Birth Stories
A note before you read...
Every birth story shared here is as unique as the person who lived it. These stories are offered with love and honesty, in the hope that they may inform, inspire, or simply resonate with you on your own journey.
At Nurture by Natalie, we deeply believe that there is no ‘right’ way to give birth. Each path into parenthood is personal, shaped by individual circumstances, choices and values. The stories on this page reflect a wide range of births - from home births to planned caesareans, from water births to unexpected journeys - and each is valid, powerful, & worthy of being told.
Please read with kindness and care, holding space for the storyteller’s experience while honouring your own.
If a story brings up emotions or questions for you, know that support is always available. You’re never alone in this.
With love & nurture,
Natalie x
The best kind of baby update.
Baby was born yesterday evening weighing a dinky 6lb 13oz. My waters broke spontaneously on Tuesday at 2.45am but over the next couple of days she showed no signs of budging! We felt confident in her CTG’s, movements etc to decline inductions and give her the chance to come! But she still wasn’t impressed with that idea.
We started oxytocin drip and after having around 4/5 hours contracting 4 times in every 10 minutes, the decision was made to stop the drip to give her a little break as her heart rate was dipping with each contraction. After an hour we started up again but she continued to struggle whenever the dose was increased.
We were given the option of trying the drip again or opting for a section, we decided section would be best for her rather than continually stop/starting her up on something she wasn’t tolerating all that well!
In terms of the VBAC experience, I really tried to embrace the contractions as they came and powered through the time I was in labour without any pain relief at all, just breathing and squeezing my comb! So I feel really pleased that although we ended with a section I still got to have a positive birth experience and am hopeful that our recovery this time will be a much smoother experience.
Thank you so much for all you did to help us prep for her arrival and the empowerment you gave us to trust our decisions and give it our very best shot!
Kate & baby Ember
Birth Reflection as Jude’s second birthday approaches.
Jude’s Journey:
A Birth Story of Strength, Support & Surrender.
Due Date: 24th June 2023
Born: 7.59am, Tuesday 4th July 2023
Weight: 9lb 6oz
Planned: Homebirth
Actual: Home labour, transfer to hospital, forceps delivery 20 minutes after arrival
Pain relief: TENS, gas & air, birth pool
I went in for CTG monitoring on Sunday 2nd July 2023 for being “overdue” and George and I left feeling completely deflated. I felt pressured into booking in for an induction (unsuccessfully), and the words “so you don’t let anyone down” were uttered, as if it was everyone's decision and everyone's pregnancy but ours. Thank goodness for Nat, who gave me the reassurance pep talk I needed on the phone afterwards and reminded me to trust myself and that my baby will make his way when he's ready. What they hadn’t told me at the hospital was that the monitor had already picked up some light contractions that I just didn't feel yet. Nat had reviewed the CTG results later and let me know.
At about 1.30am on Monday 3rd July I woke up feeling mild contractions and saw my bloody show. I tried to get some more sleep and we rang the homebirth team around 6am. At that point things were still manageable, but by 11am the contractions were ramping up and we rang again to see when they could be with us for. I’d started using the TENS machine and was having oretty intense contractions (or so I thought!). George brought me toast and snacks in the lounge but I had zero appetite.
When Nat, Sarah and student midwife arrived, they helped George get the birth pool ready. At one point the hose thay we'd fed from upstairs down to the pool came off and flooded the bathroom, and when I eventually got in the pool, I was lucky not to be electrocuted by George, who was trying to cool the water down with an electric fan. Music was playing, fairy lights were glowing, affirmations were up, and it looked like the dream homebirth setup. I laboured in the pool, on the sofa and on the downstairs loo, which had been nicknamed “dilation station".
The midwives were absolute superstars. At one point, Nat, who was on a pre-op diet, was hiding under the kitchen table eating boiled eggs, while Sarah made herself a lasagne in the oven. Meanwhile, I was trying to relieve some of the discomfort with copious amounts of gas & air, which did nothing for me. I still managed to go through every single bottle the ladies had brought though. I was drifting in and out of conversations, beyond exhausted and very ready to throw in the towel and let baby chill in my tummy a little longer.
Our old cat was still with us at the time and he kept curling up near me while I laboured. His litter tray was in the downstairs loo, so when Nat was in there holding my hand, she knelt right in the cat litter everytime. She still had it stuck in her tights when she got home.
