Yes, it's true. I LOVE giving birth!
I really, really do!
I have never been more empowered in my life than I have been from my babies birth experiences! I can remember all four of my births very cleary and the types of births I decided to have sent me on an amazing natural high following the birth as well as the ecstatic and beautiful bonding moments with my babies immediately after they were born. I feel truly blessed to have had such incredible births! Yes, they were hard work, yes there was a lot of pain involved but I believe the pain had a purpose. (I also now believe that birth does not have to be painful. I think that being fearful causes majority of the pain. My 2nd and 3rd births were very managable as I spent the entire pregnancies filling my mind with positive thoughts towards my upcoming births. I have learnt to let go and totally give in to the whole experience. I LOVE everything about giving birth and I am in awe every single day at how God designed our bodies in such a beautiful and powerful way.
I hold all 4 of my birth experiences close to my heart and at times I go through them in my head whilst I lay in bed at night. Giving birth was the most rewarding, spiritually uplifting and empowering experiences I have ever been through. I loved picking my babies up and cuddling them right after they were born. I loved the beautiful bonding time that came whilst giving my babies their very first breastfeed. These are all such wonderful memories which I will treasure in my heart and mind forever!
I have never been more empowered in my life than I have been from my babies birth experiences! I can remember all four of my births very cleary and the types of births I decided to have sent me on an amazing natural high following the birth as well as the ecstatic and beautiful bonding moments with my babies immediately after they were born. I feel truly blessed to have had such incredible births! Yes, they were hard work, yes there was a lot of pain involved but I believe the pain had a purpose. (I also now believe that birth does not have to be painful. I think that being fearful causes majority of the pain. My 2nd and 3rd births were very managable as I spent the entire pregnancies filling my mind with positive thoughts towards my upcoming births. I have learnt to let go and totally give in to the whole experience. I LOVE everything about giving birth and I am in awe every single day at how God designed our bodies in such a beautiful and powerful way.
I hold all 4 of my birth experiences close to my heart and at times I go through them in my head whilst I lay in bed at night. Giving birth was the most rewarding, spiritually uplifting and empowering experiences I have ever been through. I loved picking my babies up and cuddling them right after they were born. I loved the beautiful bonding time that came whilst giving my babies their very first breastfeed. These are all such wonderful memories which I will treasure in my heart and mind forever!
Stirling Photography - Pregnant with our 3rd baby
I never realised how much I would change following the birth of our first baby Skye. I felt like if I could do that, I could do anything and I became more confident and positive about everything in life. I feel so complete! Before having given birth I was a bit self concious and worried what other people thought way too much. I also didn't believe in myself very much. After the birth of Skye I felt like a new person... I can't even put it into words...
I am so used to being called "crazy" and often people don't understand how I could do it drug-free. However, I truly believed a drug-free, Midwife supported, no intervention birth would be best for my baby, as well as best for me and my new journey as a mother.
When I got pregnant with our first, I started hearing far too many birth 'horror stories' and I wanted to do something to make my experience of childbirth a positive and uplifting one (if possible). I got so tired of hearing people tell me things like: "You won't be able to do it without the drugs". And EXTREMELY tired of hearing things like "They won't let you birth in any position you want". PARDON!?? Wasn't it up to me which position I wanted to birth my baby in? After all, it was my baby and my birth. Not the hospital staffs birth. I now understand why more people are beginning to choose homebirths!
We had our first baby at Women's & Children's Hospital in North Adelaide (Public care) and I chose to be cared for by Midwives. I had always known that I wanted to have our babies in the public care system rather than private as I researched the intervention rates for both public and private hospitals and the public hospitals always had lower forceps, ventouse (vacuum extractor) and C-Section rates. It was important to me not to be timed or rushed through my labour which happens in hospitals every day. I wanted to birth on my terms and in my time. I didn't need someone to keep looking at the clock and telling me when and how I needed to birth! I also knew that I did not want ANY doctors present during my pregnancy, labour and at birth (unless of course something unforeseen happened that required the skills of a doctor). They are right there on call if you need them and I was happy with that.
I had a great time getting to know the lovely Midwives and really loved the time they took at each of my appointments. They always had time for me, they never tried to rush me in and out. Some of my appointments were up to an hour or more long and they took the time to answer all the questions I had.
I am so used to being called "crazy" and often people don't understand how I could do it drug-free. However, I truly believed a drug-free, Midwife supported, no intervention birth would be best for my baby, as well as best for me and my new journey as a mother.
