Rachel's Water Birth Story

Pregnancy

Let's start with a tip about pregnancy style. If you love clothes and fashion, I recommend the Isabella Oliver maternity collection. I got a lot of compliments with those clothes. Their ruched tops are so flattering!

Birthing for the first time. How do you prepare for such a big event?

First, I shall thank my mother again. Because I was born at Pithiviers (France) with Michel Odent, I was lucky to already have a positive view on birthing. Michel Odent introduced the concept of birthing pools in maternity hospitals. My mother was one of the few French mothers who gave birth in a respectful and gentle environment, similar to our birth centres. Did you know that Michel Odent is now living in London?

So my intuition told me that birthing had a lot to do with my state of mind. So while I was attending pregancy yoga classes at Triyoga, I mostly focused on mental preparation for birthing.

Birth from within gave me a lot of inspiration. I tried to do all the exercises suggested, included the Ice Cube Test. I’m no good drawer but I still tried to express my feelings, fears and sensations with colours and paper. Below is my idea of pregnancy. The 3 stages mean:

creating a life within my body,
taking care of my body so that life can grow and develop beautifully,
release that new life into the world and making it an independent being.

pregnancy drawing

During my lunch break at work, I always went for a stroll on South Bank. Sometimes I had to force myself to go out but I think it was worth it in the end and kept me fit. Labour is like a marathon, you need to exercise for the big day!

While obversing the waves of River Thames, I was visualizing me being in labour and feeling like a rag doll on the waves, not resisting the contractions, not fighting them, but letting them come and go. Experiencing one contraction, one wave and breathing before the next one. Keeping in mind that each wave was unique, and each wave/contraction would bring me closer to meeting my baby.

The big day: the birth of Rachel

The 4th of July was a very hot day. We were sweating even without moving. My midwife is American so me giving birth on the 4th of July would have been quite funny and patriotic. But Rachel was born at 1:20am on the 5th!

Anyway, that night was one of those nights when even in London, you feel like you are on holiday in Spain or in another Mediterranean country. Everybody was glued to their TV for the football semi-final against Italy.

I had been experiencing small contractions for two days. They were not painful at all and much contributed to my excitement of meeting my new baby soon! I really couldn’t wait to meet that life which inhabited my belly for 9 long months. I kept saying to Bruno ”Let’s fill the pool today!”.

La Bassine inflatable water birthing pool ready and waiting on 4th July 2006

Eventually, on that hot summery night, we both felt it was time to get ready for the new arrival. We gathered buckets of all sizes, old towels and t-shirts. We made our bed with fresh linen. Then we covered it with a large shower curtain and added an old sheet on top of that.

Then I created my special birth ecology in the kitchen. As per my Birth Rules, no light was to be switched on during the labour and birth. So I set up a table with little candles. I also set up my Japanese miniature garden with its tiny fountain that makes a much relaxing and peaceful sound. I stuck my pregnancy drawings on the wall.

We had dinner around 8pm. Food and water were available in large quantities for the labour.

Around 10pm, I felt like walking, but walking briskly not like the big whale I was! So Bruno and I got out of the house for a stroll around the block. Every 4 minutes I had a contraction and was writting the time on a notepad to tell my midwife later about the timing. When I was having a contraction, I just gave Bruno a hug to avoid raising suspicion. I didn’t want to fight the contractions, just go with the flow, but I needed a strong hug to cope with them. I must have looked like a heavily pregnant woman dressed in a funky large African boubou who was deeply in love with her husband :-)

We walked for about 30 minutes and then called Melissa, my midwife.

11pm: Melissa arrived at the house

I was active and mobile, puttering around the flat and drinking extra strong Red Raspberry Leaf Tea. I was trying to keep a low-pitched voice and was making “Ommmmmm” sounds. I was also singing! The contractions were coming every 3 minutes and I was squatting when one was coming.

Bruno inflated the birthing pool in the kitchen and filled it with warm water.

1130pm: I was in the shower, singing and pouring hot water on my back. I was quite relaxed, vocalising through contractions and eager to meet my baby. The contractions were quite intense at this point.

Rachel at 1 week

1140pm: Yay! Melissa gave me the green light to go in the pool. When I entered my La Bassine birthing pool, it was such a moment of bliss. The hot water was really soothing. I loved being surrounded by the pool as it’s quite deep to provide intimacy and privacy. I kept my bra on, moving from kneeling to squatting position (the water birth pool has got handles to help you move safely during labour). The contractions were good, long and strong.

015am: I could feel my baby moving. Labour was really something both my baby and I were doing together. I was pushing her out while she was moving herself out of her little cocoon. We were in this together, both working to the same aim with all our efforts.

My waters didn’t break yet. Bruno was giving me sips of apple juice with a straw directly from the bottle (I must have bought at least 10 bottles!). I chose apple juice as it give you energy quickly. Orange juice can apparently cause you to throw up easily.

