
Every birthing experience is unique and the way you choose (or don’t choose) to give birth is highly emotive and personal to you.
Birthing trends continually change but thanks to COVID, there has been an increase in enquiries about home birth from women who want to stay out of the hospital system.
As part of Home Birth Awareness Week, we hear from four women who have experienced home births to find out what they would like other women to know, as well as private midwife Louise David, who specialises in helping women to give birth at home.
1. Alice: "Take a hypnobirthing course."
"I listened to Mamamia’s The Delivery Room podcast (when pregnant) and decided that hypnobirthing made so much sense to me, even more so when I discovered the role that hormones play in labour.
"A couple of weeks out from my due date, I decided that my first option would be to have a home birth (I packed for a birthing centre birth just in case) as I wanted to stay in my birthing zone during my labour. My waters broke 10 days early at 11pm, and at 1am I re-listened to the Delivery Room episode just to be more prepared.
Watch: Women share the one thing they weren't told about delivering a baby. Post continues below.
"My midwife was going to come over during the day but in the meantime, I got my mum to come over in her lunch break and drop off a hot water bottle. After chatting with her for a bit I got her to run a bath. I got in at 1.45pm and had my baby at 1.57pm. My mum caught the baby while I pulled down on my husband’s arms. The midwife was late and arrived soon after to deliver the placenta.
"When the head was out, my husband and mum freaked out a bit as she was underwater and told me to keep pushing, but I knew the baby would be fine and I told them I had to wait for the next contraction. They both told me they were glad I knew what I was doing.
"It was so amazing to share that moment with the most special people in my life.
"My advice is to do a hypnobirthing course, or do what I did and buy a hypnobirthing audio book."
2. Renée: "Find a care provider you click with."
"My advice to women planning a home birth is to make sure they are comfortable with their decision and to know their options; for example, a publicly funded home birth through a hospital is different to a privately practicing midwife home birth.