Birth Stories
Jade & Jetty’s homebirth
Atypical contraction pattern | Short umbilical cord | Prolonged labour
Maddy - Calm and empowering homebirth
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Birth: Primiparous/First
Mode of birth: Spontaneous vaginal birth
Pain relief: None
Setting: Birth pool/water birth
Perineal injury: Second-degree tear
Key theme: Atypical contraction pattern – Short umbilical cord – Prolonged labour
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The morning of 6 May 2023, I was uncomfortable all day. My body did not want to sit still. It just wanted to move and sway. I was still completely oblivious that this was the start of my birth.
At 6:30 PM that evening, I had a partial loss of my mucus plug when I went to the toilet. From this moment, the tightening started happening, and I could not lie down or sit still. I actively swayed on my birth ball all night, with surges coming once every 10 minutes. They were weak enough that I could hum and breathe through them with movement.
At 2:00 AM, not knowing how intense birth would get, I thought, This is pretty intense, and asked my husband to blow up the birth pool and fill it.
I sat in the birth pool from 2:30 AM to 7:00 AM, dozing on and off between surges, which were still coming once every 10 minutes. The time between surges remained consistent, but the intensity had increased, and they were lasting about a minute each.
My husband called my midwife, who came out early that morning. She initially thought she would simply check on me and then come back when labour had progressed more.
Unbeknownst to all of us, baby was sitting very low in my pelvis. The Doppler was pressed right against my pubic bone to monitor his heartbeat. Because he was so low, my midwife decided to stay, as he could be here sooner than she thought.
Boy, were we wrong!
There were no major changes throughout the day. I remained in the birth pool, trying different positions, using the rebozo, and attempting to sit on the toilet, but I could not sit down. The pain was too much.
Again, my surges were still one every 10 minutes, but they were getting stronger in intensity. Around the middle of the day, I got the shakes and began dry-heaving with the surges.
I never met the “textbook contractions,” and I was aware of this. I started questioning when things would ramp up because it had already been 18 hours, and I was still only having one contraction every 10 minutes.
As the day progressed, my midwives suggested I hop out of the pool in case it was slowing labour down. So I leaned over the side of my bed while one midwife applied pressure to both of my hips.
Eventually, my waters released at around 5:30 PM.
It had almost been 24 hours since the start of my surges and losing my mucus plug the night before. I had also been awake for almost 36 hours.
I was exhausted.
Once my waters broke, the intensity of the surges became extremely intense. I asked my midwife for a vaginal examination — something I had sworn I would never do.
But knowledge is power, and I was so glad I did.
She identified that I was about 7 cm dilated, but baby's head was caught on a cervical lip. I got into a polar bear position on my bed to allow baby to move back into the birth canal and re-emerge in a better position when I stood up again.
And it worked.
For the next four hours, I was on all fours in the birth pool, and my mind was completely out of this world. I had no concept of time and very little awareness of my surroundings. There was just my dark bedroom, my limbic brain firing away, and all the primal sounds I needed to make to get through the wave of surges.
Surges were still one every 10 minutes.
That gave me a beautiful rest between them, but also had me thinking, When are things going to ramp up?!
Transition talk kicked in.
“I can’t do this! How much longer?”
My midwife said, “I am loving what you’re saying to me right now. It sounds like there’s going to be a baby here soon.”
Me: “BUT WHEN?!”
During this time, my midwives did speculate as to why my contractions were so far apart and weren't reaching the typical three in 10 minutes, yet I was still dilating.
No one would know why until after the baby was born.
Around 9:00 PM, my body began involuntarily pushing.
It was something I had no control over. I simply followed my body.
Finally (26 hours later), my surges started coming more frequently. I began having three to four contractions in 10 minutes, and I could feel his head coming through.
I could feel myself tearing, but instinctively knew to take short, sharp, quick breaths to facilitate him coming past my perineum.
After what felt like four pushes, he was out.
His head was out, and a few seconds later, the fetal ejection reflex got the rest of him out like a little rocket ship.
At 9:28 PM on 7 May 2023 at home in the birth pool, Jetty was born.
