“Thankful to share a positive experience I think it makes all the difference in preparation”
We had the most beautiful homebirth. I always knew I would have a home birth, so me and my husband Daniel put a lot of time and preparation into doing everything we could to have an amazing birth. We attended hapu wananga, hypnobirthing and I read a lot of books with positive birth stories. I've always been a private person so being comfortable in my own space was important to me, and jumping into your own shower and bed can't be beaten!
We were lucky enough to have my sister in-law Karrissa Ririkore (nee Mcnamara) as our midwife. She appreciated and supported all our wants for our birth whilst ultimately keeping myself and our boy safe. We had our space all set up for a water birth, however once in labour I wanted to keep my tens machine on which meant no water.
We chose not to find out the gender during pregnancy, which made meeting our pēpi even more special. Just after midnight, with Daniel helping to deliver, we welcomed our beautiful boy into the world surrounded by our loving animals (who kept checking on me throughout labour), our wonderful midwives, and our photographer. It was calm, intimate, and everything we had hoped for.
Tips:
Look into using a TENS machine, this was a game changer I felt like my birth wasn't painful because of the machine.
- I recommend these books; the first forty days, spiritual midwifery and hypnobirthing.
- Birth photographer or someone dedicated to take pictures and videos. These memories are priceless.
- Prepare so your partner can be present, we had all the jobs allocated to my husband but once in active birth I didn't want him to leave my side. Luckily, we didn't use the birthing pool so he could be with me every moment.