When I got pregnant with our first, I started hearing far too many birth 'horror stories' and I wanted to do something to make my experience of childbirth a positive and uplifting one (if possible). I got so tired of hearing people tell me things like: "You won't be able to do it without the drugs". And EXTREMELY tired of hearing things like "They won't let you birth in any position you want". PARDON!?? Wasn't it up to me which position I wanted to birth my baby in? After all, it was my baby and my birth. Not the hospital staffs birth. I now understand why more people are beginning to choose homebirths!
We had our first baby at Women's & Children's Hospital in North Adelaide (Public care) and I chose to be cared for by Midwives. I had always known that I wanted to have our babies in the public care system rather than private as I researched the intervention rates for both public and private hospitals and the public hospitals always had lower forceps, ventouse (vacuum extractor) and C-Section rates. It was important to me not to be timed or rushed through my labour which happens in hospitals every day. I wanted to birth on my terms and in my time. I didn't need someone to keep looking at the clock and telling me when and how I needed to birth! I also knew that I did not want ANY doctors present during my pregnancy, labour and at birth (unless of course something unforeseen happened that required the skills of a doctor). They are right there on call if you need them and I was happy with that.
I had a great time getting to know the lovely Midwives and really loved the time they took at each of my appointments. They always had time for me, they never tried to rush me in and out. Some of my appointments were up to an hour or more long and they took the time to answer all the questions I had.
Daddy & Skye. They spent lots of evenings like this in the early days.
Our 2nd & 3rd pregnancy care was at the Birth Centre at Lyell McEwin Hospital. (Public). The Birth Centre and the Midwives who work there are amazing! I still have contact with a few of my Midwives. They are very special people in my life. They believed and trusted in my body's ability to give birth and when our 2nd baby was discovered in the breech position (bum-down) they didn't give up on me, but instead helped me fight with "hospital policy" to be able to birth my breech baby without intervention! For that I am truly grateful. Had they not have let me have a vaginal breech birth at their Birth Centre, I was considering birthing at home. (I was going to try find a Midwife who was confident in breech birth and was certified to attend a homebirth).
There were so many things I loved about the Birth Centre! First of all they promote the use of natural forms of pain relief, the midwives will encourage you to be active in labour, moving around and trying different positions. They provide hot packs, bean bags, mats and fitballs and encourage you to use the shower and bath for your comfort in labour. They also have huge baths that you can use for a Waterbirth at your request. Supported people are encouraged and seen as an integral part of helping a women through the birth process more easily. (Husband, partner, doula, mother, father, sister, friend). They are also welcoming of your children being present at the birth if that is something you would like. The bed is a double bed so that your husband/partner can sleep right next to you which was so nice for us to all bond together as a new family. They are also open to you taking photos and video of your birth if you wish. (My husband took photos of our 3rd birth and I will treasure the photos forever! I look at them often and shed happy tears remembering how beautiful the experience was)! I really wished I had've had photos taken at my first and second births. The Midwives at the Birth Centre believe in the importance of putting babies skin-to-skin with the mother immediately after birth for at least an hour. Skin-to-skin contact helps stabilise babies temperature, heart rate and blood sugars and accelerates the bonding process.
Here is a story from a mother who saved her premature baby's life from skin-to-skin contact, even though the doctors said there was no
hope for baby Rachel: http://www.drmomma.org/2009/08/mothers-last-skin-to-skin-goodbye-saves.html
It is such a heartwarming story and shows just how important it is to stay close to your new baby. Mother's instinct is a strong thing. I thank God for the mother's instinct I had on a huge number of things to do with my pregancies, births and the care of my newborns.
I also liked that the Birth Centre have a policy where no dummies or formula are encouraged so that you are able to get the best start to breastfeeding possible. Dummies can confuse some babies sucking motion which is why we chose not to use them with any of our babies.
There were so many things I loved about the Birth Centre! First of all they promote the use of natural forms of pain relief, the midwives will encourage you to be active in labour, moving around and trying different positions. They provide hot packs, bean bags, mats and fitballs and encourage you to use the shower and bath for your comfort in labour. They also have huge baths that you can use for a Waterbirth at your request. Supported people are encouraged and seen as an integral part of helping a women through the birth process more easily. (Husband, partner, doula, mother, father, sister, friend). They are also welcoming of your children being present at the birth if that is something you would like. The bed is a double bed so that your husband/partner can sleep right next to you which was so nice for us to all bond together as a new family. They are also open to you taking photos and video of your birth if you wish. (My husband took photos of our 3rd birth and I will treasure the photos forever! I look at them often and shed happy tears remembering how beautiful the experience was)! I really wished I had've had photos taken at my first and second births. The Midwives at the Birth Centre believe in the importance of putting babies skin-to-skin with the mother immediately after birth for at least an hour. Skin-to-skin contact helps stabilise babies temperature, heart rate and blood sugars and accelerates the bonding process.