After he was born, I scooped him up out of the water. My midwives told me to bring him up to my breast, but I couldn't. His cord was tugging, and I could barely hold him any higher than my stomach.
I got out of the pool within a few minutes and sat on the toilet so my placenta could be birthed.
Within a minute, I birthed my placenta, which we kept Jetty attached to for another hour.
My midwives measured his umbilical cord, and both testified that it was the smallest umbilical cord they had seen in their careers.
This gave us an explanation for the unusual pattern of my surges. A small umbilical cord can be associated with prolonged labour. In my mind, it made sense of what my body had done: perhaps there was purpose in those 10-minute surges and the gradual progression.
My body knew exactly what it was doing.
It couldn't birth too quickly if there was a risk of putting tension on that tiny cord.
I am so glad I trusted my body to birth how it needed to for my baby.
And I am so grateful to have had midwives who also trusted my body's ability and supported me through one of the most physically and emotionally demanding — and important — days I will ever have.
Jetty, you took your time. And you arrived exactly when you were ready.
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It took 10 days for my milk to come in.
Yes, 10 days!
Those first 10 days were filled with so much uncertainty. I definitely questioned whether I would ever get any milk because it had been 10 days and I was still waiting.
I was incredibly fortunate to have the support of my private midwife, who encouraged me to keep Jetty on the breast as much as possible — all day, every day. This included 1.5-hour cluster feeds every night.
I was persistent.
Lots of skin-to-skin. Baby on the breast. Lots of nourishment and fuel for my body. And plenty of patience.
Then, 10 days later, my milk came flooding in.
Those 10 days weren't wasted time. They were the beginning of something incredibly special. In that time, Jetty and I established such a beautiful bond, and we continued to breastfeed exclusively for six months, eventually breastfeeding for a total of 12 months.
My breastfeeding journey taught me something very similar to my birth:
Sometimes, the body just needs time.
We don't need to compare our journey to another mother's or another baby's. Every body, every baby and every breastfeeding journey is different.
Sometimes we need patience. Sometimes we need trust. And sometimes we need extra encouragement and support along the way.
And that's okay.
For me, the persistence, the uncertainty, the long cluster feeds, the skin-to-skin and all those moments of wondering “Is this actually going to work?” were worth it.
Because eventually, it did.
My birth and breastfeeding stories have both taught me that our bodies don't always follow the timeline we expect them to.
Sometimes the body needs time.
And sometimes, with patience, trust and the right support, the outcome can be better than you ever hoped for.
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Our first baby was born in a Sydney hospital in 2019. From the start, I felt pressured into an induction, and once contractions began I was left alone in the room, blindsided by the pain. As my labour progressed, so did my fear. Instead of support, I was belittled and berated. I was forced to labour and push on my back and underwent an episiotomy without my knowledge or consent, performed by an obstetrician I had never met and had not invited into the room. When our daughter finally arrived, I was overwhelmed with love for her - but I was also left with deep shame and guilt. I felt stripped of confidence and autonomy. That sense of failure, combined with my painful stitches, cast a heavy shadow over my postpartum experience.
When our second baby was due in 2021, I was determined things would be different. I considered a homebirth, longing for a sense of control, but the intense Covid lockdowns in Sydney led me back to the same birth suite where our daughter had been born. This time, I felt prepared - I knew what to expect and I knew I could advocate for myself. With midwives leading my care, I had no interventions and minimal checks. After just two hours of labour, my son was born powerfully in the birth pool. I moved through his birth with confidence, and that strength carried through into my postpartum journey with him.
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Not long after, we moved to Brisbane. Even before I knew I was pregnant again, I knew I wanted our third baby to be born at home. Early in the pregnancy, I engaged a private midwifery practice who supported me wholeheartedly. They trusted my intuition and ability, and together we prepared a birth space in our bathroom, and we borrowed their inflatable birth pool.
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At 40+6 weeks, I woke up certain our son would not be born that day. I spent the morning doing chores, having lunch, and crafting with the kids. But just after lunch, I began to feel off so I went to lay down in our room, and before long some contractions started and my gut told me it was time. I told my husband to call our midwife, and she set off to join us.
