The Birth of Apolline: a homebirth in Bexley, London

I loved my third pregnancy. Life was loud and chaotic with our two boys (aged 4 and 2) but our house was always filled with love and lots of laughter, which I figured are perfect conditions to grow a baby in!

Our two sons had been born prematurely (34 weeks and 36 weeks), so we figured our third baby, would arrive early too. I finished work at 35 weeks and started to get ready for our baby girl.

I was delighted when I got to 37 weeks as I knew that baby girl was now officially full term so it would be unlikely she’d need to go to NICU (as we did with my eldest). It also meant that I would be able to have a homebirth! The boys helped me set up the birth pool for a practice run and I talked to them about birth so that they’d know what was happening if they happened to be awake during our homebirth.

We were ready! I started having mild period-cramp type contractions most evenings from 36 weeks, and I was sure baby girl would come any day now.

But 37 weeks came and went, then 38 weeks, then 39 weeks…and still no baby!

It was actually lovely having so much time off work before baby came. I spent my time nesting, batch-cooking healthy food, exercising (lots of walking, yoga and swimming), seeing family and friends, and spending quality time with each of my boys. I switched off social media and barely looked at my phone for weeks. It was wonderful.

However, I was starting to get impatient to meet baby girl. I felt positive and patient most of the time, but the mild contractions every evening felt like a mind-game - when was she going to come?! Cyrille joked that I had a weekly cry on Sunday evenings when another week had passed with still no baby. Pregnancy hormones didn’t help with the emotional rollercoaster!!

At my 40 week appointment I decided to have a vaginal examination and a sweep.

Normally I don’t really see the point of sweeps - there is not much evidence they even work. But because I had been taking progesterone during my pregnancy (due to my two previous preterm births), I just wanted reassurance that something was actually happening down there! So it felt like the right thing for me to do.

And I’m so pleased I went for the sweep in the end! I was 40 weeks + 3days and the midwife said I was already 2cm dilated when she checked me. She said the contractions I had been having for the past month had been clearly doing plenty of work! The sweep was very comfortable and the midwife was confident things would get started in the next 24 hours.

I got home from my midwife appointment at midday, had a healthy lunch with my husband Cyrille, drank lots of water, and went for a long hilly walk in the woods before the school run.

15:30 - I’d just picked up my eldest son from school and was walking out of the school gates with him and some friends. Suddenly I had a contraction that felt significantly stronger than the ones I’d been experiencing for the last few weeks. It made me wonder whether this would be it, but mummy duties called so I carried on the afternoon as usual. It was a beautiful sunny day so I took my son to the park with his friends.

17:00 - I picked up my youngest son from nursery, and got dinner ready for us all (hot dogs - the boys favourite)! I was noticing occasional contractions, but kept going with the usual evening activities with the boys. They were both very sweet and cuddly with me (more so than usual) so I soaked in all the cuddles at bedtime with them!

19:40 - after we’d put the boys to bed, I told my husband Cyrille I was a having a few contractions. I decided to go out for another walk round the block to help encourage things along. It was a warm evening, lightly drizzling with rain. Walking felt really good so I did a second lap round the block. Contractions were coming every 15 mins and lasting 15-20 seconds. By the end of my 45 minute walk, they were coming more like every 10 minutes, but still very mild and distant-feeling.

20:30 - back home I took a shower and got myself into my pyjamas. I looked at my bump during one of the contractions and could see a web of blue veins all over my tummy - something I had never seen before. I wondered if this meant my body was sending lots of extra blood to my uterus to prepare for a big night. But again, due to the stop-start early labour I’d experienced over the last month, I didn’t get too excited. Instead I kept myself busy in the kitchen ladelling out a big batch of chicken and lentil stew I’d made earlier into portions to freeze for easy postpartum meals (so happy I did this!!) Contractions continued perhaps every 7 minutes, but still very mild and distant and I was able to carry on as usual during each contraction.

