Liv

Home Birth

I chose to have Teegan at home after having had a really positive birth experience with my daughter Riley. Riley was born in a birthing center - she came quickly, in the water, with no pain relief. Her birth left me feeling empowered and looking forward to having future babies. I felt that the only way to make the experience even more empowering and special would be to have my next baby at home in our space. We are lucky enough to have an amazing midwife who is an absolute advocate for home birth. She wholeheartedly supported my choice to have baby at home and was amazing when it came to reassuring my husband of the safety and benefits of home birth.

Knowing that there was the possibility of having another fast labour was also a reason for me to want to birth Teegan at home. Taking away that question of when do we go to the birthing unit; and that awful drive from home to the unit while having contractions was a

major draw card. Sure enough labour was faster than it had been with Riley. My husband and I both agreed that knowing we just had to stay at home and didn't have anywhere to go was a huge comfort during labour - it made the whole experience more relaxing and calm for

both of us.

I can’t stress enough how incredible it was to have baby in our own space. Going through labour, birth, and the long slow beautiful first few hours with baby all in our home was something I will treasure forever. Teegan is the most chilled out baby and I'm sure some of that comes from her calm and comfortable entrance into the world. I love that our home is the first place she's ever known, and that she's never had to sleep anywhere but cuddled with us or in her own cosy bed. I think my favourite part of the whole experience was that the next morning Riley came home and got to meet Teegan while we were snuggled up in bed - she got to meet her baby sister just hours after she was born without having to feel worried about being away from me or visiting a different environment. Home birth is amazing! I would recommend it to everyone and couldn't imagine myself having future children anywhere else. It is the most incredible, empowering and beautiful experience I have ever had. The only problem is that now we'll never be able to sell our house because it holds such precious memories!