Find Your Balance
Find Your Balance
My Birth Story | 4 Hour labour & Water Birth | First time mum
In today’s episode, I’m sharing the story of how my baby, Bobby, finally arrived. It was a real mental challenge waiting — I went past 42 weeks, which felt so long — but it all led to the most incredible moment when I reached into warm water and lifted my son into my own hands.
I’d been planning a home birth with my midwife and doula, but at 42 weeks and 2 days, I decided to be induced, which basically means getting a little help to start labor. We used a balloon overnight and then had my waters broken the next morning. I asked the doctors to hold off before using any medicine to speed things up, and that decision, plus all the preparation I’d done, helped me have a calm, natural four-hour water birth that felt really instinctive.
Having private midwife made such a difference. My appointments weren’t rushed — they were long, cozy chats at home — and the care after birth was just as supportive. In the months leading up to it, I did a lot of mindset work. I practiced hypnobirthing, listened to positive birth stories every day, and even had a personalised visualisation track that helped me picture how I wanted the day to go. During labor, I focused on slow breathing, low moans, and keeping my jaw and muscles relaxed, which helped stop fear from tightening my body.
The last couple of weeks of pregnancy were tough — I couldn’t sleep and my mind kept spinning about when the baby would finally come. But once labor started, all that practice really paid off. We used what we’d learned — things like “spinning babies” positions to help Bobby turn around and even sitting on the toilet (which my midwife called the “dilation station”) to keep things moving.
The birth pool became my safe space. I stayed there almost the whole time — breathing, moving, and trusting my body. When it came time to push, it happened slowly and gently, which helped my body stretch naturally and avoid tearing too much. After Bobby was born, my placenta came out easily, I had a small tear that my midwife repaired, and just four hours later we were back home, tucked up in bed in our own space.
My midwife and doula kept visiting us at home in those first few days and weeks, helping us ease into the newborn bubble.
If you’re planning for birth — whether at home or in hospital — I hope my story reminds you that with the right education, support, and trust in yourself, you can have a calm, hands-off experience, even if things don’t go exactly to plan.
You can contact Maddy for Doula support @maddy.thedoula
Find me on instagram @madisonvickers
Email for collaborations madisonvickers29@gmail.com
Hello and welcome back to the Find Your Balance podcast. Today's episode we will be talking all about the labour and birth of my very first baby, whose name is Bobby. It's a little boy, and he's seven months old as of you know the 10th of November 2025. So today I have my birth jeweler Maddie joining me, and she's going to be interviewing me and basically just uh helping me to talk through and reminisce on the actual story of the birth because she was there. And yeah, I'm really excited to share it. Firstly, I did just want to say that uh overall I did have a very quick short labour, it was only four hours total. It was at the hospital, uh, it was in the birthing pool and with no medications or interventions other than I did have my waters broken to bring on labour because I was 42 weeks and two days along. So I was getting right to the end of um the end of my tether physically, and yeah, so I need a little bit of help to get everything going, and then once we got going, yeah, I was able to have a totally physiological hands-off birth, which was really beautiful. So I can't wait to share about that today. One other really exciting thing is that I also did catch him myself, so I um yeah, I I didn't have Jack catch him or one of the midwives catch him, I did that, and that was a goal of mine. Um, so I will talk all about that in this interview episode today. So if you are interested in hearing, listen along. Um, I wanted to talk as well quickly about my model of care that I had because I do feel like all these things play a big role. Um, but I did decide to go with a home birth and a private midwife. So basically, I found a private midwife here in Tasmania, contacted her, and we started working together. So that meant that if I would ever go and have an ultrasound or any blood tests or anything like that, that she would come and do my care at home. So if I went and got a blood test, she would come to my house and go through all the blood test results with me, talk me through everything. Um, every checkup that we did was at my place over a cup of tea, and and I actually didn't have to go into the hospital at all throughout my whole pregnancy, which I quite enjoyed. Everything was um done at my place, which was lovely. We planned a home birth and I decided to go and get induced at 42 plus two, which meant I didn't get to do the home birth. Um, because once you get induced, you've got to stay at the hospital and you know, go forward there. So, yeah, that's basically what happened. Um, I absolutely loved having a private midwife, and I will absolutely do that again if I um have any more babies. So highly recommend. I um I also then got six weeks worth of in-home care at home after the baby came, where all of my checkups were done there, so I didn't have to go into the hospital again at all once I'd given birth. Uh so I really loved that. All in all, it cost about six thousand dollars to have a private midwife, and it was just the best thing I've ever done. So, highly recommend if you're interested. Um, I would definitely look into it. Um, I also then had a birth dueler who is Maddie the Dooler, and she's gonna be interviewing me today. She came along to my birth and really supported me through that and gave me some initial care uh some immediate care after I gave birth as well. And she was just beautiful, so um highly recommend looking into birth duelers. I feel like every woman deserves one. And I even then had a postpartum dueler who came to my home every week for I think around four weeks and helped me to, you know, she looked after Bobby while I had a shower, she brought beautiful foods, all of that kind of thing. And I just feel like I had the best opportunity and best start to my motherhood thanks to all of the care that I had received from my team. So, yeah, that's what I did. Uh, I'm gonna go ahead and bring Maddie in now. So I hope you enjoy this episode. And if you do have any questions or you want to talk, or maybe you're pregnant and about to give birth, um then yeah, feel free to message me. I'm always here to chat things through with you. Um, you can message me on Instagram at Madison Vickers. It has recently changed from Body by Madison Coach to Madison Vickers as I'm now moving into the direction of content creation and yeah, doing that from that platform. Um birth stories and listening to birth stories was something I did almost every single day of my pregnancy. Anytime I went for a walk, I was listening to a positive birth story. It just kind of got me into the right headspace, and I even purchased a manifestation recording, like a visualization track, a personalised one from Katie Murray coaching, and visualized myself giving birth in the way that I wanted to, which was in the pool, catching my baby, and um yeah, having a short fast. And um definitely I didn't I didn't um like manifest or try to manifest a pain-free labour or anything like that because that's not what the goal was. The goal was just for it to be physiological and for us to both come out the other side feeling good. So without further ado, let's get into the birth story, and for that I'm gonna bring in Maddie the Dawler.
SPEAKER_03:Hey Matt.
SPEAKER_01:So exciting to be here with you today. Yes, I'm so excited. It's been almost seven months now.
SPEAKER_03:I can't believe it's a few. Ready to talk. Yes, ready to chat about your birth. It was incredible. Um, so I thought we should start off by talking about um how you planned for your baby and whether it was an intentional decision um and what that looked like for you.
