When SHELBY met JINDY
Ohhh this birth was my ideal birth. The foundation for everything coming together was Rebirthing Breathwork Mastery. When I started training in November 2022, I was so intimidated at the idea of going for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean), and of course I ended up sharing a room with another woman at the retreat that was 36 weeks pregnant going for a VBA2C with her 3rd. It was very confronting for me and pointed me to the work I needed to move through towards having an Ideal Birth.
My first birth was also traumatic, a water birth, but I ended up with a 3b tear and retained placenta with hemorrhage. The 2nd was resulted in emergency cesarean after issues with positioning and concern around fetal distress. I always looked at women that had magical intervention free births like unicorns. It always seemed unattainable and out of reach for me.
I always knew that I wanted 3 kids, but had so much fear around going for birth and knew I did not want another c-section. I knew I had a lot of fears to confront around conceiving, but before I had time to give it much thought on how I'd approach my journey to VBAC my husband and I conceived in 1 try!
This style of breathwork was the foundation as it got me in touch with what I really wanted. Rebirthing Breathwork Mastery is safe with no contraindications during pregnancy, as its a gentle style of breathing fuller than usual breath through the nose that activates a parasympathetic (rest and digest) response in the body. At the start of the breath we set intentions around how we prefer for things to be in life, usually written out in a forward focused and positive way. A big intention I worked with was "It's safe to feel" as in labours I would freeze and disassociate from all the big sensations. It got me in touch with my body in a new way to allow me to feel safe when experiencing contractions. I constantly re wrote intentions as I moved through material that kept me from trusting my worthiness and ability to have a beautiful birth. My intentions didn't feel realistic or attainable at times, but I persevered towards them.
Another piece I focused on was to understand and trust physiological birth and to also be active in my labour. I did lots of research and listening to podcasts and other resources towards moving from not trusting birth to landing in a place of trust towards the end of my 3rd trimester. It was huge to land here and I could feel the innate trust in my body.
My third pregnancy was overall pretty smooth. I had the usual heartburn, varicose veins in my legs and vulva (ouch!), thrush- likely from wearing compression undies to support the veins, extreme fatigue, and low iron. I also had a bad dry cough around December that was hard on my pelvic floor and ended up getting steroids and a puffer to finally clear it up. Then around 35/36 weeks I had a killer sinus infection maybe triggered from the underwater ocean maternity photo shoot I'd done the day before the symptoms got crazy! I went to clinic as the pain was so intense and was prescribed antibiotics and steroids which cleared it up pretty quickly. I think each pregnancy has it's own battles, yes it was hard mothering 2 young girls while growing another baby, but at least they entertained each other in some way while I could lay down for a sec in the afternoons. This pregnancy felt like it flew by as I was busy with school drop-offs and taking them to various activities. I did not hold back on whatever it took to support my mind and my body and overall well being this pregnancy and I reckon I struck gold on all the support around me. One of my intentions with my breathwork was to feel supported after all. I'll share all the amazing practitioners I saw during pregnancy below :)
For this birth I was able to have the same midwife I've had for the two previous births with the Canberra Hospital Continuity of Care and I had an amazing Doula that provided so many extra resources and tools to support me towards birth and in labour. My midwife was also supportive and confident in my ability to have a VBAC. I was not in the home birth program, due to my previous complications, but I planned on staying at home as long as I could. I always felt I went to the hospital too early and labour slowed down. I was worried about going over due date as I have with my previous two, usually around a week past due date and did not want to even think about conversations around induction. I was doing some "natural" things to encourage not going too far over the due date...hint, my husband would've been stoked about how sex may include labour 😅!! I was seeing an incredible acupuncturist to help prep my body for birth and naturopath that provided amazing teas and tinctures which I truly reckon helped with my labour and recovery. My guess date was 29 March, Good Friday, and I was really hoping the baby would arrive over that Easter Long Weekend...but she didn't and we spent a lot of time down at Pine Island enjoying the beautiful summer-like weather in Canberra. I love being pregnant in summer as it's so easy to get dressed and I love the release of gravity I get when I go swimming. The month before I had a beautiful mother blessing circle hosted by some yogi friends at the studio I teach at. I had lots of time to set up my home too with this baby going past due date. My nesting urges were insane for about 2 weeks where we painted a wall, build a new under tv bookshelf, built a new crafts desk for my daughters, set up my labour stations and potential birth space (as I had intended to stay home as long as possible!), and I organised my pantry and cupboards until I lost steam around week 38. Gosh, it's amazing what you can accomplish when the nesting urges kick in!!!
