Our Positive Home Birth Story (En caul, water birth in the UK)

Here’s the story of our magical, en caul home birth of Jackson – a beautiful, calm, and healing experience as second time parents.

Eight weeks on and I still can’t get over how wonderful Jackson’s birth was – I’m still in shock that we got our ‘dream birth’.

Quick Facts:

Second Time Parents

Known Baby Boy

EDD: 23/10/23 (NHS) – 25/10/23 (my calculation from conception)

Actual Birth Date: November 2 (41+3)

Planned and actual home water birth

2 hours 39 minutes – Midwives record from start of ‘active labour’ to finish of placenta delivery. But overall from the first surge I timed to finish was 11 hours.

3.7kgs/8lbs 2oz

Pain Relief: Hypnobirthing, TENS, comb, birth pool, gas and air for last hour

Trigger warnings: Previous induction, discussion of medical coercion, reduced movements

First Birth:

Our daughter (who turned 4 just two weeks before baby boy’s arrival) was born October 2019 at 40+4 after an induction of labour (including continuous monitoring, which had me confined to a bed) which, while it all went relatively well and calm and natural, I just felt so disappointed about it all, and later realised I had been coerced into, felt like I wasn’t given the full information to be able to make my own informed decision. I learned so much between births about the particular situation I was in and realised for the first time that I could have declined the induction, or even made different choices surrounding the induction. I was determined not to be put in the same position again and spent a long time educating myself and getting to a place where I felt comfortable in my decisions using BRAIN.

This time around, whilst trying to conceive, I already had decided I wanted a home birth and started researching home birth and reading other people’s home birth stories through the wonderfully knowledgeable doula Samantha Gadsden’s Facebook community, Home Birth Support Group UK (I highly recommend joining this group if you are at all, even mildly interested in having a home birth. I also purchased the Positive Birth Company’s Pregnancy Pack, Hypnobirthing Pack, Hypnobirthing Book and Affirmation cards to prepare myself for birth.

This Pregnancy:

I spent my entire pregnancy soaking up inspiration and knowledge from birth stories (Like the ones I mentioned in the Home Birth Support Group), books (Like Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth, and the Positive Birth Company’s Hypnobirthing book), podcasts (Such as the Midwives Cauldron, Better Birth UK, The Hypnobirthing Podcast, Normal Boring Freebirth, and Natural Birth Podcast), Instagram accounts of midwives and doulas (Such as Pop That Mumma and Sara Wickham), and practicing my hypnobirthing techniques.

I was also a lot more active this time around. I continue my regular Pole Fitness classes until 35 weeks pregnant, did pregnancy yoga classes either online or in person 2-3 times a week, and walked my daughter to preschool twice a week (a 50 minute round trip).

This pregnancy, while I experienced some morning sickness and food aversions, it wasn’t nearly as bad as my pregnancy with my daughter. I did experience some PGP and serious pelvic pressure in my groin (mostly during my 2nd trimester), and found that from as early as 20 weeks pregnant the most comfortable way for me to sit was on a birth ball (I found the sofa SO uncomfortable!).

Overall a very smooth pregnancy and I felt really lucky that it was as such.

I was also extremely fortunate in that from my very first booking appointment when I told the midwife I wanted a home birth, I was met with nothing but positivity and support. My community midwives and dedicated home birth team in my local NHS trust (North Bristol) were wonderfully supportive the entire way, and I recieved no push back at all to my home birth wishes from them, which I was most grateful for.

We only had one slight hiccup when, at my 36 week appointment I had a random high Carbon Monoxide reading (7). It was checked again one week later and had dropped slightly to 5 and so I was referred to a consultant another week later. At that appointment my levels had dropped back to a normal range (we think the culprit was traffic pollution as I’d made a concerted effort to avoid exposure following the first high reading and no other risks applied ie smoking, household or car issues) however the consultant was still trying to push me into a growth scan (Which I really did not want, considering what had happened in my first pregnancy following a growth scan, which I now knew to be not as accurate as I believed at the time – growth scans at the end of your pregnancy have a 20% margin of error!).

I ended up in tears in this appointment and left with a scan having been booked for me for the next day, only to have my home birth midwife appointment that afternoon where the amazing midwife encouraged me to trust my instincts and made my own decision. She gave me all the possible information and then supported me wholeheartedly in cancelling the scan (she was an angel!! Exactly what I needed when having a little blip in my confidence to advocate for myself). The rest of my pregnancy continued as normal after that until the night before his birth.

