In 2017 I became pregnant with my first born, Thea, and as a plus size birthing person, a referral was sent to the only hospital I was allowed to birth at. I ended up with gestational diabetes and was put on insulin. I was in the hospital 3 times a week for monitoring in the last two months of my pregnancy. At 37w5d, an induction, 8 hours of labour, gas, morphine, an epidural and just over an hour of pushing we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world. I had a postpartum haemorrhage and Thea needed help breathing on 3 separate occasions.
Despite this, I actually had a really positive birth due to the amazing support from my partner, the midwives and my birth photographer. I thought this was normal at the time and didn’t question my experience.
Birthing Thea and seeing the images our birth photographer had captured gave me a whole new appreciation for my body and its magic. Having Thea turned me into an attachment parenting, co-sleeping, baby wearing, cloth nappy using and low tox living advocate and gave me a whole new purpose.
By the time I became pregnant with my second daughter in 2019, Rori, I had developed a greater understanding of my options and wanted to experience a physiological birth. I didn’t want to face the same restrictions I’d faced during my first pregnancy, I knew my weight didn’t determine my ability to birth. So we hired an independent Midwife who was happy to support me in my dream to have a home birth. Rori was born into Brandon's hands our lounge room as the midwife pulled up out the front. Rori was born into Brandon's hands in our lounge room with Thea and our doula witnessing, as the midwife pulled up out the front.
The back up photographer arrived not long until after we were settled on the couch and our photographer arrived to take over soon after. Our immediate post partum was filled with couch snuggles, our toddler getting to know her little sister and soaking in the newborn love. I showered and got tucked up into bed with our new little love, food and a drink before everyone went home. The continuity of care and the support I had from my Midwife was immeasurable. Rori's birth reinforced how powerful and capable I am.