Here is a story from a mother who saved her premature baby's life from skin-to-skin contact, even though the doctors said there was no
hope for baby Rachel: http://www.drmomma.org/2009/08/mothers-last-skin-to-skin-goodbye-saves.html
It is such a heartwarming story and shows just how important it is to stay close to your new baby. Mother's instinct is a strong thing. I thank God for the mother's instinct I had on a huge number of things to do with my pregancies, births and the care of my newborns.
I also liked that the Birth Centre have a policy where no dummies or formula are encouraged so that you are able to get the best start to breastfeeding possible. Dummies can confuse some babies sucking motion which is why we chose not to use them with any of our babies.
Skye & Rory meet each other
Breastfeeding our first was extremely challenging. I never realised it would hurt as much as it did from day 3 when my milk came in and it was extremely tough and hurt a heck of a lot for the first 6 weeks. However, after that it became a lot easier and I really started to enjoy it. It felt so satisfying to know that my baby was growing on my milk alone. I continued to breastfeed Skye for 15 months when she weaned herself as I was pregnant with baby #2 at the time. I breastfed our son Rory for 13 months when he weaned himself as I was pregnant with baby #3 and I am currently breastfeeding our 15 month old Mika. (Note: Mika just recently self-weaned at 19 months. I am currently 4 months pregnant and she just kept refusing and my supply was running so low. I wanted to keep breastfeeding throughout my pregnancy until Mika was at least 2 years old but am happy that Mika has decided to stop when she is ready and that I didn't force her to).
It was extremely tough breastfeeding for the first 6 or so weeks with Rory too. Just because I had breastfed our first didn't mean it was going to be easy with our second. It hurt so much at first but after a couple of months both Rory and I got the hang of it and I have so many beautiful memories from feeding him. When Rory was 4 months old we ran into a LOT of issues with my supply as I was very stressed and this was decreasing my milk supply. I knew that I needed to work real hard on eliminating the stress that was going on in my life at the time in order to be able to breastfeed so I worked real hard on this. I was constantly told by 'health professionals' that I needed to give Rory formula. They made me feel I couldn't feed him myself. However, I refused to believe this and was so determined to get my milk supply back on track so I started eating healthier, drinking more water, relaxing more, and not being so hard on myself. After 2 whole months of struggling through it, Rory and I got there!
Breastfeeding Mika, our 3rd baby was the hardest of them all because the cracked and bleeding nipples were so bad that I would cry through most feeds. Again, after 6 weeks they healed and it became a lot easier. The persistance paid off and I love when Mika looks up and smiles at me whilst she is feeding.
It was extremely tough breastfeeding for the first 6 or so weeks with Rory too. Just because I had breastfed our first didn't mean it was going to be easy with our second. It hurt so much at first but after a couple of months both Rory and I got the hang of it and I have so many beautiful memories from feeding him. When Rory was 4 months old we ran into a LOT of issues with my supply as I was very stressed and this was decreasing my milk supply. I knew that I needed to work real hard on eliminating the stress that was going on in my life at the time in order to be able to breastfeed so I worked real hard on this. I was constantly told by 'health professionals' that I needed to give Rory formula. They made me feel I couldn't feed him myself. However, I refused to believe this and was so determined to get my milk supply back on track so I started eating healthier, drinking more water, relaxing more, and not being so hard on myself. After 2 whole months of struggling through it, Rory and I got there!
Breastfeeding Mika, our 3rd baby was the hardest of them all because the cracked and bleeding nipples were so bad that I would cry through most feeds. Again, after 6 weeks they healed and it became a lot easier. The persistance paid off and I love when Mika looks up and smiles at me whilst she is feeding.
Breastfeeding Skye (our first baby) whilst on a camping trip. It's great because I didn't need to worry about packing any food for her. It's 'on tap'
It's been such a wonderful journey through parenthood for my husband Wes and I for the past four years. Being a Mum is the most satisfying and rewarding jobs I have ever had! I really love being a stay at home Mum to our three children. One day, when our kids are grown up and all in school I hope to be able to help other Mum's and babies somehow. Not sure what that will involve yet but even if it's volunteer work I will be happy. I feel so helped by my supportive Midwives that I would love to help so many people in return. (*Update added 29th April 2012 - I am currently a student doula/birth attendant and thoroughly enjoying giving my time to serve pregnant and birthing familes. It is such a joy to share in people's births and I feel so grateful for being chosen to be apart of these special births!