SPEAKER_01:Mmm, so uh taking my mind way back now, Jack and I weren't even sure if we were going to have kids. Um, we're very much into our traveling, into our selfish era, you know, just wanting to do all these things together. We had conversations about do we just have the two of us? But then deep down, I think I really wanted a family, especially when I'm older. Um, so we took some time to do whatever we wanted to do. Um, traveled for seven months, sold all of our furniture, sold our cars, went and beautiful, you know, literally lived our dreams. Yeah, I remember following that journey. It was amazing. Yeah, it was amazing, and that actually helped us so much to come to the place of now we want to put down roots here in Tasmania and have kids. So we we came to the decision that we were ready for that next phase in life.
SPEAKER_03:Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01:And in planning for that, um, health-wise, I mean, I for six months beforehand started taking prenatal prenatal vitamins and focusing on um maybe drinking less um and just being as healthy as possible. I also asked Jack to be as healthy as possible. Um, and so yeah, just told him to ease up on all the partying and all that kind of stuff. And um, because it's you know, the man's sperm is very um impactful. It's half of the DNA. It's half of the DNA. So we both needed to be healthy at the same time. Yes. Um, so yeah, we got into that journey and then began trying, and we were really, really, really lucky, really blessed, and it happened super quick for us. So um it was yeah, beautiful and like a surprise, but not a surprise because we had been so intentional with that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, beautiful, surprised at how quickly it happened for you, I guess. Yeah, exactly. Awesome. Yeah. Um, and so when you found out, how did you feel? And uh were there any beliefs or intentions you set early on for how you wanted to approach your pregnancy and your birth?
SPEAKER_01:So when I found out, I felt incredibly emotional, like as if it was meant to be. Um and yeah, I was by myself when I found out because I don't know, I just had a feeling. I just had a feeling that I was pregnant, and Jack was like, wait till I get home or we'll we'll take a test together. And and I was like, Can't wait. Cool, yeah. I just never do what I'm told. So I just did it by myself, found out and told him. I wanted to tell him as well. I think that's like kind of what I had in my head for a dream. Like I wanted to find I was pregnant and then tell him. Yeah, so I stole that um for myself. Sorry, Jack.
SPEAKER_03:Beautiful. So, how did you find pregnancy and how did you feel, especially through that first trimester? What was it like for you?
SPEAKER_01:Well, um first trimester I did have like morning sickness every day from week six to week 11. Yeah, so it wasn't the longest time. I feel pretty lucky with how the first trimester was. I think I only was actually sick three times and every other day just felt like I was going to be, unless I ate like a big bowl of pasta with butter and cheese and no vegetables because they would make me feel sick. It was so weird, all of the things that I love but didn't love anymore. Um, I was in bed a lot. I think it really forced me to slow down. I think before I fell pregnant, I would like walk on my walking treadmill while working for like three hours a day. Um, and then I would go to Pilates and I would walk to Pilates and I was moving so much and I had to be in bed just still a lot of the time because there was so much going on and my body really needed to add weight to me. You know, it needed to um I needed to eat a lot more carbs, I needed to get a lot more energy for my baby to grow because I was probably, you know, just a bit too active at the time. Um, so slowing down was a big part of the first trimester, but yeah, and then also it was it was hard to like hide it. I found that really hard. I found like being um secretive uh as someone who was online every day sharing everything about my life. I felt really like I don't know, d weirdly deceitful.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, I understand that.
SPEAKER_01:Like I and I would share my food that I would eat every day, and I'm like, I'm eating this. Oh, I feel a bit sick. So I'm eating this piece of toast with nothing on it or whatever, you know. I feel like people probably probably picked up on it.
SPEAKER_03:But it's hard, isn't it, in that first trimester when you don't know whether to share or not, and you're having to show up at work and you're just wanting to carry on um normal routines, but your body's like just telling you so many other things to slow down, and yeah, it's a yeah.
SPEAKER_01:To be honest, the fact that women have to go to work while pregnant baffles me. Yeah, it's intense. And that's like maternity leave should start when you're pregnant.
SPEAKER_03:You know what? That's a rally for it. Oh my god, I would love that. Yeah, yeah. And how did you go through your second trimester and your third trimester?
SPEAKER_01:Second trimester energy started to come back. I felt like amazing. I had the big bump out the front, and everyone knew I was pregnant, so there was no more like, how are you going?
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, just like you know, it was it was like, Yay, there's a baby in my belly, yeah, so exciting.
SPEAKER_03:Um, such a joyful time.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, telling everyone, and and I just felt great. I felt good all the time. Um, so second trimester for me was was brilliant, absolutely loved it. Yeah, I would do that over again for sure.
SPEAKER_03:And you could exercise and eat well, and energy was good.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was back into the gym, I was doing my walks, walking with Sunny, my dog, every day, and doing Pilates like a few times a week, and just back into that selfish era of just doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to do it. I remember those days. Things change.
SPEAKER_00:I didn't want to believe it, but it's things do change.
SPEAKER_03:Journey from maiden to mother, hey. Oh, starts in pregnancy. Yeah, for sure. So then we get to about the 40-week mark when you know that's our two date that we're given, and we start to feel like you know, birth um is coming any day. Um, and tell us a bit about how those final weeks were for you leading up to the birth.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So um I hadn't said this yet, but uh Jack and I were planning a home birth, and um we decided that from before I was pregnant. So before I even um became pregnant, we wanted to have a home birth. Um my cousin.
SPEAKER_03:Someone do you think? Yeah, your cousin, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, my beautiful cousin had two lovely homebirds. Um, my nana had ten. Wow. What a woman. Seven of those being home birds, um, back in Malta in her house. Wow. Two-bedroom house in Malta. Um and that made me and then my mum had three um vaginal birds in hospital, all wonderful hospital birds. And beautiful, positive outlook on birth and our bodies. Yeah, I always did. And um mum always just framed it as like, oh, you know, you can do it. It's three pushes and they're out. Like she would literally say things like that. I'm like, Mum, what the hell? Um in the end, sure the fat one was a little bit through, but I know she said that, but um, I'm sure it all helped my mindset because I felt really confident that my body was gonna be able to do this. Yeah. Um I had to work through some fears to um be able to sort of get the home birth that I that Jack and I had wanted. We did lots of preparation, I read lots of books, hired you as my dual um to support me, and that was incredible. I had a home birth midwife as well. And yeah, we sort of just got started planning. Um, we got all of the equipment ready to go at home. We had the pool. Jack and I had done a run through with the pool. Yeah, it was really funny. We we timed it. We're like, oh yay, I'm in labour. Blow up the pool at 2 a.m. Fill it up. Yeah, fill it up, make sure there's enough water in the water tank. We're on tank water in a tiny cabin. You know, there's all all this stuff going on. So we did a full run through.
SPEAKER_03:It's a real logistical thing getting that pool blown up. 100%.