So the long weekend passed and I went about my usual morning of taking my oldest to Kindy and younger one to swimming on Tuesday when I noticed that I had some of the period like cramps building and decided to jump on it as I'd been loosing a lot of mucus plug in the days leading and booked in with my acupuncturist to help encourage the start of labour. Then I booked in for an afternoon appointment with my Chiropractor to help with positioning and it was an amazing adjustment. My husband helped with the school pick up and took my oldest to her swim lesson while I went to that appointment and got organised for the "Born at Home" Documentary that evening. It was a busy day, after the Chiro appointment I squeezed in a 35 min walk with my dog while listening to the Great Birth Rebellion podcast latest episode which was "The cascade of interventions". By the time I got to the theatre for the premier of the movie, I was having mild contractions that were 20 min apart, but I brushed it off as I had lots of early labour up to a week before my 2nd was born and I thought they might fizzle out. But all the good vibes and community of birth keepers must have boosted my oxytocin and I felt like they were slowly building by the time I drove myself home. I was home around 10pm and pulled in the washing off the line my husband had forgotten to bring in. Then continued a hurried tidy up of the house, just in case I went into labour. Hubby and I had a quickie (prostaglandins help progress labour 😉 ) and tried to go to bed by 11pm and I laid there for 30minutes realising I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep because the contractions were definitely getting my attention. I decided to put on a 45 minute restorative breathwork track recorded by my teacher and listened to that on repeat til about 3am. I got out of the bed and onto the birth ball and using the birth sling. I had a tens machine on and a birth comb in one hand. I was repeating my intentions "It's safe to feel", "I move towards the sensations", "I stay in my body" and stayed with my Rebirthing Breathwork technique. My husband put one of our favourite snowboard movies on which really helped with the vibe although I didn't pay much attention to the snowboarding. I had a little micro nap around 2am on our pull out sofa bed and had woken to stronger ones around 3am I was on all 4's and my husband was applying counter pressure during a contraction and I felt my waters break! The liquid was clear! Hooray! I'd always wanted to experience them breaking spontaneously as I'd had artificial rupture of membranes in previous labours which I learned on the podcast I listened to that day increases chances of interventions. So I was super happy and thrilled about that! I went to the shower to clean off and my husband remembered to fill up the birth pool, so he had to kick me out so there was hot water to fill it. I got on our bed and was hanging from the bed head when the contractions ramped up to a whole new level, I yelled out to him to apply more counter pressure during contractions so he was running back and forth making sure not to overfill the pool! I got into the pool around 4am and he called the doula and midwife.
Our Doula arrived around 4:30am and Midwife headed to hospital. Our midwife suggested I head to hospital as they sounded like really good pushing contractions. I was too comfortable to go anywhere and thought that I was either really close or very far off. My doula suggested getting on the toilet to empty my bladder and holy moly they don't call the toilet the dilation station for nothing! I felt such opening on the porcelain throne, which really surprised me. We went there for awhile then I went to the ball and birth sling for a bit then back in the pool. In the pool I could feel baby's head which was encouraging, but I also sensed they might be a little stuck and I was worried if we went to hospital the same outcome would happen that was with Bodhi resulting in an emergency c-section. I had a rest in the pool, almost a little nap. I could tell the pool would not be an easy place for me to push baby out without gravity and back to the toilet we went. I was soooo loud, howling and smiling with contractions, amazing my girls never woke up or got out of bed during the whole night. By 6am we called the ambulance just in case we needed to transfer. They were a great team, respecting my space and quickly matched the vibe of the bathroom. I had to kindly ask them to turn the lights back off hehe. So it was my hubby, doula, and 3 ambulance hanging in the bathroom-everyone was very positive and thought baby could be here any minute. I had been squatting with my thighs externally rotated out and intuitively started to rotated them internally and I could feel baby moving down. I started crowning around 7am and stayed with the ring of fire sensation, saying "yeahhhh" and