A bag full of tricks

Meet Rupert Howe, born on the 23rd May 2017 at 2:23am. Our labour began with an impressive movie-style breaking of my waters in the middle of the night. I was lucky to have supportive midwives who were happy for me to stay at home and labour for as long as I wanted, and I spent about half my labour at home with my husband and dog for support. 

After attending the Active Birth Workshop, Mike and I had a bag full of tricks to get me through the contractions. The most helpful were the breathing techniques we had learnt, and as the labour progressed, we used the low vocal sounds a lot as well. Mike felt that he knew how he could support me during this time, which made him feel useful and included. Around lunch time we went to the hospital. While in the birthing suite, I laboured in the bath. 

My labour was very long, and we did end up using some pain relief, but I can honestly say that the workshop allowed Mike and I to make informed, evidence-based decisions about the birth. We felt confident to voice our concerns and decisions to the medical professionals which was such a gift. I feel so proud of myself and my family for our birth and I have nothing but positive feelings about it, and I think a lot of of that is due to Suzanne's support and the workshop!

Helen attended the Active Birth Workshop with Suzanne.