SPEAKER_01:And I'll give you some um secret information as well. Jack and I, like after um the pool was all blown up, we were like, cool, okay, amazing. This is how long it took. Yeah. Jack's like, should we have a like a swim? And I'm like, well, it's blown up in the lounge room. Of course we would. So I get in totally buckwild, naked, so pregnant, 40 weeks pregnant. Actually, I'm 37 at this time because we we practiced differently. Yeah, five weeks later, I go, but um, I got in there, I'm floating around in this um blow-up pool in our lounge room, and I'm like, this is amazing. Yeah. Like, I just want to have like a little pool in front of my TV all the time. Jack rips off his gear and he jumps in the hall too.
unknown:I love it.
SPEAKER_03:You know, you've got to prep some labour at birth. Like, and men are in there too.
SPEAKER_01:That was so funny. And Jack just said, God, imagine if this thing popped and we just we fell out like fish and just went all the way down the hallway, just swimming. Oh my gosh, two naked bodies, just swimming down through our our house like hilarious.
SPEAKER_02:So that's what we were doing. Waste of water.
SPEAKER_01:No, yes, that's right. Um, so yeah, that that was all what we were doing beforehand. Anyway, that was 37 weeks.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, before things got serious. Yeah, 40 weeks comes along. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm like, okay, it's my due date. Woohoo! Time to have this baby. Yeah. Um, I was having Bracks and Hicks like so much. All day, every day, I was getting the tightenings of my belly um where I would poke it and it was like hard as a rock. Yeah. And I was like, wow, that is really my tummy is really prepping to push this baby out. Is labor gonna start soon? So from 40 weeks onwards, everyone's like, two date, yeah, the baby's coming, baby's coming. And um the baby did not come. Uh it was not long after this, I think, that you uh uh gave me the book called In Your Own Time.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Sarah Wickham's book. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And I recall Jack and I laying out on the deck in the sun and he was reading this book to me to and it was it's all about how, you know, in different parts of the world the due date is it's 42 weeks in France, I think. Yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_03:Like, you know, and then um And the way it's calculated. The way it's so different and our cycles are all different lengths. And it's also a um genetic component with how long our mothers are gestated for is all part of it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and because I wanted a home birth, um induction isn't part of that, you know. So I was waiting for a spontaneous labour to come. Um and it it didn't. And uh 41 weeks came along and every night I was going to bed thinking tonight's the night, we're about to meet our baby. And every mor every middle of the night I would wake up every night and just be awake for hours and just go and watch movies because I just had insomnia and I was struggling. Oh my god, my body was my tummy was so big that rolling from one side to the other put so much weight onto my elbows and my arms and my shoulders and my wrists, which had really bad carpal tunnel. So I had to wear wrist guards every night to bed, which meant I couldn't move my my wrists at all. Yeah, and all that. So, like, how do you get yourself out of bed when you can't move or put weight on your wrists?
SPEAKER_03:And you've got a huge belly out the front, on top of exhaustion from sleep deprivation, exactly, and people checking in saying you had the baby, thinking that you've like hidden it from them or then thinking I need to have a child out of my vagina soon as well.
SPEAKER_01:And I've never done that before. It's like oh god, yeah, it was it was the most intense time of my life. Every night going to bed, thinking tonight's night, waking up honestly, feeling depressed every single morning. I would just wake up in tears and cry for hours. I was just sitting on the couch, just crying my eyes out. Jack took this time off work as well. He could tell I really needed the support. And um yeah, I don't know why. As soon as that due date hit, I just started feeling so many feelings of sadness, of um, the closer I'm getting to my baby coming is actually further away in my head. Does that make sense? Like, why did I feel like every day I was getting further and further away from meeting him? It's a really weird phenomenon, and I think a lot of other women have experienced that as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and mental health is such a big part of pregnancy and late pregnancy too, and motherhood in general. 100%. And yeah, when it comes up on you when you're not expecting it, it's a lot to navigate.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I've never experienced any form of depression before or anxiety, so it was a real big hit to me. Um, so 41 weeks comes along, and I'm like, oh goodness, like how far am I willing to go with my home birth dream and getting to the end of my physical capabilities of carrying this baby, wanting to intervene and wanting medical intervention to help. Like, what do I do here? And and I was just tossing and turning over this same thought every day, all day, every day. And I just, you know, I decided, okay, um, you know, I'll get to 42 weeks. And at 42 weeks, I'll go in and, you know, have the baby in hospital, which honestly was not a big deal. I was never worried, you know, I was I was like, I'll happily go to hospital.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:But Jack and I have prepped for this beautiful home birth in which we would have our baby in our lounge room and then get into bed together with our baby at home. And we just we just thought that this was this was gonna be the most beautiful thing. Yeah. And so we, you know, had obviously prepped a lot as well and planned a lot. Um 42 weeks came then, and it was and my mental state was getting worse and worse and worse, and my physical state as well. Like, I I remember saying to my midwife, like, I don't think I'm gonna be strong enough to give birth. And she said, and she was amazing, she said, like, trust me, yeah, your body is going to do what it has to do. Like, women don't sleep for like three days during labor sometimes, and they still do it. Like, um, so I just you know trusted what what she said and tried to stay encouraging, yeah. Tried to stay a bit positive, even though I wasn't being positive at all.
SPEAKER_03:I was literally like, nothing's gonna work, is it ever gonna happen? I'm not gonna meet him. Like I remember chatting you to you through that time and trying to reassure you, but then also understanding that there is a limit that people come to, and I yeah, you certainly reached that limit, and I think like you did a an amazing job getting to 42 weeks, yeah. Um, and staying strong through those final few days that you were really experiencing those anxieties and really low moods.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, it was it was intense. So 42 weeks came along and I was like, I'll give it a little bit more time. So I decided 42 and two was my max. Yeah. Um, I had uh lots and lots of signs of labor starting for days. Yeah. I lost my mucus plug. Yes, I um had so many Braxton hicks. I lost I don't know I can't really remember the other ones what was happening, but there were there were signs of labor.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I was having contractions, you know. I thought they felt like yeah. I I I think what happened was Bobby was like down, kind of ready to go, but his arm was in the way, and so he wasn't getting into the optimal position or something just yet. So I did lots of inversions and you know spinning babies. You gave us some spinning babies practice movements, and Jack and I were doing those like every day, honestly. Um, doing a lot of that. But uh yeah, 42 and two came. Yes. And I just decided on that day, yep, this is as far as I can go. I'm physically really cooked now. Um, let's go. So the beautiful thing about having you as a duel is you were gonna come with me to the hospital and we were just gonna go and have a hospital birth. Yeah. Um, so that's what we did. We went down the night before, stayed in the hospital um with by myself. Um, and that was really hard to just like be separated from Jack. Yeah. To go from we're going, him and I are gonna do our home birth together. It's gonna be him and I and he's gonna help me do all this to then being just separate, and other people are now sort of a bit in control. Was a little bit hard. Um but you know, it was okay. Um, I got an induction at 6 a.m. the next morning.
