A positive birth isn’t about the type of birth but how it makes you feel – and we felt nothing but joy.

Story by Kirsty Crimmins

Our darling boy turns 4 today, and what a magical four years it’s been. I’ve been reflecting on his beautiful birth recently so I thought I would share it.

During my pregnancy with Paddy, I was determined to have a vaginal birth. If i’m honest, I wasn’t really allowing space in my mind for other possibilities. I had envisioned this magical experience ever since studying midwifery around 12 years ago. But our sweet boy had other plans and decided to be breech.

At 28 weeks, we discovered his breech position, which is perfectly normal at that stage. But by 31 weeks, he still hadn’t turned so I began doing everything I could—Spinning Babies Breech program & techniques, regular acupuncture and chiropractor, hot/cold packs— anything we could think of to encourage him to flip head-down. Despite our efforts, he stayed breech. I started researching hospitals that may support vaginal breech births. Unfortunately, there weren’t options nearby, and I wasn’t willing to travel to Melbourne.

I was feeling disappointed, then at around 35 weeks, I thought to myself “I don’t want to feel disappointed in the ‘type’ of birth I have when we meet our baby. I want to feel proud and empowered, no matter how he’s born.” I had witnessed others feel disappointed at birth because it didn’t go as planned, and I didn’t want that for us. You can’t plan exactly what will happen in birth but you can prepare.

This shift in mindset was where Calmbirth really helped me.

While we continued hoping Paddy would turn, we also prepared for a caesarean. We asked ourselves, How can we make this birth feel like our own? For me personally, that meant going into labour first then having the C/S (providing the only reason for the C/S was the baby’s position), playing our chosen music, delayed cord clamping, immediate skin-to-skin, and no separation from our baby.

At 36+6, I had an ECV to try turn him, but it was unsuccessful. That night, however, my waters broke, and I began going into labour. I remember feeling a mix of calmness and pure joy—my body and baby were ready!

We headed to our local hospital, and were met by our friend and midwife Sally (a perk of birthing where you work). A couple of hours later our gorgeous boy was born via caesarean and it was magical! Every one of our wishes was honoured, and we felt so supported and cared for.

When Paddy was born, I remember my husband turning to me saying, “It’s a boy! He looks like Dad.” And he really did—just like his Poppa Teddy. Paddy felt so tiny nestled on my chest, skin-to-skin, where he remained for hours before snuggling skin to skin with my husband.

Though it wasn’t the vaginal birth I’d envisioned, it was beautiful, empowering, and special in every way. Paddy’s birth inspired me to become a Calmbirth educator, helping others feel empowered regardless of how their babies arrive. A positive birth isn’t about the type of birth but how it makes you feel—and we felt nothing but joy.

Now Paddy loves to hear his birth story, often requesting for us to tell him it and play the song he was born to