21:30 - Cyrille and I finally sat down together with a cup of tea. I was doing pelvic tilts on my birth ball while we were chatting together. Suddenly (within 5 mins of sitting down) I started to get much stronger contractions which required me to stop talking in order to focus. Cyrille rubbed my back as I rocked on the birth ball. We started timing the contractions which were coming now every 4 minutes and lasting 40 seconds. After 3 or 4 contractions like that Cyrille asked should he start setting up the pool and I said let’s wait for a few more. However, the next contraction came crashing in like a powerful wave - my body had suddenly cranked up the intensity x10 and it took all of my focus to breathe through this surge. Cyrille rubbed my back throughout and at the end of the surge we laughed and agreed he should get the pool set up right now!

22:00 - I messaged my friend Frankie (who’s also a Hypnobirthing teacher!) and my birth photographer Deborah and told them I think tonight is the night! They asked if they should come right now, and I said I would see how things go and that I’d let them know in 20 minutes (we laughed afterwards about how clearly in denial I was at this stage!!)

22:15 - Things rapidly cranked up another few notches and the contractions were now coming every two minutes. The pool was slowly starting to fill and Cyrille had done a gorgeous job of setting up the room with fairy lights, and had the fireplace on too. In between contractions I helped light candles and scatter positive affirmations around the room. Reading each of my positive affirmations really helped, reminding me that the intensity of the contractions was the power of my own body and that each one brought me one step closer to meeting my baby. Frankie and Deborah were on their way.

22:30 - contractions were so intense by this point and I hadn’t really had enough time to adjust and find coping strategies that worked for me. At some point I remembered the comb that had helped me so much in my second labour. But squeezing the comb into my hand did nothing for me this time - the contractions were so intense that I couldn’t even register the feeling of the comb, no matter how hard I squeezed! I threw the comb down in frustration and grabbed a handful of Haribo Supermix which I shoved into my mouth instead! I tried sitting on the birth ball and getting on my hands and knees, but any position other than standing felt horrible! The only thing that worked was standing, gripping onto the back of a wooden chair and rocking as I breathed through each surge while Cyrille pushed hard on my sacrum. The surges felt rough and primal and I couldn’t stay still for a second - I simply had to keep moving and swaying. I could feel tension building in my body during each surge as they grew blindingly intense. However the positive affirmation “I can do anything for one minute” hugely helped me as I knew I could breathe through them for sixty seconds and I was able to recover well in between surges.

Cyrille was absolutely amazing at supporting me during each surge. At the end of each surge he would then run off to fill the pool in between surges, before charging back to help me when he heard the next surge building. Unfortunately our boiler had broken down a couple of weeks ago and we were waiting on a replacement, so we didn’t have a reliable hot water source - not ideal for a water birth!! So Cyrille was filling the pool with a combination of kettles, saucepans of hot water and our electric shower!! Bearing in mind my surges were coming every two minutes and lasting up to a minute each, there was a hell of a lot of running around for him! I remember laughing at how mad the whole situation was every time Cyrille sped past me with another kettle or saucepan full of hot water for the pool!

As my surges washed over me, I realised we really needed to call the midwives. But there was no way either of us could call them in that moment as everything was just happening so fast and there was so little time in between surges. I figured my friends would have to call the midwives when they got here!

22:52 - Frankie and Deborah arrived at the same time and it was so wonderful to see them. We laughed as they had to duck under the hosepipe that was hanging across the hallway taking warm water from our upstairs electric shower into the birthpool and I had a hug with them both. I asked Frankie to call the midwives which she did straightaway and Deborah pulled me into a big hug as another surge began.

This surge was long and powerful and as I was holding on to Deborah I felt my pelvis flare and start to push apart at the bottom. It wasn’t painful but it did feel like my body was trying to break itself apart! It could have felt scary, but instead it just felt right, like my body knew exactly what it needed to do. I was aware of baby starting to move down and the sensation of the surge changed as I felt the faint urge to bear down. I gasped with joy - I recognised that feeling! When the surge was finished, I calmly told Deborah “I feel pushy” and that I thought baby was on the move. Frankie let me know that the midwives were on their way as fast as they can. But something told me baby girl was going to get here long before the midwives would.

