This post comes with a little warning. It involves an obstetric emergency and details of what happened. If you don’t feel in a place to read this please don’t, but it IS a positive birth story and proof that things don’t always have to go perfectly to plan for a birth experience to be a positive one.

Towards the end of 2021 our family was completed with the arrival of our daughter, Cora.

When I fell pregnant with her, our third baby, I knew straight away I wanted another home birth. I also knew straight away I'd have to fight for it.
After having a post partum haemorrhage (a big bleed) after giving birth to our second, Noah, and a previous third degree tear with Luca, I was considered “high risk”.
After consultant consultations, I decided that the risk one I was willing to take for all the other benefits of having a home birth.
After reading lots, I honestly believed that for me, the positives of being at home far outweighed the risk. The home birth team were happy to look after me and I trusted them. Home birth it was.
My pregnancy was quite straight forward until the end. I went for extra growth scans, a scan to check baby wasn't breech, another growth scan as she was measuring small, and extra blood tests.
All of these concerns I knew were nothing to be worried about, my intuition knew my baby was growing, I could tell, she felt huge. I knew deep down that she wasn't breech, she hadn't changed position the whole time and there wasn't any concern before my 38 week appointment. The midwife even said she could feel she was engaged but her bum also felt a bit like a head so she wanted to double check. Every scan and test came back fine.
Anyway, after my 39 week appointment the midwife bid me fairwell with a parting “I'll see you next week and we’ll do your stretch and sweep”.

As my 40 week appointment approached I'd rehearsed what I was going to say when offered my stretch and sweep. I'd also rehearsed my decline of induction in case it was offered. My midwife was totally flabbergasted by this “refusal” and said to me, “ok well we can wait until next week to do your sweep”. I politely told her I wouldn't be accepting a stretch and sweep or an induction and I was happy to wait for baby to arrive when they were ready.

At my 41 week appointment she measured me and again was worried that baby was small and had stopped growing. I reluctantly agreed to go in for baby to be checked over. Again my instincts were telling me that she was fine. My bump had dropped, she was very well engaged and I think she was just so low down in my pelvis by this point that I was just measuring differently.

I also once again told her quite firmly I didn't want to be induced and would not be agreeing to being booked in for an induction. This prompted her to make a phone call to the hospital to check what to do next as in her words to whoever was on the phone “she had never had anyone refuse an induction before, and I can’t even talk her into a sweep”. The hospital told her I was fine to go until 42 weeks but I'd need to see a consultant.

Again I accepted this but told her not to book me in, I wasn't going to change my mind. This was on the Friday.

I was having some really mild contractions/Braxton Hicks on Friday evening, and I got on my ball and did some bouncing but by bed time they had worn off. Saturday was the same again.

Aside from that there were no other signs of baby coming any time soon. I just carried on my usual mum life expecting it to be a while still. Then Saturday night I had a few more niggling aches and pains and lost some of my mucous plug.

I went to bed on Saturday night feeling hopeful things were moving in the right direction but also a little deflated, and I started mentally preparing myself for the week ahead when I'd have to go argue my case for leaving my baby and body to do their own thing again. I put on my hypnobirthing tracks as I settled in to bed, stuck my essential oil blend that I was using as an anchor on my pulse points and tried to relax.

At around 1am I woke up with a definite contraction. I laid in bed for a while on my own as Ant had gone and got in bed with Noah our 2 year old at some point in the night. After an hour or so I decided this was definitely it and went and woke Ant up.

We went downstairs together and Ant set about getting the birth pool set up whilst I bounced on my ball and settled into the contractions. I'm happiest left to zone out when I'm labour. I don’t like being fussed over. I just want to retreat and let my body do it’s thing.

After a little while I thought it might be best to let the home birth team know I was in labour and when I rang them they told me that they were really busy and there was nobody available to come out to me. I'd have to go in if I thought I was close or I wanted checking over. Otherwise they changed shift at 7am and someone might be free by then.