SPEAKER_03:Did you start with the balloon?
SPEAKER_01:We did, sorry, the night before, yeah. So they put the balloon in the cervix and blew it up. And then that was like stretching my cervix out overnight. So I started getting contractions that night. Lots of cramping. Cramps. Really uncomfortable. Really, really uncomfortable. Did you have a shared room? Yes. Yes, I did, and she was snoring. The poor thing. She had gestational diabetes, I think, and yeah, she was only only about halfway, but she yeah, she was needing some help. So because of that, yeah, she was snoring and keeping me awake all night, and that was really hard work.
SPEAKER_03:All the machines beeping in the hallways, exactly, people walking by.
SPEAKER_01:People will come in and trolling these blood pressures, yeah. And I'm like, oh my gosh, don't you think I need to sleep because I'm about to go through labour. But anyway, as my midwife said, your body will do it, don't worry.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and you set yourself up so beautifully, like 42 and 2. Yeah, the body was so so so ready and so close. Like, you know, yeah, you gave yourself the best shot.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I do now looking back as well, feel like letting my body take its time did help to have such an efficient labour, exactly, which is what it really does end up being.
SPEAKER_03:So um and all those Braxton's that you're talking about, like that's the body, you know, prepping for labour for an efficient labour so everything can go smoothly. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:So the next morning um they come in to take me and give me my induction, but they came like an hour earlier than they told Jack it was gonna be. So uh I text him and I'm like, they're doing it now. And he was like, Oh shit, let me get there. And he like sped down um to the hospital to get there, but he didn't get there in time for them breaking my waters.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:They already did that. Okay, but that's okay because um I was fine. Yeah. And um they yeah, they did they decided how they were gonna induce me was break my waters. I remember from yours and my uh podcast episode about your birds that the cintocinin, is that how you say it? Cintocinin drip um was very intense. Yes. And so I talked to the nurses at the hospital about this and said, can we break my waters and then can I have a little break to see if I go into labour naturally? Yeah. Um, because I wanted to avoid the hormone drip if I could. Yeah. You know, because then I could be a little bit closer to my um natural sort of phone birth vibe that I wanted. And I love how you knew your options so beautifully, like along the way. Lots of reading. I read everything about all the different options that you can choose at hospital, um, so that I yeah, just felt comfortable with it. Yeah, exactly. And it to be clear, all of the having all the choices at the hospital is absolutely incredible. And any choice that any woman wants to make for herself, she should feel empowered to do. Um, and this is these are just my choices for what I wanted, and we're all individuals. So I don't want anyone to feel like my choices, if they're different to what yours were, that it that I'm saying that mine are better in any way. I'm not saying that. What I'm just saying is this is the kind of birth that I wanted for myself based on my family history, based on my family's goals, my, you know, it's it's just it's for me, it's personal. Totally.
SPEAKER_03:And everyone makes choices so differently. Like you can give the same information to people and then they'll choose different things because of all sorts of reasons. Like, you know, um different things we don't even know about the person. So yeah, and everyone is valid.
SPEAKER_01:And every single way a baby is birthed is beautiful in itself, and and yeah, I just really wanted to make that that point. Um I think it's really important for people, yeah, to not compare and uh yeah, that's a big thing for me. I think not not comparing, just focusing on our own our own things. Yes, that's it. Um, so where was I going with that?
SPEAKER_03:So you had your borders broken and then you wanted to wait.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I wanted to wait before I had the hormone drip if I could. And that was because I heard that it can go from zero to a hundred. Yeah. And that kind of scared me. Yeah. So that's why I made that decision. I'm not um opposed to hormones or medical interventions in any way in my life at all. I'm not really like that. I just wanted to see what my body would do without intervention. Um and surprise, surprise, because this is what happened with my mum. She had her waters broken and then went straight into labour.
SPEAKER_03:Amazing. I told them you had that really positive outlook already. Yeah, I did.
SPEAKER_01:And I said, might this happen to my mum, like maybe it will happen for me. Can we try that? So they gave me that little bit of um wiggle room. Yeah. And I had my waters broken and immediately went into some spinning babies. Yeah. So I was doing lunges and I was doing all these inversions and everything. And I think that's about the time you got there. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So I think Nina was there earlier. Yes. And your mum and Jack were there. Yeah. And um a big thing for me was not being uh in the way of anyone, and also being mindful that there's normally only two support people in the hospital. So I was sort of an extra person. And when I arrived, I came in quietly, and I I wasn't even sure if you'd had your waters broken, to be honest, because I was I was chatting with Nina. Um, so I was like, oh, I wonder where she's at. And I came in and and then I could see immediately that you were labouring. Yeah. I was like, oh, um, thank you. Yeah, and you were sort of like trying to play it cool, like, hey Matt, you know, it's all good, you know, hey doing, and yeah, and then you'd have a contraction and you know, you breathe through it beautifully, and um yeah, and I sort of was like, okay, this is happening, this is great. Um, and you were just doing so well, like you were breathing through your contractions, Jack was supporting you amazingly. Um, you had the room, you know, things are set up so beautifully. Um, and I just popped a few other little things around. Um, and yeah, it was all go and the room was just alive with like yeah, excitement.
SPEAKER_01:Um, and yeah. When um I was having those initial contractions, I was like, oh my god, guys, I'm having these contractions, they're really painful. And I was like, and I just remember Nina saying, This isn't really labor, just like she's like, it's labor, but just you know, it's just starting. And I was like, What?
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god, no way.
SPEAKER_01:I just had to be so strong mentally, and I think that was my yeah, the thing I was focusing on so much was just um welcoming every contraction with open arms as opposed to fearing them. I know and I had read about fear in labor and what it does to the body. Yes, the fear, the tension. There's literally a response that happens in our body when we're scared and we tense and tighten. And what do we think would happen to our body trying to open, trying to open to birth a baby, and we're tightening every muscle in our body, that's gonna lengthen our labours. Yeah, and I knew that. So I just would shake my hips, yes, and like yeah, and every time a contraction would come, Jack would just like help me to breathe, and I just tried to imagine every single one of my muscles turning to jelly. Beautiful, uh like that and shake it off and become a jelly pie. Literally, and it worked because I went super quickly from like early labour, like initial labour, to active labour. Yeah, yeah. I think it was one hour.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it was so fast, you were so ready. Like you said, you gave your body everything it needed to prepare, and then you just had your waters broken, and things were moving along so beautifully. Yeah, um, and that spinning babies would have set up um Bobby into a beautiful position to come down through the pelvis smoothly. Yeah, um, all those Braxton that you were talking about would have, you know, built up a really nice strong uterus ready to move the baby down, and all your mental preparation and your physical preparation that you did throughout pregnancy as well just meant that you were ready to give birth.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it all went so smoothly. I was very ready. So every contraction was coming, and I was becoming a jelly pie. Yeah, and then active labor began, and it was like, oh my gosh, it was so so intense, it was all consuming from my head to my toes. Yeah, it took every bit of mental ability to keep going. Um you used your vocalization beautifully as well. I yes, I learned about that the deep like mooing and how that really helps. Yeah. So I became a cow.