Sure enough, the next surge was very much a “down stage” surge, where I had an irresistible strong urge to bear down my baby, as I felt my pelvis push itself open. I felt like my back was opening, again not painful, but such a strange and incredible feeling - it just felt right.

I was eager to get in the pool and luckily there was now just about enough water in the pool to allow us to have a safe water birth. (With water birth, it’s important that the water is deep enough for baby to be born entirely underwater, with no parts of their body out of the water. This ensures that baby doesn’t risk taking their first breath underwater). Deborah and Frankie helped me into the pool and the warm water felt absolutely amazing on my back, providing instant relief from the surges. Cyrille knelt next to me and hugged me as I breathed through the powerful sensations of each surge.

It honestly felt great now, I was kneeling as I held onto Cyrille tightly while he whispered encouragement in my ears. Meanwhile the warm water provided a gorgeous relief and a sense of being cocooned - bearing baby down felt productive and calm, even though it was super intense. Whenever I felt myself getting overwhelmed at the intensity, a random quote popped into my head: “the only way out is through”. I have no idea where this quote had come from, but it really helped as an off-the-cuff positive birth affirmation!

In between surges, I felt cheerful and very chatty! I was so happy to be giving birth in the comfort of my home, surrounded by love and support, and that I was about to meet my baby girl. It felt like a dream come true! We were laughing and joking together at how chatty I was - Deborah commented on how she couldn’t believe how much I was smiling! My sweet friend Frankie was heavily pregnant herself at the time, and had taken over from Cyrille carrying saucepans of hot water to the pool. I kept apologising to her for making her do heavy-lifting while pregnant and at one point she told me off for saying sorry so much, which made me laugh even more!

On one of the surges I felt a sudden pop as my waters broke and I saw the slightly darker waters billow out into the pool water around me. I felt a burst of adrenaline and excitement - I knew I was about to meet my baby in the next few minutes.

23:00 - Frankie had called the maternity ward again to let them know I was pushing, and they recommended we call the paramedics in case the midwife couldn’t get there in time. Frankie asked me if I wanted her to call paramedics but I said no as I knew that baby was going to arrive long before any paramedics could get here! I knew that the fact that things were progressing so quickly was a good sign and that it meant complications were unlikely. I felt in tune with baby and my intuition was strong - with my little birth team around me I instinctively felt safe and knew that baby was safe too.

On the next surge I could feel a slight stretching sensation and realised baby must be crowning! I reached down and felt babies head emerging - the most amazing feeling! After another surge and a little more stinging, I could feel her head was mostly out and I was trying to find her face with my hand. Then on the next surge I felt a sudden weird (and very uncomfortable!) clunking sensation as baby’s chin popped out of me which made me laugh - now I could finally feel her little face underwater!

23:06 - now that baby’s head was out, I could feel baby rotating around to face my left thigh, ready for her body to corkscrew out on the next surge. I couldn’t wait to meet her, so I gently started pushing before the next surge began and her body slid out easily into the water!

I can’t really put into words just how amazing it was to see my baby girl propel into the water in front of me, her little arm stretched above her head like a superhero. I took a deep breath to steady myself and then gently lifted her out of the water. Her eyes were open and she was looking straight at me, so calm and alert. She was blinking and looking around curiously, and didn’t cry at all. She had a head full of long thick dark hair and she was covered in white vernix. Her umbilical cord was around her shoulder (Frankie said she was wearing it like a little handbag!) which we slipped off for her. Baby girl already looked like she was a lovely pink colour and Deborah suggested I suck her nose and give her a little rub to make 100% sure her lungs had kicked into action. As I sucked her nose and spat out some fluid, I felt her lungs inflate and deflate and she gave a tiny little shout in protest to let us know she was definitely breathing. Magical!

Still in the pool, we got baby girl wrapped in a towel to keep her warm and Cyrille popped a bottle of champagne and poured four glasses for everyone! I had a little sip and then reminded him to hold his horses as I still needed to give birth to the placenta!!