Day before Labour and Birth – November 1 (41+2):

During the day I was aware baby was not moving as much or as strongly as he normally would – the first time I’ve ever experienced reduced movements in either of my pregnancies. To soothe my mind, I ended up calling the assessment unit and headed there to just check in on baby. Typically, as soon as I arrived he started moving at his normal rate again, but I decided to stay for the full CTG to just reassure myself. It was quite busy so I was in there from 5.45pm until 11.15pm, but was glad I went as this was the first time I’ve ever had any true concerns in this pregnancy. Luckily, little babe passed the CTG and movement check criteria in 15 minutes, so that was reassuring. The CTG also showed I was experiencing tightenings, which wasn’t surprising as I’d been getting Braxton Hicks throughout my third trimester.

Whilst at the hospital, I was asked whether I wanted to book in for a scan or induction due to my “late gestation” which I politely declined, stating I’d already had an at length discussion with Birth Choices and they knew my wishes for spontaneous labour and home birth post-42 weeks. My choice was respected without fuss which I was happy about. I did personally ask for a membrane sweep at this point as I had been quite rattled by the episode of reduced movements, and was becoming increasingly impatient to have my baby safely in my arms. I knew the risks, used my BRAIN and made a decision that felt right for me at the time, and I don’t regret it. After the sweep (during which I was found to be 2cm dilated) I began experiencing mild tightenings every 5 minutes which continued until I went to bed at midnight.

Day of birth – November 2 (41+3):

At 4.40am our 4yo daughter woke up, I tried to get her back to sleep in our bed but she wouldn’t go, so at 5.45am we give up on sleep and get up out of bed. As I get my daughter ready for the day I start to feel a tightening or two again, very mild.

Around 8.15am, after dropping our 4yo at preschool, I notice some tightenings that are a little stronger, but still very mild.

Later I head to Tesco and when I get home, at 10.30am, I decide to start timing the surges on the Freya App and setting up the living room to be our birth space. Husband is working from home today luckily so he pops downstairs to help too. Surges are roughly 7 minutes apart at this point and extremely manageable so I’m still unsure as to whether this is early labour or Braxton Hicks. I stick on Harry Potter to watch while timing my surges and bouncing on my birth ball.

At 11.30am I have a surge that comes with a bit of pressure in bum, which makes me think it could possibly be early labour after all. Surges are recording at 5-7 minutes apart now.

At 12.15pm I call the home birth team midwives to give them a heads up that I *might* be in labour (I was still second-guessing myself at this point and was up until very late in the game!). After this my husband inflates the birth pool.

Around 1pm my Freya hypnobirthing app (which I found really amazing at helping me to remember my breathing and keeping in “the zone” during labour) says I’m in established labour but I don’t think that’s accurate, however at 1.25pm I do have a surge that I can’t talk through easily. I’m finding standing and swaying whilst leaning over the back of the sofa the most comfortable position to be in at this point, and that’s how I mostly stay until moving to the pool much later.

At 1.43pm I call the midwives back, as requested an hour after first phone call, to check in. I speak to a student midwife who says it sounds like I’m managing them OK so far, which I agree with, and to call back in another hour, but at 2pm the senior midwife I spoke to on the first call phones me back and hears me have a surge whilst on the phone. She says they think they would like to send someone to me to assess me and at 2.50pm two midwives arrive, Mary (who I spoke to on the phone), and student midwife Rhea. My husband has ducked out to pick up our daughter from preschool at this time and when they return, I accept a VE (the only one I end up having the whole labour), and it reveals I’m a stretchy 3cm with favourable cervix (3.20pm).

At 4.05pm I whack on the TENS machine as I’m beginning to get quite uncomfortable during the surges. During all this the two midwives are mostly just leaving me to it, by myself in the living room, while they hang out in the kitchen with my husband and daughter (who is loving the attention from wonderful student midwife Rhea in particular).

At 5.25pm I lose my mucus plug and pessure in my bum during surges increases. I’m moving my body, swaying my hips and focusing on relaxing my shoulders and jaw during each surge, using the amazingly wonderful boost function on my TENS and the Freya app to cope. I think at roughly 6pm the midwives hint to my husband it would be a good idea to fill the pool, which I’m glad he takes their advice, as he apparently told them at one point “it’ll only take ten minutes, I reckon”.

Husband also gets our daughter to bed around 6.45pm, I remember wanting to give her a big cuddle as I knew it would be the last time I would see her as my only child, but she said she didn’t want one.

It’s at this point I think I finally accept that I am in labour, that this isn’t a false alarm (I’d kept saying to the midwives “I hope I haven’t called you out to a false alarm and wasted your time!). Funnily enough, I must have outwardly shown a change here too as this is where the midwives have recorded active labour from.