SPEAKER_03:But it was a jelly pie cow, you know, so instinctual and um primal. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And my goal as well when going into the hospital was to have a like a water birth. And I was luckily a candidate for that. Um, unfortunately, not everyone can be a candidate for a water birth, there's many different reasons why not, but I was luckily able to. So we knew I was going to use the pool, and I was really excited for that. Yes. I had also practiced lots of like the tens machine, the birthing comb, and I knew I had all those tools available to me. But I and I honestly think I would have used them if I had gone into labor earlier. But the fact I was 42 and 2 and I was that over it, yeah, that all I cared about this baby ejecting from my body, I could I could not tell you how much I wanted him to come out of my body. Yes. Um, so I said no to any tools, yeah. I didn't use anything, and I just used my breath and my mind and Jack.
SPEAKER_03:They are the most powerful tools.
SPEAKER_01:100%. The rest is a bit of distraction. It is, you know. Yeah. And I just thought, let's let's just go, let's just do this. So after an hour, I'm in active labour, and it is like I'm naked, mooing like a cow.
SPEAKER_03:But you were doing the best job at staying controlled and rounded. I don't really remember too much.
SPEAKER_01:You were absolutely amazing. Like all the videos and photos that you got are like priceless. So having a door to be there and take photos and videos, I I wouldn't have any of those if you weren't there. Like, I wouldn't have even known what happened if you weren't there, because we like talked about it obviously afterwards. Um, but yeah, something just took over and it was primal, and I became this wild mother animal just wanting to get the baby out. But also so controlled.
SPEAKER_03:Like there wasn't any point where you lost control or um, you know, um, yeah, you were amazing.
SPEAKER_01:So I get in the pool. I think. Yes. Oh, actually, I want to talk about the um affirmation cards first because they were really impactful. Yeah. So I didn't, like you said, you wanted to be in the background and just make sure every everything was happening well for me and you were there for me if I needed you.
SPEAKER_03:Um I think what I did really well for you was um what they say, what they call holding space. Yes. Um and like, you know, um hard to describe. But holding space is when you're just making sure that everyone is comfortable, um, that the birthing woman is um being well supported and um preempting any needs that might come up for for you or for Jack, and your mum was with you as well. So knowing that you had those two right by your side, um I could just see that you were so in control, so well supported, you knew exactly what you were doing and you were following your instincts, and yeah, I could just see it all unfolding so beautifully 100%.
SPEAKER_01:And yeah, it was really impactful having you there. And you went around and you turned off like was it a sensor light in the bathroom?
SPEAKER_03:Oh my god, massive sensor that comes on when you go into the toilet when you want to be blinding light when you're like labouring, yeah, mooing naked, like trying to push a baby out.
SPEAKER_01:That was amazing just to have darkness to go in there. Yes, um, there was like some candlelight, like fairy lights and things, and that was beautiful. The pool was lit, uh pool was filled and warm and ready for me, and then I was labouring by the ballet bar and um I looked up and you'd stuck affirmation cards in front of me, in front of that bar, and I didn't see you do that, I didn't know you do did that at all. But I just looked at them and what they said, like, and it just spurred me uh spurred me along. And I thought, I can I can do this. So good. Yeah, and so the birth is building. I think it's been you know, maybe two hours by this point um since I had my waters broken. Yeah. Really quick. Really quick. Um, yeah. So then I get into the pool and I start to float, and I'm like uh arms back, leg, you know, body up, and I'm just like bobbing in the water. And that made my hips feel so loose and open. Amazing. So Bobby's coming down the birth canal. Yeah, he was posterior, and so I had also thought, oh, I've I've heard they can be a bit longer, these labors, they could maybe be a bit more painful. So I'd had that fear that I had to work through as well, and I just let my body do its thing. Um eventually I, you know, the contractions and the surges were coming along really, really intensely. But I every time I was a jelly pie in the pool floating um for like an hour.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think you just looked so relaxed in the pool and glorious, and you have these intense contractions that you'd breathe through so beautifully, and then you just relax back into your jelly pie. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:And I'd coached Jack a lot on oh the crisis of confidence that women can come across at different stages of centimeters being checked. And I had requested not to have any vaginal exams. Is that what they're called? Yeah, yeah. To like check how many centimetres you are. I just thought, nope, I don't want to be told that I'm this far because I know that things can change really quick, and I just didn't want anything to mentally make me feel like oh we've got to have done all this work for nothing, or you know, nothing, you know.
SPEAKER_03:They can be really um disheartening if if I get a number that you're expecting. Exactly. So the other thing is they can be really interruptive of your flow. True. And you're labouring really well too.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I think that would have really interrupted me. So nobody touched me.
SPEAKER_03:Amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Um, obviously, I had the Doppler to check Bobby's heart rate a lot. Um I had the thing around my belly at first and I didn't want it because I was going in and out of the, I was going in the pool and all that kind of stuff. So instead I had a Doppler going on and off, which is what I would have had at um home for my home birth. So that was great. Um, his heartbeat was like perfect the whole time. He was just chilling. Um, so I felt really confident every time they checked the Doppler. I literally was like in my head, I can just tell you what his heartbeat is.
SPEAKER_03:I know my baby safe.
SPEAKER_01:I can literally tell he's good right now. Yeah, exactly. That's your intuition and your instincts, and yeah, and then they they'd put it on there and there was his perfect heartbeat every time. And I just thought, I know, guys, I can tell you that. That's right. They have to check. Yeah. Um, so then after a while, one of the hospital midwives said, uh, I think things things weren't slowing down, but she was like, I think we could change position. You've been in the pool for a little bit. That's it, yeah. So I was like, okay, let's get me out and I'll go sit on the toilet. Yeah. So got out walking whilst having contractions isn't it?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, not insane.
SPEAKER_01:So you've got a head sort of in your pelvis, yeah, sort of about to come out, and you're trying to walk, and then having getting out of the pool is such a big movement.
SPEAKER_03:Your ships go over, and then you've got to come down those steps. Yeah. And that's all part of that suggestion of getting out of there. Yeah, and you get to get different movements, it's amazing. Baby shift through the pelvis.