I would truly like to thank Linda Campbell, Aine O'neil & Kate Wilson who work in the Birth Centre at Lyell McEwin! You women have been so encouraging and so supportive of all my decisions. Along with all the other wonderful women who work there. You all inspire me! If I could one day become a Midwife half as good as you ladies I will be extremely proud! Keep up the fantastic work!
I would truly like to thank Linda Campbell, Aine O'neil & Kate Wilson who work in the Birth Centre at Lyell McEwin! You women have been so encouraging and so supportive of all my decisions. Along with all the other wonderful women who work there. You all inspire me! If I could one day become a Midwife half as good as you ladies I will be extremely proud! Keep up the fantastic work!
Mika (1 day old)
Thanks so much for visiting my site and showing an interest in the wonderful miracle of giving life.
I am a very passionate homebirth and natural birth advocate, as well as a proud lactivist and intactivist!
I am also extremely passionate about breech birth and I believe that EVERY woman should feel supported in their choice to birth a breech baby. Whichever way they choose should be up to them and no-one should talk them into something they don't feel comfortable with. A Facebook page I love is Breech Birth. (click the blue text to visit the page).
If you have any questions or comments about my site please feel free to contact me here.
To read my birth stories, click on the links below:
The birth of Skye The birth of Rory (breech birth)
The birth of Mika
Visit my page 'Beautiful Birth' on Facebook
I am a very passionate homebirth and natural birth advocate, as well as a proud lactivist and intactivist!
I am also extremely passionate about breech birth and I believe that EVERY woman should feel supported in their choice to birth a breech baby. Whichever way they choose should be up to them and no-one should talk them into something they don't feel comfortable with. A Facebook page I love is Breech Birth. (click the blue text to visit the page).
If you have any questions or comments about my site please feel free to contact me here.
To read my birth stories, click on the links below:
The birth of Skye The birth of Rory (breech birth)
The birth of Mika
Visit my page 'Beautiful Birth' on Facebook
Click on the orange flower to visit my facebook page :-)
***UPDATE: I must now add that since writing the above I am now studying to become a doula/birth attendant! (Pregnancy, labour, birth and postpartum support person). Real excited! If anyone in Adelaide is interested in having a student doula at their birth, 100% free of charge, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Also, I have joined my local breastfeeding support group run by the Australian Breastfeeding Association and looking into ways of how I can help volunteer my time to help anyone in need!
I also have a strong desire to learn as much as I possibly can on Fertility Awareness.
I really want to help families be able to have children. I feel so blessed and full of joy at the amount of love that my husband and I receive from our kids and I hope that everyone can have the same! (If they want kids that is. I am not assuming everyone wants children).
I am currently studying the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) as a 100% natural form of birth control. Personally, we don't believe in hormonal forms of birth control for ourselves and have never taken any.
One of the most amazing experiences of my life was being at my best friends birth earlier this year. It was truly amazing! It was the first time I had ever seen a birth and I was blown away by how calm, positive and trusting Teearn was with her labour, baby and body. When baby Ezra was born I could NOT stop crying tears of joy! I took photos of the birth and video taped Teearn's heart warming reaction when she met and held her baby for the first time! I cannot get Ezra's Daddy's huge grin from ear to ear as he laid eyes on his daughter for the first time and I love how proud of his wife he was. I will remember this amazing experience forever! (I am getting tears just writing about it).
I am hoping to be a qualified doula by 2012.
Exciting times ahead and I have met some amazing and inspiring people on my doula journey so far!
Update (29/4/12): We are now currently 19 weeks pregnant with baby #4 and planning a homebirth this time!
Truly loving life and my beautiful family!
If you have any birth stories, videos or helpful links you want to share on this site, please email me at: studentdoulashelley@hotmail.com
Have an amazing day and if you have been able to read this whole page, thanks so much!
Shelley
Exciting times ahead and I have met some amazing and inspiring people on my doula journey so far!
Update (29/4/12): We are now currently 19 weeks pregnant with baby #4 and planning a homebirth this time!
Truly loving life and my beautiful family!
If you have any birth stories, videos or helpful links you want to share on this site, please email me at: studentdoulashelley@hotmail.com
Have an amazing day and if you have been able to read this whole page, thanks so much!
Shelley