I felt ok and decided to wait and see how things progressed. My last labour was about 6 hours long so I didn't want to go into hospital too soon and for my labour to stall because I knew I wouldn’t feel as safe there.

I didn't feel like birth was close.

I laboured calmly and comfortably for a few hours. My eldest came downstairs at around 4am and was so excited that the baby was coming, he’d been there for his brother being born and couldn’t wait to cut his little sisters cord as well. My mum and dad then turned up to look after the kids for us.

At about 6am I told Ant to ring the home birth team again and see if anyone was available. I felt like I might need to go in if there wasn't. Things were definitely ramping up.

There wasn't anyone free.

I decided to hold out a bit longer, I really didn't want to go to hospital so thought if I jumped in the pool I might feel better and calmer and could decide from there what I was going to do.

Half an hour into being in the pool I realised I'd definitely left it too late and this baby was on it's way. Oops!

Ant called the home birth team once again at around 6:45am and they said they were just doing handover and they'd send someone out but if anything changed or I needed anyone immediately to ring for an ambulance.

A few contractions later and I told him we might actually need that ambulance. Things suddenly felt like they were moving fast now.

Ant was amazing on the phone with the ambulance team. They told him I needed to get out of the pool, he said no. They told him we'd need a shoelace or some string to tie the cord, again he told them absolutely not.

When the paramedics arrived they came in really loudly, asked for the lights switching on and told me they had gas and air.

Once again Ant was amazing. He told them to be quiet, that we had a torch if they needed extra light and not to mention gas and air to me again unless I asked. He held space for me like an absolute pro. He was the best advocate I could have asked for.

Luckily, after about 10 mins the home birth midwife Sadie, another home birth midwife and a student midwife arrived. The paramedics were quicky ushered out and calm was restored.

The midwives were brilliant. They just watched and observed me. They did a few unobtrusive observations on me but couldn't get much as my contracrions were now coming thick and fast. I don't actually know when I transitioned but I know I was definitely pushing by this point. I don’t have any recollection of transition with Cora, not like I did with her brothers.

After a few intense contractions I asked them for some gas and air.

The gas and air helped me settle back into my own space, relax and block out everything again and then after a few more pushes her head was born. I remember thinking to myself “her heads coming” and thinking that maybe I should let them know but not actually being able to speak.

The midwives were a bit shocked when they went to do baby's heart rate again by the sudden appearance of her head.

After that lovely rest that comes after babies head is born another contractiom came and my instinct kicked in.

She was stuck.

I just knew it. I don't know how or why, but I did.

I said this out loud and the midwives came closer to me and reassured me and told me to change position and keep going but nothing changed. They then asked me to squat down a bit. Again nothing.

At this point they seemed to become more concerned and got me out of the pool. Again I squatted down as low as I could and pushed but this baby wasn't budging.

The midwives sprang into action, one was on the phone for another ambulance, whilst the other two used all their amazing knowledge, experience and training to help get her out. Cora was born at around 8am.

The midwives laid her on my chest immediately for some much needed skin to skin, as much for me as for her. She laid there for a while whilst they closely listened in to her heart rate. They then decided she needed a little bit of help to get her to take that first breath as she had been stuck for a while but as requested the kept her close and attached to her cord whilst they did this.

Once they’d sorted her out and popped her back on my chest, the boys came downstairs and Luca, my eldest, cut her cord after delayed cord clamping, just like he did for his little brother.

The paramedics arrived not long after this and hung around to transfer us to the hospital so that they could check Cora over. The manouver the midwives had to preform to free her shoulder from behind my pelvis could have damaged her arm. Luckily she was absolutely fine, and I was unbelievably grateful for their incredible expertise and knowledge.

But before we were transfered to hospital her brothers and our dog, Ronnie all got to meet the newest member of the family.

Our perfect little, Cora.