
Birth: there's nothing quite like it, and it's clear no two birth stories are the same. Which is why we're asking everyday women and some of our favourite celebrity mums to share theirs, in Mamamia's My Birth Story series.
This week we profile Melanie Davidson from Ballarat in Victoria, who is mum to three boys: Alex, Declan and Xander.
Melanie was a single 20-year-old bartender with ambitions to travel the world, when on Wednesday 6 January 2010, she began feeling unwell.
Watch the trailer for Mamamia's birth podcast, the Delivery Room. Post continues below.
“I had just finished a late shift when I started getting bad cramping pains,” Mel tells Mamamia.
“At first, I thought it was just my period so I got through Thursday, but by Friday night, it was a whole lot worse.”
Mel was living with her mum at the time, who thought that maybe Mel was constipated and just needed to go to the toilet.
“We were sat together watching the final episode of Lost on DVD. I’ve always had a bit of a pot belly but by then, I felt really bloated and the pains were horrific.
“Mum kept telling me to go to the bathroom and as I sat myself down on the toilet I felt a sudden urge to push. As I pushed, water began gushing out from between my legs and I was freaking out as I knew that was definitely not normal!”
Mel yelled out that she thought she was having a baby.
Initially, her mum thought she was being dramatic, but as Mel’s cries got louder, she came in to see what was going on.
“By that stage I could feel the top of a baby’s head coming out so mum dashed next door to alert the neighbours and then rang triple zero. They told her to get me onto the floor and off the toilet and to fetch towels.”
Mel describes how she has blocked out some of the detail, thanks to the pain and the shock.
“I do remember six tall and stocky paramedics appearing out of nowhere and being squashed into our tiny bathroom and hallway while mum delivered the baby’s head. One of them had to step in to help guide out his shoulders, which was the worst and most painful part of all.”
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