We enjoyed a few more minutes skin-to-skin in the pool, baby girl looking around curiously at us all and holding tight onto my fingers. It was absolute heaven to be finally holding her in my arms, her slippery little body held close so that she could still hear and feel the beating of my heart. She was so chilled out and alert and just genuinely seemed so happy and calm, I couldn’t believe it!

As the midwives weren’t yet here, I didn’t want her to risk getting cold so I decided to get out of the pool so we could get baby girl wrapped in a warm dry towel.

Cyrille and Frankie made a little nest of waterproof sheets and towels on the sofa and I got comfy there, baby girl and I wrapped cosily in a fresh dry towel. It was bliss!

23:25 - About 20 minutes after Apolline was born, the first midwife arrived! She was so lovely and cheerful, not phased at all that we’d had an accidental freebirth! I was starting to get some uncomfortable cramps which I assumed was the placenta detaching, and started to feel a “pushy” sensation again. I told the midwife and she said to just follow what my body wanted me to do.

She turned away to get a bowl for the placenta and my body suddenly pushed the placenta out! It was such a strange surreal feeling, like giving birth to a jellyfish and the sensation made me burst out laughing!

The first midwife had come so quickly (within 30 minutes of the hospital calling her!) that she didn’t have any equipment with her. Therefor we didn’t have anything to cut the cord - but we were in no rush of course. She asked us if we knew what time baby girl had been born and we had no idea! Fortunately Deborah checked the timestamps on the photos she had taken and we figured out her time of birth was 23:06. Less than 2 hours after I had started getting the intense contractions! I just could not comprehend that it wasn’t even midnight yet - I had absolutely no sense of time passing, so much had happened in such a very short space of time!

The second midwife arrived with some equipment and Cyrille cut the cord. He had some cuddles with baby girl while I got checked by the midwives. No tearing at all - I was so happy! The lovely midwife cleaned off the blood from my legs and I got dressed in my fluffy dressing gown and felt like a normal human again.

The rest of the evening was so dreamy - lots of skin-to-skin cuddles with baby girl, her latching on easily for her first feed, while I was drinking lucozade and eating my labour snacks and homemade tea & toast - I was ravenous! Our cat Maggie came to see what was going on, sniffed baby girl and stayed by our side. We weighed baby girl (9lb 2oz of gorgeousness), Cyrille emptied the pool, and we all helped the midwives complete their notes on what had happened.

1:45am - Everyone said their goodbyes and left us to it - we were so grateful for them all! It was an amazing feeling to just be home with our baby, rather than in hospital. No need to go anywhere or do anything. Cyrille and I enjoyed a little more champagne on the sofa, baby girl all snuggled up on my chest, still skin-to-skin under my pyjamas, soaking in all of the magic of what had happened that night!

2:45am - Cyrille went to have a shower and shortly afterwards I heard the boys come out of their room. I went upstairs and found both Xavier and Max chatting at the top of the stairs (as you do at 3am!!)

I gave them both a cuddle and I will never forget the look on their faces when they suddenly realised that their brand new baby sister was tucked up under my dressing gown! Their eyes went a big as saucers and they were just so sweet and curious, saying “Apolline is here!” and “look at baby Apolline’s hair!”

Cyrille came out of the shower and laughed when he found us all at the top of the stairs talking. He suggested to the boys that we all go downstairs for a hot chocolate.

We had got a few little presents for the boys “from their baby sister” and they opened one present each while we all enjoyed a 3am hot chocolate downstairs together. It was honestly a magical moment - it felt like Christmas morning!

3:30am - We all eventually went to bed, blissfully happy to have our baby girl Apolline finally with us, after reflecting on what had truly been a perfect night.

Do you want a Positive Birth too? 

My antenatal Hypnobirthing courses are available both in-person and online, and are designed to be a fun and relaxing experience for you and your birth partner - a real highlight of your pregnancy.

I offer different formats suitable for every budget as it is important that Hypnobirthing is accessible and affordable for everyone.

 Find the perfect class for you below:

• Group Hypnobirthing Courses (South-East London & Kent)
• Private 1:1 Birth Prep Coaching
• The Complete Online Hypnobirthing Course

Or you can get started today with our FREE 5-Day Hypnobirthing Challenge!