I laboured calmly in our bedroom, sipping water and watching TV. After about 45 minutes, our midwives arrived. Their presence allowed me to relax and lean into the process, and labour soon quickened. A gentle check confirmed I was already 8 centimetres dilated. I continued labouring on my yoga ball until the sounds I was making gave me away - it was time. They encouraged me into the pool, and within minutes our son was born after a 2 hour labour.
Our midwife congratulated us, checked him over, and gently tied my hair back so I could focus fully on the moment. We soaked him in, watching the sunset through the bathroom window. I nursed him in the pool while we waited for the placenta, and then they gently helped me to bed and made me tea and toast. The older children came in to meet their baby brother. Our midwives helped our daughter examine the placenta and cut the cord herself, learning about the incredible work it had done. Soon after, the big kids went to bed while I stayed cuddled up with our newborn.
This birth was everything I had hoped for - wholesome, peaceful, and deeply empowering. It felt like a natural family milestone, not a brutal medical ordeal. I was left feeling strong, healed, and surrounded by love. We welcomed our final family member directly into his home, his safe place, in an atmosphere of warmth, calm, and joy.
Barbara - Surprise breach birth after breach C-section
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After being led into a C-section for breech presentation I planned a homebirth for my second pregnancy.
I was 37+5 when my waters broke and started having mild contractions but by day time the contractions mostly spaced out.
After almost 72h contractions really ramped up and by 5pm I knew this was it. It became harder to cope and got the birth pool ready. HEAVEN! I was able to relax in between surges. Had my partner supporting me through each one. I hit transition and started pushing. After a while the Midwife asked to do a check of baby’s position and it was confirmed it was a breech presentation but she was coming down hip first. They moved her to a better spot and I continued pushing in a low squat. After 3.5h of pushing baby finally emerged. The midwife had to do a few maneuvers to help her out.
She was placed on my chest, while they helped her a little bit to come fully to life by scrubbing her body and giving her some oxygen.
I was in labour for four nights and three days, had little to no rest during that whole time but I had complete trust in my body’s ability to birth my baby, complete trust in my baby’s ability to be born, and complete trust in the support team looking after me. I surrendered to the sacred feminine energy and followed my birth instincts. The result was a wonderful unmedicated birth, where I got to discover just how powerful and strong I am.
Not only did I achieve my VBAC but I achieved a breech vaginal birth from the comfort of my own home.
Photographers: Natalie from @thegracious.doula & @thegracious.photographer
Tahlia - Amazing pregnancy + homebirth
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My son’s birth in December 2023 was the opposite of what I hoped and prepared for. I had a 28 hour labour, epidural, episiotomy and forceps due to exhaustion, and my son was born with huge cuts on his face from the forceps.
So when I found out we were having baby #2, I was determined to have a homebirth and we made it happen! I knew I wanted a water birth, as I wanted with my son but they wouldn’t allow it at the hospital I went to. I wanted to be in my own safe space, undisturbed & unmedicated for baby #2 so I spent my pregnancy reading about physiological birth, and fully trusting myself & my baby.
My decisions during pregnancy this time around were so different because I made it a priority to fully educate myself. I had an AMAZING pregnancy with zero complications and I felt incredible even at 40 weeks, people didn’t believe me when I said I was full term.
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My contractions started on Thursday the 8th of May. They kept going on and off all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! But this wasn’t new to me because I had 4 days of early labour with my son Zavi.
Saturday night came along and I could not get to sleep, the contractions were getting stronger and active labour began around 11:30 pm. It all happened so quick, which I was not expecting! I made jokes my whole pregnancy about manifesting a 3 hour labour and It actually happened!
My son went to his grandmothers house, he left at 1:30 am because I felt things picking up and the noise woke him up. As soon as he left I felt a bit of pressure and needed to go to the toilet. So I went to the toilet and immediately after that I was having no break in between contractions and the fear kicked in, I was in transition!
We told my midwife to come, and my Auntie who was my support person for the birth had only just started setting up the pool (we thought we would have WAY more time!)
My water broke around 2 am, it came in a big gush after a contraction! We called the midwife to check where she was and she arrived at 2:10 am. I was hanging onto the edge of the pool from the outside kneeling over a bunch of sheets and kept looking in the pool and asking why it was taking so long to fill up 😅 Turns out my auntie was having trouble connecting the hoses!
