I Did It My Way

The birth of my forth child into my hands under water at home with my husband.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

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J at his third, second and first birthdays. He now has shorter hair and talks in sentences. A very strong little boy , maybe in large part because he is breastfed, freebirthed and unvaccinated.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Protesting to protect my rights to birth

http://naturalfamilyblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/the-back-story-of-the-gradual-banning-of-homebirth-in-australia-medical-tyranny-run-amok/ Kym felt motivated to go protest Medical Tyranny, she said: “This was my first protest of any kind and this is an issue that I think is of utmost importance. I think the way we enter this world can affect us as a society. I had three babies in hospital and it wasn’t where I needed to be in labour. I don’t remember enjoying much of my older children being newborns and infants. With my youngest, I had a gentle undisturbed labour and amazing birth, I was able to enjoy and relax in those first hours and have a most welcomed babymoon in the first week (even though we were moving house!).” In describing her Freebirth Kym said: “The first year was a real joy. I was the first to touch our baby, which was very important to me. My husband was very much involved in the birth (filling the pool and taking photos, then changing J’s nappies for the first 24 hours, being the second person to touch OUR son, no strangers and this is the way I need to bring our children into the world, nothing like what happened in my hospital births) but I birthed him as I did my older children, but this time without interference.” Kym summed up the changes that have taken place in her heart this way: “I bonded very well to my little boy and it has really changed the way I look at myself as a parent and as a person.” Kym has never protested anything before, yet in the past few months she has attended three protests and plans to attend a fourth next week. “In Canberra, we protested peacefully outside Parliament House. We were mostly ignored by the media and the Government. There were women and their families, men and children as well as midwives. It was a huge crowd. Next we protested outside Julia Gillard’s office in Werribee (Melbourne). We crowded the footpath and again I felt we were mostly ignored. Most recently we rallied outside the AMA offices in Parkville where there was a fair crowd. All have been largely ignored peaceful protests with powerful voices (consumer and midwives) and songs bringing us the messages we want everyone to understand. “Dr Andrew Pesce cites his greatest AMA achievement as successfully lobbying Health Minister Nicola Roxon to make amendments to home birth legislation. I feel this translates as a direct attack on a basic human right.”

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

My husband's take on J's birth

My husband's take on J's birth
Hello


My wife had her first home birth(son) last year sept21-08 we have 4kids total the other 3 where a hospital births , So when she decided to have our last baby at home suprised the heck out of me I thought she was just kidding/phase she was going through but she was very serious about not having any medical intervention ie doctors/hospitals or midwife . She went to see a doctor when she was 30weeks pregnant just for legal requirments and didn't attend any hospital appointments because she was pretty confident right throughout the whole pregnancy and nothing phased her ,alot of negative vibes came from myself and close family memebers . I personally thought she was"NUTS" but i did a bit of research before the birth ie emergancy response and so on She really wanted the baby with or without me

Crazy sums up the experiance for myself we had waterbirth it was awwwwesome it took about 2hours from 1030pm to about 1245am that whole night/day seemed surreal and has to be most spectacular moment in my life(with exceptions 3other births)

Everyone was suprised when they visited(same day) us at home without realising we had the birth at home and that it went so well we had no problems and 10mths later have a happy bubble boy who is doing so well and my wife everyone says she's brave but she just thinks that its nothing to brag about it was normal experiance for her , she just likes to do things her way

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Born Free (letter to Herald Sun)

Born Free Letters Sun Herald Sunday January18,2009 Sunday Life received an overwhelming response to our article on free birthing ("Born Free", December 14). Below is a sample of your correspondence. Baby talk Not all women plan a free birth for the same reasons. Initially, I wanted to avoid a tear, as I tore during my first three births in hospital. I wanted to birth my way, in water without spectators. I will free birth again - for me, it was safer. There are always risks, but as the mother I am responsible for my child and my body. My baby is now 12 weeks old and content, while I am becoming the mother I have always wanted to be. I do believe having a relaxed birth has helped me immensely.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Birth of J

I had a wonderful pregnancy. I suffered mild morning sickness or nausea and had some mild ailments but it wasn't uncomfortable like my other pregnancies. I had an unassisted pregnancy which means I didn't see a doctor or midwife for antenatal care. I cared for myself and did all I could to remain in good health. This included eating right, gentle exercise and plenty of rest. I didn't see the point of waiting 1-2 hours to see someone for 5 minutes. It was stressful to even think about. I knew the only person who would provide the best care for me was me. I could be responsible for myself and my baby. Who cares more than the mother? And who knows my body best? I didn't expect anyone one else to take care of me (except maybe hubby).