SPEAKER_01:And it's exactly what happened. They're so clever. So the pool was getting a bit manky because I'd been like having all these contractions. There was like some blood in there and some mucus and all that kind of stuff that obviously, you know, comes out when you're giving birth. Um, so I go around to the bathroom. Um, there was a lot of blood, you know, coming at. Not a lot, but like as in there's drips on the floor and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. And the waters. Yeah, from the waters and everything going on. And it was quite messy. I just remember thinking, like, oh my god, afterwards, like, wow, this looks so messy. Like, there's some thank God this is getting like clean and this is not in my home. Yeah. Like I remember. Yeah, I've just got brand new carpet. Yeah. So um I went to the toilet. Um, I got there and I sat down on the toilet, and the hospital have these great like bars either side of the toilet that you can hold on to. And they call the toilet dilation dilation station. I remember reading that and going, I'm gonna probably give birth on the toilet because this is like dilation station. Yeah. I sat down and I had three intense contractions on the toilet. Um, I was holding the bars, standing up, and I was swaying my hips from side to side, mooing so loudly. I think I was like the loudest person in the hospital. Like, surely people who would have had to hear me down the hallway.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, maybe. But who cares? But you were honestly, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That's how women sound in labor. That's right. That's true. It's a woman giving birth. Yeah. Um, Jack wanted to go to the bathroom at this point. And so he was like, I just remember mum and Jack were crowding me.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, that's right. Yeah, they were like really close to me, like, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_01:Like, yeah, they were like really trying to help me. I'm like, I'm like, get back.
SPEAKER_00:That's right. Everybody step back. I I think I was like, I just need space. Move away. I'm giving birth to the baby.
SPEAKER_01:You can't do this for me. Yeah, you can't do this for me. Um, and so I think I was going through transition at that point, which is, you know, where you are 10 centimetres. Yeah. Actually, I think it was in the no, it was still kind of happening. So it did on the on the bathroom toilet. Jack went to the toilet down the hall because I had told him to please step off and go away. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So he walked out and he was like, so he walked out and he's like, I'm gonna go to the toilet before she buttons my head off.
SPEAKER_01:Um, and then I I remember Nina saying, like, how you going or something? And you if you want to, you can reach down and see if you can feel the baby. Yeah. And I was like, oh my god, you're kidding me. I I actually reached down, put my fingers in of my foo foo, and felt his head. Wow. And I was like, surreal way. Uh I was like, his head's coming out. Yeah. I yelled out, and Nina was like, okay, great. Um, Jack came back in the room.
SPEAKER_00:We were like, Jack, get in there!
SPEAKER_01:And she's like, um, she's having the baby. Jack's like, oh my god, what the hell? I was gone for two minutes. Um so it had been by this stage three and a half hours or four hours or something. So fast. That's it. Yeah. I feel the baby's head. Yeah. They, in this time that I've been on the toilet having three big contractions, have refilled the pool. Yes, refreshed the whole bar. So it was beautiful. The pool was so lovely, warm, clean. Yes. Mum and Jack, I think, walked me back to the pool. They did. Yep. I got back in somehow. I had a few contractions on the way. I remember standing next to the pool and just being like, Yeah, it's hard work. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Then got one leg over, got back in the pool. I remember transitioning the pool because um I knew that in transition lots of women, and I had been told and heard through many birth stories that I listened to that that is the point where women are like, I cannot do this.
SPEAKER_03:Please say, Yeah, that that's it. Save me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I can't do it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um, or they'll say they need the epideral or yeah, I feel like my cousin said, I think I'm gonna die. Um at a home birth gathering at your house. I remember someone saying, like, can you hit me in the head with a brick? That's right. Yeah. Some really heavy, like really intense stuff, intense things. Um, and I just remember thinking, when's that gonna happen? When's that gonna happen? And yeah, for me, because I was again, I had let my body go to where it needed to go. My transition was just saying the word no over and over. I just was like, no, no, no, no, no. Like that that was the point where I was I did have thoughts of this is totally cooked. I don't think I can do this. Um, but I I switched it and never said that out loud. I knew if I said that out loud, I might start to believe it.
SPEAKER_03:So I just went and in that moment, were you feeling like intense pressure in that moment, or was it before the pressure was building?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I the yeah, the pressure was there the whole time. The pressure was there in transition. Yeah, that that feeling was like my bones were being reached. Yeah, okay, yeah, and that pelvising apart.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, yeah, yeah, and that's when that counterpressure can be so effective. Definitely.
SPEAKER_01:But I was already in the pool, wasn't I at that time? Yeah. So um then it's time for him to come out. Yes. Um, and I went quiet at this point.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you really changed from that primal roaring in the active labour stage, um, and the more the vocal to really inward um in the pushing stage. So it kind of sounded and looked like things were slowing down, maybe not maybe from others' perspective, like the jackpot. Um but it was clear that you were working really hard, putting all your energy into bringing your baby down. Um, and you were just concentrating and staying so inward and present in your body.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was I was fearful of tearing, and so I knew I needed to slow down. Yeah. I had been told by a couple of other friends that they had like pushed really hard and that they tore. And so I was like, okay, I'm just gonna really just let him slowly ease out. And I've heard that the babies can go out and in and out and in and stretch your body to the point that they need to, and so I thought, okay, let's give that a go. How do you even like remember these things when you're going through the most you did well? I don't know. Lots of sorts of training state of out of body totally. Yeah. So um I had felt that his head was coming out. I got into the position of elbows down on the step of the pool and knees. Yeah, like four-point kneeling, pretty much, and knees down on the bottom of the pool, elbows on the step. Yeah. Um, so my whole body's in the pool, and I'm just opening my hips as much as possible, breathing, and just his head started to come out. I could see it, I could feel it, and I started to get the ring of fire, which is where like the vaginal opening, yeah, vulva opening so much that it's really stretching. I wasn't that bad. I don't I didn't hate that. Like it just felt like, yeah, the ring of fire. Yeah. You know, like if you've had curry and you go to do a poop, kind of like that feeling, just like this hot feeling. Yeah. Um, but it wasn't so bad for me. The transition was obviously the the hard part. So then the actual pushing phase was here. I wasn't doing anything myself. Yeah, my body did all the pushing, so it felt like vomiting, but out my foo-poo. You know, that feeling of yeah, it's like a reflex that you can't control. Yeah, I was gonna vomit the baby out. And I I thought he was coming out my butt. That's what it felt like. Yes, there's so much pressure on the rectum. Yeah, exactly. Or the same area, obviously. Exactly. It felt like he was gonna come out my bottom. I think I said that to Jack at one point. He's coming out my bum. And Jack's like, he's not coming out your bum. Yeah, he's coming out your foo-foo. Um, so I started to do these short sharp breaths. Yes, he did. Beautiful. Like that, really quiet, just focused on letting him do his thing. Yeah, I felt him turn.