The pool was full and I hopped in at 2:30 am, instant relief!!! As soon as I was in the water my next contraction and bubs head was out.
My daughter was born safely, in my living room at 2:39 am, on the 11th of May ~ Mother’s day! 🥹💜
Ellen - Dream HBAC
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First birth - April 2022.
MGP care. Induced due to consistently reduced fetal movements from week 39-40.
CTG kept showing reduced variability in baby’s heart rate. Balloon successfully opened cervix to 5cm overnight. AROM and synto drip began next morning, dilated to 8cm within 2 hours, got an epidural and soon after was 10cm. Baby was still not engaged in my pelvis at this point - we tried all we could in terms of positioning but the epi made this difficult. Soon I developed a fever, had blood in my urine and baby’s heart rate was becoming not as stable / not recovering well after each contraction. Consented to a cesarean which was a really calm experience in terms of “emergency” cesareans - my daughter was straight on my chest and stayed there feeding while I was stitched up. A few hours later they took her to insert a cannula for antibiotics (since I’d had a fever) and that was probably the hardest part for me - I wish I’d advocated for her to stay with me.I was really uneducated on physiological birth and the cascade of interventions and came out of the whole thing just thinking “wtf was that?”
I knew birth could, and should, feel different.
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Second birth - November 2024. Private midwifery care with a home birth midwife. Very smooth pregnancy with no complications - chose to have a “booking in” appointment with my local hospital, which happened to be with the OB who performed my cesarean, and she was incredibly supportive of my choice to birth at home. In terms of what I did to “prepare” is all below the story - I’ll just give the labour birth run down here first.
Spontaneous labour at 40+3, woke up right on midnight to the first contraction, and at the exact same time, the power went out - was super freaky.
Contractions 20-30 mins apart for the rest of the night, I slept through most of them but without aircon was struggling with the Far North QLD heat. Power came back on at 5am and at the same time contractions moved to 6 minutes apart. I think I was subconsciously holding out for the power to come back on for labour to progress any further. I went about my morning, thinking it would all fizzle out now it was day time - made some breakfast and hung out with my toddler.
By 8am I grabbed the birth comb as I felt I needed something to take the edge off and my partners Mum came and took my toddler - we still didn’t think we were having a baby today but she was happy to take her so we could at least catch up on sleep. Laboured side lying on the couch and on the exercise ball until about 10am - using the comb, heat packs and massage from my partner.
Contractions picked up to every 3 minutes and I couldn’t sit or lay down any longer - so we decided it was time to make a birthday cake for the baby, which was slowwww going, given I needed to stop every 3 minutes, but a good distraction nonetheless! I was still convinced it might fizzle out, so I hadn’t texted my midwife or photographer yet. Put the TENS on at this point too and loved it, and my partner inflated the pool. At 11am, my partner suggested we call my midwife and photographer (who had to get a back up photographer to come because this was the one day in the month she couldn’t make it), still convinced I was only in early labour - but they both knew to get there asap as I couldn’t really speak a sentence. Hopped in the shower, with the hot water running on my back while I leant forward with my head pressing into my partners chest, doing big hip circles with each surge. Truthfully, I was still finding it really manageable and although I’d realised baby was on their way, I was still sure I had a long time to go. My partner was running back and forth trying to sort out filling up the birth pool between contractions.
He took a picture of my ‘purple line’ and that’s when I realised I was way closer to meeting my baby than I thought (the line was dark and allllll the way up my bum … ie. I was fully dilated).
Moved into the birth space around midday and both my midwife and photographer arrived. Put the TENS back on and continued the swaying / circling motion with my head digging into my partners chest and pulling down on his t-shirt (I owe him a new one). With each surge I kept wanting to pull down further toward the ground and I knew that this was my body ‘bearing down’.
It wasn’t until now that my waters started to leak very slowly, just a few drops here and there. My primary midwife was packing the dishwasher, as she (and I quote) “wasn’t needed on the dance floor”, and I think the second midwife arrived around 1pm.