So when it came to the birth I knew what I wanted. I wanted to birth in water with my husband as my only support. I had wanted to do this with my third child but as soon as the contractions hit I was off to the hospital. This time I educated myself and felt so prepared. At first my husband was not in agreeance. In fact he was totally against the idea. I felt very alone and upset. But he knew I was serious. We discussed having a midwife present. He wanted someone to blame if something did happen to wrong. But as time went on he started to understand how I felt. I married a caring and smart man. He was still worried and influenced by the comments of others but he supported me. I couldn't do this without him. I felt that we conceived this child - just me and him. And that is how I felt about birth.

I felt midwives don't trust that a woman knows she is in labour. They check that you are in fact bleeding (had a show)and use machinery to assure you are contracting etc. Luckily I was finally left to labour when with my first child - just my husband and I. I had no expectations of what birth would be like. It was great ...until a midwife came to perform an internal. I was told to get out of the shower where my waters broke, I was rushed across the busy office in a little towel to the labour room where I birthed on the bed. The midwife told me to stop screaming which was a form of pain relief. I tore quite badly and had 90 minutes of stitching down while I sucked on the gas. In my labour with my second child I was monitored for such a long time and not sure why. I was definite I was having contractions. I was in extreme pain and the midwife stared at me the whole time. I felt very uncomfortable and had a borderline third degree tear. It took a while to recover. The midwives came and went during my third labour. I tried to filter it all out yet felt much more relaxed when it was just my husband and I. I breathed my baby out yet still tore.

My husband suggested we get a birth pool. He was upset that the hospital never "állowed" me to use the bath/pool. He was upset the lack of education some doctors had about water birth and even birth in general (once I had pointed it out to him). So we had a pool and I continued to read and research til 42 weeks gestation. Oh surely they would induce me by now? Who's they?!

After 5 days of pre labour I was wondering myself if I would ever meet this tricky baby. I had 3 rather quick labours that started with a bloody show, a few hours of contractions then a baby! So this pre labour had my husband in particular on tenderhooks. I would have a show that wasn't bloody every day! Then pains at night but I would fall asleep just to wake in the morning thinking where are you baby?

Saturday night at about 10pm I again had the labour pains.They were not regular. My kids went to sleep which was perfect. As soon as I saw my youngest close his eyes...Bang. I had a strong contraction. I told my husband, "Fill the pool". He started to do that as I walked around the house having irregular contractions. Each one felt different and I was concerned we would be tricked again. Some felt good, others not so strong then some nasty ones. I was eager to get in the pool. My husband was boiling pots of water to get the temperature up. I finally got in sometime after 12am. I could feel my baby moving in utero. We knew we were going to meet our baby soon enough.Not sure when my waters broke but I assume that is what the bubbles were. I was still checking for a bloody show that never came but could feel myself opening up. I then felt the soft head of my baby. He was crowning. I could fit 2 fingers between the head and my perineum. I was not worried about tearing, I could feel it had stretch. With my body in control and a series of pushes I took my baby in my hands and brang him to my chest. One moment he wasn't even in the birth canal then he was and then he was just as quickly out.

Born at 12:45am on 21st September 2008.

Our son was so content that he fell asleep on my chest after a wah and a gargle. I tried to feed him but nil interest. We could see why when he gave us three bowel movements in the hours after birth. I was trying to concentrate on birthing the placenta as my husband impatiently phoned our family. I was amazed that the placenta came only 35 minutes later. No injection, no breastfeeding, no walking or even changing position. It always had me worried that I had to get it out pronto in previous births but this time I could feel my body was in control. And then there was blood. I got out of the pool and sat on the recliner. I was passing clots. My husband cut the cord as it was now cold. He took J and put him in a nappy and wrapped him. They lay on the couch as I had a shower. I was feeling faint so went to bed on cloth flats. No need for pants at home. I was somewhat worried about feeling faint as I didn't want to actually pass out and end up in hospital. But everything was fine and I had iron supplements. I heard J crying and tried to feed him again. On day one he slept alot only feeding 3 times though made up for breastfeeding on day two. I was glad that he indeed knew how to latch on and had a very strong suckle reflex.

My husband is now an advocate for freebirth! He says he is in awe of me. But really we should be in awe of birth and our bodies. We as woman can birth naturally.

Now to enjoy my babymoon that I deserve after I birthed the way I wanted

Monday, January 21, 2008

Unassisted Pregnancy in pictures

12.5weeks

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