I lay back in the pool while he snuggled in with a little grizzle and the family all came in to see this brand new, still connected baby. The kids were so excited, and Scott’s eyes “leaked” significantly. I remember commenting in the endorphin bliss I was in, that the birth was really easy and I could do that again!
We named him while we remained warm and connected in the water. His siblings stroked his head and back while he had his first feed. What a magical time of connection; deep connection that remains to this day.
Three years later our baby girl was due, and we planned a water birth for her arrival.
But my body had other ideas, and with a surprise heart condition I birthed in ICU, which was far from what I expected, with wires, and birth beds and resus equipment.
But I want to share something with you. I imagined the water surrounding me – that the mattress I had pulled on the floor was the padded base of our amazing pool and that the soft movement of my husband’s soothing hands was just like it was in the water last time. And I made it – we made it – and Lexi arrived safely, quietly and gently just like I imagined.
Since then I’ve become a qualified Reiki practitioner, have almost completed my Cranial Sacral Therapy studies and have spent many many hours learning about birth stories, and what can impact on a baby as a result of their birth and how we can carry that in our bodies as we grow and move through life.
The thing is, mindful water birthing changed the way I perceived birth. All fear, even in the scariest of moments where my life may have been at risk, disappeared. I knew we had it – we knew we had it. Studying my own experiences, and sharing in the stories of others, I have really learned how this experience can set beliefs and conditions into my life, into my baby’s life, and how all of this can be freed with the knowing and understanding of how our bodies CAN birth. It doesn’t always go as we plan, I totally get that and have certainly lived through that. However, the more we can prepare ourselves, the better we might cope with whatever comes our way.
Would it be odd for me to say that I recommend every pregnant lady consider using water in their labour and in their birth? Because I’m also the salesperson for the very business that provides such amazing products. But it’s the truth, I do recommend it – I would shout it from the rooftops, in fact!
Mindfulness and water freed my fears, and opened my mind to how birth can be. A positive birthing experience begins with a mind that KNOWS it is possible.
Are you interested in having a water birth? Check out the H2 Oh Baby website for more information about their water birth pool kits.
