Bericht zur Hausgeburt von Viola
im Dezember 2017

I´ve had an amazing experience, which I want to share with you. It´s an encouraging story. Especially for those of you who are expecting a child it might be interesting.
Looking back on the birth of my son. It was painful, long (17 hours) and hard. It felt like climbing the mount Everest without being trained, nor having equipment. It was a natural birth in a birthplace with only midwifes. It was feeling right for me giving birth the first time. This time I wanted it to be better, easier and more self-determined. I was planning a home birth.
I felt lucky that I´ve met Saskia. Having found a midwife nearby who is specialized on home births I was relieved and it gave me a lot of security.
I was preparing well. This time less in a physical way (by being active, walking, doing yoga), but more in a mental way. I was visualizing my perfect birth. An online course about hypnosis has helped me gaining confidence that this time I can cope with the situation better. The content of the course was about relaxing techniques, visualizing the opening cervix, breathing techniques and reducing fears. The book “Freebirth” provides amongst others information about the physical matters of giving birth (good birth positions, how does the baby pass through the pelvis) and first aid. Watching youtube videos of wonderful unassisted childbirths is part of the preparation process.

Watching the video´s over and over again. You can visualize the perfect birth. It´s all about getting rid of fears and feeding your subconsciousness with positive information. I´ve been practicing mentally everyday like an athlete trains everyday his muscles. I was ready to climb on the mount Everest. This time I had equipment. Last but not least it was our midwife who made me feel secure. She´s competent and easy going, as she´s told us to just call when the moment would feel right.
Having this setting I was very relaxed at the day when our daughter should be born. My mom was taking care of our son and my husband was talking care of me.
Six hours of labour I could cope easily with my relaxing techniques. I visualized my cervix opening like a flower. Then the water broke and the intensity of pain was increasing. I was feeling insecure and felt the need for our midwife. I´ve thought this is the beginning of the birth process, but actually it was already almost the end (transitional period). Letting go and letting my body do all the work, I have not noticed how close I was of holding our baby in my arms. I had no clue how far my cervix was opened. This is the proof that every woman knows by nature how to give birth. I´ve just let my body do all the work and was breathing and pressing. After 24 minutes my husband was holding the baby in his hands, just right before our midwife has arrived. This was the most wonderful gift in my life. I was feeling confident and strong. Our daughter was healthy and relaxed. I had no injuries at all. Saskia has said we´ve done everything just fine. The situation was totally relaxed. A couple of minutes later I was cuddling with my dear daughter, my son and my husband on the sofa. I can only wish for the next birth to be as wonderful as this one.
To conclude with this is for me the proof that if you prepare well and luck is on your side, you can achieve things you want in your in life. With this story I want to encourage every pregnant woman to listen to your inner voice. We woman know instinctively know how to give birth. Don´t listen to anyone who is guided by fears. Just visualize the positive. Feel what´s right for you and then do it exactly this way.
Thank you Saskia! For us you are the world´s best midwife!