My vocalisations changed and I wanted to get on my hands and knees, so I hopped in the pool and found my position - kneeling and leaning over the edge. I started to really vocalise and I was loud (I mean I lost my voice for 2 whole days afterwards loud) with the most primal, deep sounds as I felt her begin the descent through my pelvis.
After only a few contractions I used my fingers to feel inside and her head was so close - the most surreal feeling. My midwife came to join the dance at this point, and was giving the most incredible hip squeezes and ended up getting in the pool (pink maxi dress and all) so she could be in a better position to keep going (as I was adamant she had to hip squeeze every contraction). My partner also jumped in and sat in front of me, so I was between them.
A few contractions of her moving up and down before I heard the words I’d longed to hear “head on view”. We think my waters must have fully released at this point as her head emerged, no one is really sure! Next contraction her head was out and next one was her body.
I scooped her up between us and we found out we had a second daughter. 25 minutes pushing - and I certainly didn’t breathe her out in some kind of zen state, but it felt so raw and so powerful , like my body just instinctively did all the work without any conscious thought.
Hopped out the pool after about 15 minutes, lay down on a little nest I had made prior and within 20 mins the placenta came out without much effort at all. I had a first degree tear and opted to have some small suturing done which didn’t take long; all while I ate the first mango of the season that I’d bought the day prior, hoping it would be my first postpartum snack.
Baby was 3.9kg - much bigger than her sister! The best part for me is no one told me what to do at any point - I just let my body and baby guide the whole process while my support team just responded to what they knew I needed or asked for in each moment.
The few hours after were total homebirth bliss - chatting with my team in my own lounge room, feeding my baby on my own couch , showering in my own shower and eating the first mango of the season which I had bought the day prior hoping it would be my first post birth snack.
Big sister came home to meet her baby sister by 5pm and we all went to bed, like it was any ordinary Saturday. It was so simple and extraordinarily ordinary.
Despite some afterbirth pains in the days after (that ended up causing some vomiting), the recovery was incredibly smooth!
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Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering
Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage
Down to Earth Birth
Birth with Confidence
Beyond the Birth Plan
Ten Moons
Great Birth Rebellion
Midwives Cauldron
Birth stories that are
VBAC/HBAC specific, my favourites were - Australian VBAC stories, Birthing at Home, Homebirth Stories Australia, Australian Birth Stories, Growing Up Raising Us.
Followed heaps of birthy Instagram accounts that aligned with my own philosophies and beliefs around birth
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15-20 minutes of daily yoga at home from 12 weeks, with a focus on pelvic floor strengthening exercises until around 25 weeks and then pelvic floor opening exercises until birth + yoga class once a week
internal pelvic release work once a week from 37 weeks with my midwife
optimal maternal positioning body work from 28 weeks - weekly with my midwife + every few days with my partner
a chiro session at 20, 28 and 36 weeksbirth debrief to unpack my previous birth with B from core and floor restore at 6 weeks
one cup of raspberry leaf tea daily from 34 weeks - however stopped due to non stop Braxton hicks that I believe were a result of this - then started drinking it again at 37 weeks
clary sage oil used directly on key acupressure points, on belly and diffused around me from 37 weeks
attending my local homebirth circles to connect with women who have walked this path before me and hear their stories
sitting in my intended birth space and doing my yoga and breath-work, listening to my birth playlist, drawing and colouring in affirmations / birthy artwork and just generally manifesting my dream birth whenever I felt called to, but especially in the last 2 weeks
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participating in any kind of birthing course - I felt that the education I had from readings/ podcasts and my private midwife’s extensive knowledge base, as well as my own intuitive knowledge, was enough.
acupuncture - would have considered past 42 weeks or if I had any particular pains in pregnancy. I did educate myself and my partner on acupressure though and used those tools in late pregnancy and labour.
eating dates - I did use a lot of dates in my cooking but definitely not 6 a day, could not stomach the sugar hit.
perineal massage - I found it uncomfortable in my first pregnancy and believe our perineum is made to stretch in birth and doesn’t need practise in doing so.
hiring a doula - I felt that because I was birthing at home with a small support team who I had a trusting relationship with, I didn’t need the extra support or someone to help advocate for me.
