Calm Birth

by Anoushka

I have been wanting to write to say I had our little boy (Oliver) on 4 October (10 days over my due date). I had a very quick labour (5 hours compared to 36+ with Evie) and delivered him peacefully in the midwife led unit at Chelsea...everything went really smoothly and very quickly and I only just about got in the pool before he made his appearance! I used everything you taught us and the labour was just I had wanted it to be, calm, quick and without any medical intervention. Dan was also amazing and I know the course gave him the confidence to know what to do and it made the whole experience so much more enjoyable (not sure if that is the right word!). If anything, the techniques worked a bit too well as I was so calm I didn't believe I was in labour and wouldn't let Dan call my mum as I felt too 'normal' during the beginning stages - we were laughing and joking between contractions. Fortunately Dan ignored me in the end and my mum arrived just in time as my contractions had dropped to 1 minute apart! I arrived at the hospital and my waters broke within minutes and Oliver arrived 40 minutes after we set foot in the room. Sorry for all the rambling...hope this makes sense!

Thank you for all your help, it was so worth it and I was so pleased to have the birth I wanted (especially as I was still convinced I wouldn't right up until the last minute!).

I've attached a photo of us taken minutes after he was born....he is an absolute joy and we are settling into life as a family of four and enjoying our time getting to know him.