I remember Bruno coming back and forth from the living room (where his PC was) to the kitchen (where I was!). I’m happy he wasn’t next to the pool the whole time as I needed my concentration. When he was checking if everything was alright, I remember smiling and laughing. I was so happy. He respected our rule: no words, no questions. I was in my labour bubble, all focused on the task.

Rachel is 2 days old

0:30am: I was pushing through contractions or rather my body was pushing. It was not something I decided to do. I couldn’t help pushing. Melissa wanted to check baby’s heartbeat but I said no as I didn’t want to stand up. I needed to stay surrounded by warm water, undisturbed in my Bassine birth pool.

0:45am: As per Melissa’s suggestion, I tried to touch the head of the baby. It felt like jelly and that was such an incredible experience. I couldn’t believe I was touching the head of my baby.

0:53am: I felt sick. Gestured to Bruno to give me a bucket but nothing came out. Apparently, feeling sick means that the mother is entering the second stage of labour (birth being the third stage!). The contractions were very powerful.

1:05am: I was afraid all of a sudden. I didn’t want to push but my body was doing it nevertheless. I wanted the pushing and the contractions to stop. I was afraid of tearing. I told Melissa “I’m scared, I cannot do it” . She replied that I was doing it already and that fear was normal.

Rachel is a few weeks old

1:10am: I wasn’t pushing anymore. I remember being very contracted on my shoulders, neck and upper back. Melissa was writing notes on her notepad and I called her. I remember locking my eyes into hers to give me strength. I remember her deep blue eyes.

1:15am: I was very quiet, totally poised. Nothing was moving in the room. Bruno was there next to Melissa. Nobody said a word and the room was totally silent for a few minutes.

1:19am: My waters broke and…

Birth! I was squatting in the pool when my baby was born. I immediately scooped her up. I didn’t know yet if she was a boy or a girl. My baby gave a good cry and I hold her and hugged her. We wrapped her in Bruno’s old t-shirts to keep her warm. I wanted to wait until she passed meconium before dressing her in cute newborn clothes.

1:25am: My baby had an exploratory nuzzle at the breast. I was sitting in the pool. The cord was still pulsing and I insisted we wait as long as possible before cutting it.

1:30am: Bruno and Melissa helped me to get out of the pool. We put newspapers and old towels on the path from the birthing pool to the bed to protect the floor.

Newborn Rachel sleeping on her side

1:40am: I am lying on my side on the bed, breastfeeding my baby. I was admiring her, observing this tiny little being. I remember telling Bruno “I hope she will love me” .

The cord is still pulsing and I’m in no rush to cut it. I want my baby to get all the iron from the placenta to her blood.

2am: I went to the loo, holding my baby who was still nursing. As I got up, the placenta just popped out. I didn’t feel a thing. Melissa examined it and told me it was healthy. I cut the cord myself with funny looking scissors (Bruno didn’t want to cut the cord so I was more than happy to do it myself).

2:50am: I had a look and discovered my baby is a girl! What a joy! We waited until the following day to give her a name. She was named “bebe” for 24 hours.

I went into the bath in shallow water to wash myself and my baby.

From this moment on, I didn’t remember anything at all. Those few hours following the birth are empty of any memories. It’s like my brain stopped recording the events. I only know what happened because Bruno told me and Melissa wrote notes. So all the following events are not what I remembered personally.

3am: Melissa examined me and told me I didn’t tear, which I attribute to the La Bassine birthing pool.

3:45am: Melissa did the newborn check, weighed and measured the baby. She asked what I wanted to eat. My first snack was vanilla soya cream dessert ;-) Bruno was cuddling my baby while I was eating. I wasn’t really hungry but very tired.

4am: Baby finally managed to latch on at the breast. We were all resting while Melissa helped clear the scene.

4:30am: Melissa left the house. We were all sleeping.

Rachel at 2 weeks

I am immensely grateful to have been given my wonderful daughter. Pregnancy has been a fabulous journey and giving birth an incredible experience.

Rachel at 1 month

I often thought of all those women around the world giving birth at the same time as me.

I also had in my mind all the mothers who were kind enough to share their birth stories on the Internet, in forums and homebirth websites. You’ve helped me so much! I’m very grateful to all the mums who shared their birth stories, giving me a posotic yet realistic view on giving birth. I read so many happy homebirth stories to fill my mind with positives vibes.

I hope my birth story will give you inspiration. No matter where you live and who you are, you’re a woman. You’ve been designed to give birth. Your wonderful body was created to give life. You can do it and birthing rocks! Giving birth to your baby is so empowering. After that, you can do anything.

Happily breastfeeding 3 months later

I wish you a blissful pregnancy and a happy birth. I pray with all my heart that you will find a way to give birth in peace and privacy. I wish we could all birth in a respectful environment, without being disturbed, without having other men looking at us (except our husband if we choose to).

I hope more babies will enter our world with all the respect, gentleness and love they deserve. I hope we will respect life, respect the person and the beautiful tiny soul inside every baby.

For a better world. For life and peace.

Fanny Abitbol

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