At 7pm I get into the pool, which feels absolutely amazing! I never got the opportunity to be in a pool/bath/shower during my first labour, so I was so pleased to be able to experience it this time around. Things really ramped up in intensity once I got in the pool too, which I was pleased about as I was worried it would slow things down instead. I start using wooden combs in my hands, squeezing them into my palms during each surge, to help alongside the hydrotherapy.

At this point, now that I was not using my Hypnobirthing App anymore near the water, my husband asked if I wanted some relaxing music on, him thinking I’d ask for meditative music. I replied by asking him to put on my ‘Musical Playlist’ so from here on out the living room had a fun background soundtrack of Hamilton, Encanto, Moana, In the Heights, and The Greatest Showman.

My husband and I sing, smile and laugh between surges.

At 7.30pm the midwives have a shift change, and while I am sad to see Mary and Rhea go, I’m over the moon to see Emily (who I had met at my most recent midwife appointment) and Sophie (the absolute angel of a midwife I had seen the day of my consultant appointment) arrive.

By 8pm I’m feeling the surges very intensely, and ask the midwives if they have brought gas and air (they knew my wishes to not ask me if I wanted pain relief until I asked for it myself, and so I hadn’t even seen them bring it inside the house). They set it up for me and I do use it for the next hour. During each surge I’m feeling a lot of pressure, and whilst I’m not pushing, I’m certainly focusing on working with the pressure instead of tensing up against it, relaxing my entire body and envisioning my lower body opening for baby to drop down during each surge.

At 9pm I officially begin the 2nd stage of labour. At the end of one surge my body starts pushing involuntarily, and so after that one, the midwives suggest I may want to put down the gas and air for the next surge and focus on bearing down however feels right for my body: “just go with it”.

During the next surge I do just that, follow my bodies lead, and feel baby descent down the entire birth canal and into the ring of fire. I cannot believe how quickly things progressed here as I was pushing for two hours in my first birth. Whilst in the ring of fire between surges I do take some more puffs of gas and air and I pant to keep calm and try not to tear. The midwives tell me that baby is still in his amniotic sac, and they take some incredible photos and videos for me at this point.

During the next surge baby’s head is born (sweet relief from that ring of fire moment, which was the most intense part of the whole labour and birth) still amazingly in his sac! I reach down and feel his head cushioned in his waters and am blown away! I just keep repeating “this is incredible” and have the biggest smile on my face.

Next surge comes and I birth baby’s body, catching him in the water and pulling him to my chest, accidently breaking his membranes as I do (Emily gently removes the rest of it off his face). He is born at 9.17pm, after just 17 minutes of 2nd stage (4 surges/pushes), and we meet our beautiful boy, Jackson (he is born to ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from Moana – somewhat fittingly as an “en caul”/mermaid birth)

I am in shock at how incredible the whole experience has been, and you can see in the video and photos just how amazed I am.

Jackson’s cord is quite short, so I’m holding him fairly low in the water, and after a short while I decide to move to the sofa to deliver the placenta, however as I stand up, the placenta starts coming away, and so I semi squat and birth the placenta over the pool – just 7 minutes after birth, completely physiologically! (Again, a new experience for me)

We then moved to the sofa in a complete oxytocin bubble where we got our Golden Hour, baby latched during this time, and once the cord was completely white my husband cut it. My husband and I could not stop saying how unbelievable the whole experience had been, we were on such a high! Just such a healing experience, so different from my first birth. The midwives were so happy for us, and were so lovely, saying I’d done so well. Emily said she had only seen one en caul birth before mine, and Sophie said 7 minutes was one of the quickest physiological stage of labour she’d ever seen. The room was such a positive place post birth, boosting the oxytocin even more. I got to see them examine the placenta, whilst it was still attached to Jackson, and my wishes were respected to delay putting a hat on him while I sniffed away at his beautiful baby head scent.

My blood loss was recorded as 405ml, and I did get some 2nd degree tearing which I decided to have sutured, Emily easily did this on my sofa whilst I had some gas and air again.

Midwives were both gone by 11.45pm and we were in our own bed (yet filled with too much excitement to sleep!) at 12.30pm.

I’m honestly so over the moon that we got the birth of our dreams, and still now, weeks down the track, I’m on a high about it.

One comment from my husband that summed up how different it was, when he pointed out “you were smiling during this one, you certainly weren’t smiling during the last birth” – which is so true, I can’t believe I was smiling and laughing with half a baby sticking out of my vagina (see video for that moment!)