"The perfect home birth"

I decided on a home birth at 36 weeks. After discussing this with my community midwife (Rhiannon), I received a call from Rachel later that day where she introduced herself & the homebirth team and explained that I would be assigned to someone’s caseload later that week. After being worried I was too late to switch to the homebirth team, I was super surprised and thrilled with how quickly my request was picked up by the team.

This same week, myself and my wife attended a Meet the Homebirth Team event in Irvine. Here, we met Jenni and Mary. Mary took the time to answer our questions about home births, talked us through what the midwife would bring with her on the day (this was particularly helpful for me given my anxiety), and talked us through aromatherapy. Jenni spoke to us about hypnobirthing and shared some affirmation cards with us to display during our homebirth.

Following discussions with Rachel, Mary and Jenni, we were able to book our birthing pool and supplies.

As my named midwife, Rachel was warm and attentive with my care throughout. I felt able to communicate openly with her very quickly, which is particularly great given how late I transferred to the team’s care. I also met with Ciara, a student midwife, who was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about homebirth. Like everyone else in the team, Ciara was very warm and easy to open up with early on.

I received a session of acupuncture from Jenni at home when I was 40+1. She also discussed aromatherapy and produced an oil for me to use based on my preferences. I went into labour later this day, and as Rachel was unavailable, Jenni and Ciara attended the birth. They were truly fantastic throughout.

From losing my mucus plug to my baby’s arrival, I was only labouring for 3hrs. Both totally understood and respected our birth preferences, and fully supported both me as labourer and my wife as birth partner. For example, at one point, Jenni discovered that our baby’s cord was wrapped around her neck. Jenni was super calm during this which allowed us both to remain calm and continue to enjoy a relaxed birth.

Our daughter was brought into the world in the most calm environment, and in a way that was totally and completely us. I didn’t require any pain management during the labour and I attribute this to the environment she was delivered in.

We can’t happier with the service received from the team, and I talk enthusiastically to anyone who will listen about the perfect home birth we had. I can recommend the team whole heartedly without hesitation to anyone thinking about a home birth. The care provided is totally individualised, based on science as well as personal preference, and is truly second to none. What a privilege it is to be able to access such care at home via the NHS - thank you!