Dianna and Tom. A healing VBAC at home.

Empowered to birth has helped give my Husband and I with confidence and knowledge to navigate both of the births of our two sons.

Two completely different births but both beautiful in their own right. 

From Dianna’s Perspective:

During my first pregnancy it was going along so smoothly until I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (GDM) at 28 weeks. This then classed me as high risk and caused lots of angst for the remainder of my pregnancy. 

 My husband and I wanted to know more about birth and how to navigate this diagnosis and that’s how we found Debra at Empowered to Birth. We undertook her Birthing Master-Class.

 Thankfully I was able to control my blood sugars with diet and exercise alone. I was really healthy throughout my pregnancy despite this diagnosis. Going to Debra’s class during this time gave me a safe space to ask questions and gather more information outside of the pressures of the hospital system. 

 As soon I was diagnosed there was talk of induction (at 40weeks if I stayed well). More growth scans were ordered and I had to check my blood sugar several times a day. I questioned the need for more scans and possible intervention if my blood sugar remained stable. But each visit I was presented with different information.

At one visit I was told my baby could be stillborn if I didn't do these things. I was told that doing the necessary steps of extra testing were essential. This was confronting to hear but still hard for me to understand because I was healthy, my blood sugars were fine and information was so disjointed amongst different Doctors. At 38 weeks I was at a routine check-up, as I walked in, induction was brought up straight away. I was told they wanted to do it tomorrow. I was so shocked and dishearten. I explained I only want to do an induction if medically necessary. The Doctor then proceeded to tell me my fundal height indicated the baby was measuring big. When he checked my BP, it was elevated, I am sure it was from such a shock. I had monitoring of the babies’ heart rate and the blood tests showed everything was clinically fine. The pressure and coercion to be induced was building, but I kept declining. Thankfully at 39 weeks my body went into spontaneous labour. After labouring beautifully for 10 hours I had a routine cervix check which found I was 10cm dilated. They told me to push - despite not having any urge to push. (If I had my time again, I wish I knew they did routine checks and I would decline because now I have learnt there is so much more than has to happen than just being "fully dilated".)

 After this series of events, I had an emergency caesarean-section for a prolonged second stage.  

 It was doing the Birthing Master-Class that we gained knowledge and I grew in my confidence to make decisions about my care. Learning the BRAIN acronym was one of the most powerful tools we took away from the class. Because of Debra's Birthing Master-Class I trusted myself to decline growth scans and an induction. My labouring was so beautiful and although it didn't end how I imagined, it taught me so much about trusting my intuition. 

 When my first son was 15 months old, we found out we were pregnant with our 2nd baby! At first, I was excited but it was also very daunting at the prospect of going through Henry's pregnancy again. At 17 weeks I had my first booking in appointment at the hospital and I felt crippled with anxiety. The thought of birthing alone at home or, “free birth”, felt safer than going through the hospital system again. I shared these feeling with my sister who suggested I explore home birthing. So that's what I did! And that’s where my journey to a very healing pregnancy and birth experience started. 

At 19 weeks I called the homebirth midwife and contacted a G.P./Obstetrician to talk about the safety of having a VBAC at home. Both health care professionals supported me fully and from there we had many consultations and I felt so in control of my care. 

 All our midwife appointments were in our home, which was so awesome in a pandemic! At every appointment our baby was healthy and it felt like a counselling session dealing with the emotional pain of my last pregnancy/birth. 

 I declined the GDM test this time and just randomly took my BSL on my old machine and this was so liberating. No one "punished" me for not doing the test, there was no pressure to do things I didn't want to do. My pregnancy was exactly the same, healthy. At one midwife appointment the midwife talked me through the logistics and stages of birthing my baby at home. I just broke down crying as I still couldn't imagine birthing a baby vaginally and bringing them to my chest.

During my pregnancy I also did Debra’s VBAC Master-Class and it gave me so much confidence that I had done everything I'm my power to make this birth experience different and that's the best I could do. It also gave me validation that my past Caesarean Section was not a true emergency and maybe time is something I wasn't given. This gave me confidence and knowledge to know when to say yes to a repeat C section of needed. 

On the 4th of Jan at 5:30pm, 11 days before my due date, I was watching ABC with my nearly 2-year-old and I heard a pop! And then I went to the toilet and my waters had broken! I called my mum who had to travel 4 hours and my midwife who happened to already be in Bendigo (thankfully!) At 6:30 I was in the thick of intense labour. My midwife read my body beautifully and without touching me or doing internals, she knew every stage my body was in. At 8pm I went into the birthing pool and for an hour my body was naturally pushing and this was a new experience for me. It was the most powerful force I have ever felt. At 8:55pm my baby was born into water and I was in such shock that I did it that the midwife helped me bring him to air. Words can't describe that moment. It was incredible, it felt how it was meant to be. It was the moment i dreamed of.

10 mins later I birthed my placenta out of the water with the baby still connected.  

 Because the birth was so quick, my body went into shock. I just felt cold and tired. After some rest, on assessment I had a tear and babies breathing was fast from a fast labour. So, in the middle of the night, we went into the hospital to get checked out. I had a small repaired on the ward and we went home that same night at 4am. Although this was not part of the plan, it was a healing process having a good experience at the hospital. 

 The contrasts of the care I received in both births were stark.

 I really believe it's not the mode of how we birth (vaginally and C section) but the power women are given to birth how they want and where they feel is safest for them.

 As a nurse, never in a million years would I have ever felt like my home was safer than a hospital but now I couldn't imagine preparing for birth in any other space. I'm really thankful for both of the courses that my Husband and I did with Debra at Empowered to birth, it was the best information we got and help us gave confidence navigating our pregnancy and births of our boys. 

From Tom’s perspective:

As an expectant father, I found the Empowered to Birth course extremely helpful. The information that was shared helped me to gain a better understanding of what to expect in childbirth and how to support my wife as a birth partner. The course was helpful in providing practical tips and also helped us as a couple feel empowered to ask the right questions throughout pregnancy. Empowered to Birth well worth attending, and I would recommend it for any couple preparing to welcome a bub into the world.