout my labour. I was continuing to labour in the shower, on the toilet, in my birth pool, Madelaine showed my husband some pelvic squeezes to soothe my contractions, but I think I preferred to just be left alone.
About an hour and half later the contractions were getting very intense, so I asked if I could get in the pool, which my husband was filling up already. Madelaine agreed now is a good time to get in, but she also suggested an examination before hand to see how the labour is progressing. I was 5cm dilated. I felt a little bit deflated, the contractions were very intense at this point and I asked for the gas and air, which Cristina brought up for me and taught me how to use it. I knew I had a long way to go yet and felt I wasn’t coping so well with the contractions. This was around 8.30pm. I asked Madeleine if there is any more pain relief available at this point, to which she replied that there isn’t anything more available at home and that if I wanted more pain relief, I would need to be monitored in the hospital. I was in so much pain that I asked to go to the hospital and get an epidural or c-section.
Madelaine assured me that was okay and we started to pack to go to the hospital. We were putting our coats and shoes on when I felt an extreme urge to push and my animalistic roars confirmed so, haha. The gas and air also ran out at this point, so I suggest getting more than one canister for anyone reading this who wants to use it. Madeleine checked again and announced I was fully dilated and having my baby any minute. Turns out I went from 5-10cm in less than an hour!
Madeleine and Cristina started to lay down some puppy training pads downstairs near the door, but I knew I wanted to give birth upstairs in the pool, so I threw off my coat and rushed upstairs, midwives and husband following behind me. Madelaine advised they need to listen for the heartbeat and she said this needs to be done on dry land, not in the pool, as there was an issue with the Doppler. I was pushing on my hands and knees and Madeleine was trying to listen for the heartbeat and couldn’t hear anything. She told me to push fast to get the baby out and I did. My husband brought cloths so that Madeleine can protect my perineum and after just a few pushes, baby girl was born at 9.15pm. The pushing was not as painful as I thought it would be to be honest. Madelaine passed the baby to me between my legs, she cried for the first time in my arms, and it was a truly beautiful moment. I felt that Madelaine, Cristina and Jess handled the situation very well, even though it was hectic and stressful at times, and it all happened very fast, I was left completely in my zone and relaxed, given the circumstances of course. I birthed my placenta very quickly with just one tiny contraction once my baby was born, in fact, it flew out so fast, the blood splatter stain is still visible on my bedroom carpet.
I held my baby in my arms with my husband hugging us with towels and blankets wrapped around us for warmth and I felt like I was in a different world completely. Madelaine then helped me up and onto the bed, where I had my skin in skin time with baby and husband and my first feed, Madelaine helped me with the latch and how to hold the baby to feed her. After some time, when the umbilical corn turned completely white, the midwives coached my husband on cutting it.
Baby had her first feed. Madeleine checked for tears and massaged my belly to monitor my shrinking uterus and bleeding. I had no tears and didn’t need stitches. After this, the midwives helped me into the shower and helped me get dressed. They completed all the necessary paperwork and made sure I had enough to eat and drink before leaving me and my husband to enjoy our first night with our beautiful baby girl.
I had the most positive and amazing experience, my dream home birth, I felt supported, listened to throughout and I would absolutely go back in time and do it all over again, it was life changing. After the birth, I had plenty of visits where I could ask questions, the midwives made sure my breastfeeding was going okay and checked the baby. Thank you Private Midwives.
Thank you 😊