The Calm birth of little Magnus

Story by Adelaide & Charles

Hi Kath, I hope you are well! Charles and I had our baby boy on the 6th of April and I just thought I’d share our birth story

After doing the Calmbirth course with you we felt so confident and ready to meet our baby. I practiced positions on the exercise ball, my breathing and we listened to the meditations before bed.

On Monday night from about midnight I had period like pain pretty consistently. I wasn’t too concerned and didn’t think this could be early labour as I wasn’t feeling anything in my back. I text my midwife who called me and said it sounded like a baby was on the way, but that it could still take a few days and to just relax and monitor. I had a family lunch on out at my parents property that day and asked my midwife if it would be fine for me to go, she left it up to me but said sometimes it can be a nice distraction around people you feel comfortable with. So my husband and I drove out to my parents place on Tuesday for lunch. It was lovely, we had lots of food and I calmly managed my contractions which were about 15 minutes apart by that stage.

That afternoon we decided to head home and my husband made the lounge room a very calming and inviting space. With a calm birth playlist, my diffuser and dim lighting. We put the tens machine on and I laboured at home on the couch until contractions were 5 minutes apart. We called our midwife who came over and she thought I might not be dilated yet but after checking I was 3-4cm! She said to continue to labour at home until the contractions became more intense and closer together.

We waited another few hours and I practiced my breathing and the tens machine really helped (highly recommend this for other mums!). When they were 3 minutes apart we made our way into hospital. I still felt really calm even though my husband thought I might give birth in the car with the amount of contractions I was having! Once in the hospital my midwife suggested getting in the shower with the water on my back as I rolled over an exercise ball. Then I was paranoid about pooing for some reason, (the bearing down sensation was starting) and so she suggested I sit on the toilet, this is where my waters broke. I then moved to my final position where I was on my knees kneeling over the bed. 2 hours later our little Magnus was born! Just 7 pounds and perfect. I lay with him for 3 hours skin to skin and I just let him find my breast where he latched himself.

It was the most amazing experience and I am so glad we were able to follow our birth plan of a natural birth and all the wonderful suggestions learnt from the Calmbirth course. My husband was such a wonderful support as he was educated and had helpful strategies he could suggest with me. It really did make such a difference for us and our experience. Thank you so much Kath for providing us with confidence and calmness to deliver our baby, and to also our beautiful midwife Lynne.