SPEAKER_03:Amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Because he was posterior, yeah, facing the other way. I felt him turn into the position that he needed to be. Yeah, which was wild. And I thought I said his turning.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um and I think your the position you chose being forward leaning and having your hips open meant that the baby could find space to move. Definitely, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:My dream was to catch my own baby. Yes. I honestly didn't think that was possible, so I had wanted Jack to do it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I remember like when I said that to Nina, Jack was like, so do I wear gloves. And I'm like, Jack, you're catching your child. Do you wear gloves to touch your own child? Come on. Don't be stupid. But that was just like that's funny. That's funny. Just shows, you know. Mate, you're we need these feminine ideologies in the room, guy. So I had to- But there's so much to learn, isn't there? There is, yeah. So I thought, okay, well, Jack's gonna catch the baby. But Nina knew that I wanted to catch the baby. Yeah. And uh he started his his head started to come down. Yeah, he was now facing upward. So his head came out. I I felt his head coming out slowly with my hand. I could tell he was there, and mum and Jack were watching, everyone was watching, and I could hear Mum and Jack crying and saying, Oh my god, oh my god, yeah, he is.
SPEAKER_03:He was so controlled with that emergence of his head, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:His head came out, his eyes came out, and he had his eyes open, he was looking up. Yes. And um at that point, I uh went went sort of back onto my knees and reached down with my hands, and I felt his head, and I slowly uh l released him out of my body into my own hands. So I did catch him, sort of came up into a kneeling position, grabbed him, out he came, he was under the water, beautiful um and lifted him up out of the water, and he didn't cry immediately, but he did have the cord sort of wrapped around him in a few different spots, and so we just me and the hospital midwife just slowly unwrapped him very calmly, yeah, no worries, yes, and then there he was, he was there phenomenal, it was amazing, it was amazing, so good to witness. Yeah, it was the most yeah, wow, thinking about it now. I'm like, I cannot believe that happened six months ago.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I know, right? Wow, it was absolutely stunning to see you just have full control over the experience, yeah. Um, and knowing that yeah, you knew exactly how to lift him up, and you even um really facilitated that, you know, um untwisting of the cord really beautifully, like it was almost like a like you know, a primal thing as well. Exactly. I knew I just needed to get him fuss about it and pull him up to my chest. Yeah, and then he just took his breath, yeah, his breath beautifully.
SPEAKER_01:There was um yeah, a little crying and yeah, yeah, and yeah, yeah, he seemed absolutely perfect when he came out and um yeah, did his breaths, and I just got to sit there and look at him, and I just like staring at his face, I was like, Oh my god, yeah, you are my son. Yeah, and I just got to hold him the whole time. Yeah, he's obviously still connected to me. I've got the placenta still in my body. So maybe I should explain what happened with the placenta because that was yeah, pretty hectic as well. I mean, amazing. Yeah. Um so all in all, it took just over four hours of um of labour to have the baby, which was incredible. I was prepping myself for a three-day labour, and that's what I had always said like three days of labour, you know, you can you can do it, three days of labour, focus on that, like, and then anything less is a bonus. Yeah, and so four hours was just wild. Yeah. Um, so I did tear when I gave birth to Bobby, but I didn't feel it. I don't know why. I didn't feel anything like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Tear and repair. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And it was a second degree, so I think it was a very common, I feel like a high percentage of birds they have that second degree tear. Um, so it was great to be at the hospital um to get the doctor to come in as soon as I was ready and re-stitch, um, although that was a service I was going to be able to do at home too. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I don't know, it just worked out really, really well. Yeah. So I had the placenta in there. How long? Do you remember how long we were sitting in the pool before we got out? Was that 15 minutes?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, about 15 minutes.
SPEAKER_01:15 minutes. And then I'm like, okay, like you know, there's a lot of blood in the pool and a lot of like gunk, and I would like to get out now. Who wants to sit in a pool for that long anyway? You know, I've been in there for hours, let's get out. Um, and I was like, okay, we'll go over to the bed and I'll have the um give birth to placenta, hopefully. Um I know it can come anytime, um, hopefully not too long after you give birth. So um I thought, yeah, we'll see. Anyway, I stood up and Nina had said, You could just give a little cough and see what happens when you stand up. So I stood up, standing in the pool, Bobby in my arms, and I was like, okay, I'll just give it a little little cough and a little push. And the hospital midwife held a bowl underneath me, and I pushed and my placenta fell out of my body. Amazing into this so official this huge organ. Yes, it's this massive thing that I've just grown in my body. It's just it has encased Bobby. Yeah, and he has had his life force from this, you know, this organ that that just came out in such a beautiful way into a bowl. And then um yeah, we left Bobby attached to the placenta um for a while until all the blood had passed through and he'd had his full, you know, the cord was white, um, and he'd got all of his blood back from that placenta. And then Jack cut the cord. Um we started some breastfeeding. Yeah. Um he latched straight away, which was really good. Breastfeeding has been a whole journey in itself, but um you you gave me some food. Yeah, you hand fed me while I laid in bed holding the baby. You what did you spoon feed me? Some the rice pudding. Rice pudding, which is my favourite. That was amazing. Um, and then the doctor came in and did some stitches. I didn't feel that either because they numb you. And then we uh yeah, had a couple of visitors four hours after I gave birth. We were out of there. We just we got to leave and go home, take the baby. All done in a day. All done in a day. My private midwife got to come back to the house and do all my checks and things over the next six weeks as well. So that, yeah, that was convenient and nice experience.
SPEAKER_03:Um throughout pregnancy and then into postpartum.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I just think that the Hobart hospital, Hobart Royal Hospital is just like I just had the best experience. The rooms were so amazing, the midwives were amazing, the nurses were amazing, like birth pools, incredible, yeah. It was so stunning. And yes, I didn't get my home birth dream in the end, but like I said, it was messy, so yeah, you know, I'm glad I didn't have to clean half the big consideration.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, exactly. And I feel like you were never like set on it, like you were always so open, like you know, it was never like this grieving process of around like not having your dream home birth. It was more just around doing what was right at the time for you and making sure that you were, yeah, making choices that felt good along the way. Which you did each other, yeah. And beautiful job.
SPEAKER_01:I didn't want to be strict about anything either way, like I was I didn't want to be strict about not having the hormones or strict about not um about having the home birth. It was nothing like that, because I'm all about balance. Bit of this, bit of that, how you feel in the moment, just follow your heart and yeah, all of those decisions led to what I feel like was the best outcome that I could have possibly had. And yeah, it was the the most beautiful start to Bobby's life. We Everyone came over to the house that same day. Wow. To get birth at midday. Yes. And by four o'clock we were home and having like platters with this baby. Such a celebration. And then it was just the the baby bubble from there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, beautiful. Oh, that's so special. An incredible birth story.
