"I cannot sing their praises highly enough"

I feel incredibly lucky to have been under the care of the Glasgow home birth team for my second pregnancy and the birth of my second baby. This team are on another level of care, compassion and kindness - no question is too small, every concern is taken seriously, all advice is completely personal and crucially, sensible. I feel mothered myself by this incredible team of truly special women - it has been a privilege to have experienced this with them and to have had them look after me and my family with such love and care.

I decided at 14 weeks pregnant with my second baby that I wanted to pursue a home birth. It was something I was interested in with my first baby but ultimately decided against given the covid restrictions still in place at the time. From my first experience with Kylie - a home visit to discuss home birth and the options - I knew I'd made the right decision for myself and my family. From there every experience was completely positive, every appointment was packed with so much advice that goes beyond the NHS/medical guidebook and delves into a personal, holistic approach too. I felt imbued with so much confidence from each appointment and it left me feeling very excited for my birth experience.

One night-and-day comparison to my first pregnancy was the continuity of care I experienced with the homebirth team. I barely saw the same midwife twice with my first baby - with this one, I saw Kylie exclusively for the first seven months until she was on sick leave, and then I transferred to Caroline's clinic. The transition was seamless and I felt so cared for. I also had an appointment with Buchanan where she found my baby was breech, and was so reassuring, caring and kind, discussed all my options, kept me calm and sorted me a scan the next working day (thankfully baby turned back). 

It was Buchanan herself who delivered my son and I can't thank her enough for supporting me through an incredibly intense labour. My baby was born just 45 minutes after she arrived at my house, and she maintained such a level of calm that helped me stay confident and assured. She coached me through the birth in a way that felt like my preferences and my wellbeing were being prioritised. My baby was delivered in his amniotic sac and it was amazing to see the midwives so excited for me, everything was so positive.

Once he was here, Buchanan was calm and decisive, acted quickly to stop my bleeding including administering the injection for the placenta, managed my stitches and even helped me to take a shower - all while giving me so much praise and encouragement.

The next day, she visited us again and told me I could ask anything about the birth, which was incredible given you don't get this opportunity with a standard hospital birth. To hear her perspective on our birth, to learn more about it all was wonderful and it all came with more praise and encouragement that was such a confidence boost.

I had an incredibly tough breastfeeding experience with my first baby which I shared with the midwife team, and they all took this so seriously. I received so much advice, encouragement, help and care to establish breastfeeding and my experience has been so different to my first baby. The advice once again has gone above and beyond the standard guidelines, offering a much deeper level of knowledge and understanding, suggestions that have worked incredibly well and most importantly, an environment that's felt entirely free of judgement. I felt a huge amount of pressure to exclusively breastfeed my first baby but the advice I have received from Buchanan and Gilean in particular has felt much more catered to me as a mother as well as my baby - it's made a world of difference to me and how I feel about feeding my son, and allowed me to make decisions that feel right for my family rather than feeling pressured to exclusively breastfeed. The midwives have helped me to strike a balance that works for my family and to not feel any guilt about it. Given my traumatic first experience of feeding, this has made a world of difference to me. At my discharge appointment I was even given phone numbers of the team and told I could still contact them with any questions.

Truly I have nothing negative to say about my experience. These women are something special and my experience with them is something I will never forget. They say you never forget how someone treats you at your most vulnerable and honestly that is true - the level of care i have felt will stay with me forever. I cannot sing their praises highly enough - if you are considering a home birth i don't believe you can go wrong with this magical team of wonderful women. If I ever decide to have a third baby, I would without a doubt go straight to the home birth team again, it's been the experience of a lifetime and I can't thank them enough.