smiling with the contractions while I had support of my doula applying washcloths to my perineum. Out came baby at 7:12am, with a bit of cord wrapped around neck which I primally unwrapped as I picked baby up. At first glance, I thought baby was a boy, but then had another look...a 3rd girl!!! Wow! I was so happy. We went to my bed and the ambulance crew became a bit concerned after hearing about my previous birth with my 1st of hemorrhage and retained placenta and suggested we transfer to hospital to birth placenta. I was still on a high and said, hold on we need to bring my daughters in to meet their new baby sister, so held off a bit more time. The cord was cut by my husband after it stopped pulsing around 10 minutes and we left for hospital around 7:38 am. That ride was super rough as I was having contractions and major pressure on my lower back, which my midwife reckons was because it had already released from the wall. I arrived to hospital and jokingly apologised to my midwife for being so late and went to birth the placenta on the toilet shortly after arriving. Who know the toilet would be my happy place!? Another great thing was my blood loss was not a concern and everything looked great. My midwife suggested I get stitches for my little tear which ended up being hilarious as I was high as a kite on the gas telling dirty secrets and watching Peso Pluma music videos. I don't know if anyone has ever laughed so hard while getting stitches! The gas felt like a reward after successful VBAC at home, with no interventions, exams or drugs!
We got home after lunch and it was so nice to be able to sleep in my own bed that night without interruptions from nurses. The next day we buried Jindy's placenta in our backyard under a baby lime tree. Birthing at home this way really has felt like I've had a head start on healing and getting settled post partum. My recovery and hormones feel so stable. There have been a few meltdowns and emotional tears released as we integrate our new family member, but I know I can move through anything with rebirthing breathwork mastery at the helm and leaning into my intentions postpartum. I'm so grateful for all my friends and family that have dropped off meals in this period so our family can lean into rest more and connect. I have healed all wounds from my previous births and feel like I've won the lottery with this birth. Emerging as a creative force and I believe anything is possible now.
What do you wish you knew before birth?
I think I knew everything I needed to know for this birth. But I do wish I chilled out a bit on trying to breastfeed in the Golden Hour right after Jindy was born. I was shoving my nipple in her face as I still had some worries at the time around hemorrhage and knew this may help. However, I recently read that breastfeeding is initiated by baby and that many babies will give themselves an hour or more to adjust to their new environment out of the womb, which is more common when the baby had a gentle birth and remains attached to the placenta.
If you could, would you do anything differently?
Not really, I think I could've potentially stayed home longer and birthed the placenta, but perhaps I felt safer in the hospital. I was not too concerned where the placenta was birthed. This was a birth worth celebrating for sure!! I had a champagne to celebrate the next day when we buried the placenta :)
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
He protected my space and offered grounding agenda free support. He repeated affirmations to me. Told me how good I was doing. Counter pressured my hips during contractions, and put up with my shit (literally haha!). Most of all he trusted me and birth.
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
I can only recommend you birth the way that feels authentic to you. Do it your way. That's what I did.
Resources and practitioners I recommend:
Practitioners:
Chiropractor - Elle Cafra located at Woden @dr_elle.chiro
Osteopath - Rea Braun located at Fundamental Health @osteo.with.rea
Naturopath - Renae Scott located at Nourish & Breathe @nourishandbreathe
Acupuncture- Holly Brocklebank located at Innate Being Therapies @innatebeingtherapies
Psychotherapy - Anna Siebert located at Live Well @annasiebert_undone
Somatic sessions - Catherine Pampallis via zoom @catherinepampallis
Rebirthing Breathwork Mastery with Eleanor Mann of The School of Breathwork (Australia) @school_of_breathwork.official and @eleanorbreathe
Podcasts:
"The Great Birth Rebellion"
"Free Birth Society"
"The Midwives' Cauldron"
"Australian VBAC Stories"
Books:
"Birth After Cesarean"-Hazel Keedle
"Ideal Birth"-Sondra Ray
"Ten Moons: The Inner Journey of Pregnancy"-Jane Hardwicke Collings
"Birthing From Within" Pam England
Courses:
"Free Birth Society" @freebirthsociety
"Sovereign Birth Sessions" with @Amy.lou__
Anything from The Reconnected @the_reconnected