SPEAKER_01:It was amazing. So thank you so much for your help. Like honestly, having a doula, I've said this before online, but I just feel that every woman deserves a doula and it's just the most powerful thing. So if you if you have the means to have one, I couldn't recommend it enough. Um, or you know, it could be such a beautiful gift for a um brides not for bridesmaids for um what's it called? Baby shower gifts, yeah, from everyone contributing to a a birth doula for the pregnant uh mum or um a postpartum doula, you know, like just doula services are just out of this world important for women. So you know, it was such an honor to be there.
SPEAKER_03:Such an honor. And yeah, honestly, it's a privilege to, you know, witness the whole journey and transformation. And um, you know, I've been following you online and seeing your whole um, you know, your lifestyle and your approach to things and yeah, being being with you through the birth of your baby was absolutely inspiring and yeah, it was so so beautiful. Yeah, thank you, darling.
SPEAKER_01:No, it was the best day of my life, even though it was the hardest, it was yeah, what do you do?
SPEAKER_03:What do you feel like you're proudest of from that whole journey from navigating those final weeks to birthing your baby to bringing him home? What do you feel like?
SPEAKER_01:Honestly, I think I'm proud most proud of the research that I did. Um reading, yes, understanding a woman, a woman's body. I think I had to learn everything about physiological birth to trust that my body was going to do that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And if it didn't, then I knew where I had to be to get the help that I needed, the the support. Um, but if it did, then great, I can trust my body to do this. And I think that's what really helped me so much in my mindset and going into it without any drugs and without any tools and just just my breath. I did a breath work, um, what's it called? Um, where you breathe, you practice. Yeah, hypnobirthing. Yeah. We did a full hypnobirthing course, you know, every night for half an hour. Jack and I were reading doing this course. The amount of books I read was insane. I listened to probably a hundred different birth stories. Totally. I dove in and sometimes I feel like that's what it takes, like that dedication. Really immersing yourself into training for something. Yeah. And that's kind of what I was training for. Yeah, it's a real marathon. It is. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, and even like you said, you know, you came to um the gathering at my place and listened to the birth stories from the women who had it recently given birth. And I just remember how like um dedicated you were to listening and learning. Yeah. And you were so open to asking questions about how people navigated their own situations with pregnancy if things came up that maybe weren't their first plan with things. Yeah. Um, yeah. So I think that learning really set you up so beautifully.
SPEAKER_01:I think I'm very blessed and lucky and was in the position to be able to spend so much time doing that. A lot of women have, you know, full-time jobs, they have to be out of working two jobs, or um, they don't have, you know, as much support as I do. So I had lots of time and and whatever time that I had, I was studying for this. So I'm really grateful for that. But I I am really proud because I didn't have to do that. No, exactly. And I could have just been sort of ignorant and go, oh, well, hopefully I'll see how I go. And but I'm not that kind of person. Yeah. I don't leave things to chance. I kind of like to um to try to succeed in whatever I'm doing.
SPEAKER_03:And I think like, yeah, success is like, you know, like we were saying earlier, um, everyone makes different choices. And I think the most important thing as well for giving birth is um yeah, knowing your options and being informed, um, and then being in control of your choices, which you were, you were in control along that timeline when you opted uh, you know, to move into the hospital um when you got to a certain point, and then you were respected throughout the induction process, um, and your wishes were all you know respected as well, and um you were listened to. So I think all those things are really, really important, um, no matter how you birth um your education for sure. Yeah, yeah, definitely most proud of that.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And what do you think? Um, how do you think your birth experience has influenced how you've adjusted in the early weeks and months of being a mum?
SPEAKER_01:I think it's definitely played a big role. I've had I've been very again lucky with the initial uh start to motherhood. But like I said, we I walked out of the hospital four hours later, we came home, I was I was in a really good physical state. So there was no stopping me from doing anything. Of course, I was in bed all day for you know a few weeks afterwards without doing anything, any movement, any walking, just fully resting my body. Yeah. Um important. So important. Can't stress that enough. Um, but I think as well because I had been so um focused on just letting my body do this for me, that I had this huge rush of beautiful hormones that were released, these love hormones. I felt this natural high. Yeah. I honestly felt like the highest person in the world. Yeah, that's beautiful. When I gave birth, it was just the most amazing feeling. Um, so I feel like that that helped me. I didn't have any postnatal depression, which I'm very lucky um for. Um, just the obvious sleepless nights with a baby and what whatever that brings, which is you know, irritability and anxiety and rage and all that kind of stuff, which is very normal for postpartum. But yeah, no, no postnatal depression, luckily. And yeah, just good times rolling.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, amazing. Yeah. Thank you so much, Mads.
SPEAKER_01:Do you feel like we've covered enough? I do. I feel um, yeah, like I think that was that was everything. Yeah. Um, if anyone has any questions, you know, reach out to me on Instagram. My Instagram handle has changed from Body by Madison Coach to Madison Vickers. And um, yeah, I'm I'm happy to to chat uh chat more. Um like maybe if you want to know what books I read, I can share all of those with you. Um if you want to know what podcasts I listen to, I can share all of those if you DM me. Um and then yeah, if anyone wants to contact you, Mads, and and have you help them as a doula, how should they do that?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so my Instagram is Maddie.the doula. Um, and you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, um, or my website as well if you just type in Maddie the Doula in um in Google. Yeah. Um, and what about one last parting piece of advice for new mums who are planning uh for pregnancy and planning to move into this season of motherhood? Do you have any advice for them or any wise words or anything that you wish someone had told you that you didn't know?
SPEAKER_01:Or oh goodness, there's just so much. But I just think you need to listen to your intuition. Yeah, beautiful. Let your intuition lead as a mother. Um but then also like be in control of your own education, read when you have time, um, empower yourself with the knowledge of how physiological birth works, trust your body and know that you know um it can do this. One thing that I remember learning was that even women who are in a coma will give birth.
SPEAKER_03:Unreal.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So takes over, hey. Let's get out of the way for giving birth and let our body do the work.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And that's truly what I did. And that that I I think that really helped. I mean, I can't be sure. Yeah. But I would say that it did. Um, I tried to pretend that I was in a coma.
SPEAKER_03:Jelly pie.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, jelly pie. And yeah, out of worshi came in the water in just a few hours.
SPEAKER_03:And yeah, so well, thank you so much for that. Thank you. That was beautiful. And um, I think so many people will take inspiration from your incredible story and your journey and sharing the realities online for other women is yeah, really inspiring. So thank you. And thank you for everything that you've done. And um, yeah, we'll catch you all later.
SPEAKER_00:Bye bye.