Hours went by and baby’s heart rate luckily was totally fine, he was completely unbothered by the whole ordeal. But contractions were slowing, so Sarah said they’d need to break my waters which meant that contractions would ramp up and I remember thinking: how can they possibly ramp up more?!
After more time passed with me pushing and pushing and baby still not making an entrance, they gently said it was time to transfer to hospital. I remember saying I needed a shower because I could smell myself and Nat, as lovely as ever, told me I was fine. The ambulance came in what felt like seconds, but the actual journey there was not fun, even getting to and into the ambulance was a chore. Every bump triggered another contraction and I was so grateful for Nat being there with me, reassuring me and coaching me through every contraction.
We all made it to the hospital: Nat in the ambulance with me and Sarah and George in their cars. I barely remember getting to the delivery suite. I vaguely remember wanting to take my legs out of the stirrups on the bed I was on when yet another contraction came, because it was so intense. Apparently I asked Nat if this was definitely the right decision (I don’t remember doing that), and then seeing the forceps, seeing his little head emerge, and then the sensation of his body being born.
And there he was.
Nat and Sarah stayed by our side, Sarah made sure they didn’t clamp the cord too early, and made them wait until it turned white. I remember watching her face while they did my stitches, trying to work out from her expression whether everything was okay (and whether they were doing a decent job).
One of the most surreal things that I didn't expect was that the second he was born, the contractions stopped. Just like that.
I’d lost about a litre of blood and needed to stay in for what ended up being two nights. Once again, Nat had my back, arranging for her contact at the hospital to come check in on me and make sure I was immediately supported with breastfeeding. And I do think having that support from the get go made a huge difference, again, I will forever be grateful to Nat for that!!
From start to finish, Nat and Sarah were by our side advocating for us, supporting us and being absolute rocks. I’ll never be able to thank them enough. They really held us through every step of becoming parents.
Sarah & Baby Jude
So, we went into the hospital at 4pm on Sunday and I was 3cms dilated already! We watched Love Island, Avengers and I even got a foot rub off Dan for an oxytocin boost. My waters were broken at 2am on the Monday morning in the Midwifery Led Unit and I began contracting every 7 minutes.
The Midwife had said that I had some time for my contractions to increase, they had said 2 hours but I asked for 4 hours instead. They agreed to stretch the time out but I knew things were happening already myself.
It was during this time that I used most of the tools from our Hypnobirthing course. I focussed on my breathing, and tried out different positions. I wanted to use the pool once things got started. I had my playlist running in the background that helped me through the contractions. Dan was counting them too and I didn’t need to tell him, he just started picking up on my shift in movements, noises and sometime attitude too, I did tell him to ‘Shut the f*ck up!’ a couple of times!
My official induction started at 7am, we tried the wireless monitoring for a good 45 minutes before the oxytocin drip was started but there were technical issues. All of a sudden I was contracting like mad, I started using the gas and air which made me feel wobbly on my feet so I settled on the bed, I wasn’t really a fan of that stuff.
By 9.30am the contractions were every 4 minutes and so intense! I asked to be checked as I was convinced things were moving too quickly but I was 7 cms. I panicked not long after as I felt the urge to push and thought something must be wrong, I still had 3cms to go and it was only 10.15am. I tried using my comb at this point but I think I was a bit too late to the game. There were a few times I lost my rhythm with my breathing and panicked but because Dan did the Hypnobirthing course with me he knew how to bring me back to focus and get me back on track, which was the game changer really!
I felt high as a kite at this point and a lovely midwife came in, I remember she had really cold hands! She brought me a cold flannel and gently tapped my head and Dan told me I took it from her and slapped it across my own face. I enjoyed it that much!!
I think I asked for an epidural (in so many words) and Dan knew I didn’t want one, he was shaking his head to the midwives. I definitely had that moment of ‘I can’t do this’ transition phase. Once Dan and the midwife told me ‘Yes, you can do this!’, I said ‘Oh, our Hypnobirthing Lady said I’d do this, transitioning and lions sh*t’. They laughed when I said that and I think I cried a little.
Dan and I laughed the whole way through. I think the midwives were concerned at some points as it was pure delirium. I had poor Dan pinned in some WWE style move through the contractions and I kept accidentally giving him a wedgie instead of squeezing his hand.
There was a breathing technique I had forgotten about and when the midwife encouraged me to change my breathing pattern, I knew exactly what to do and I could see you in my mind doing it.
Dan definitely was my unofficial 3rd midwife, he had loads of confidence, he knew my birth plan inside and out because he had written it, which I think is the best idea ever! I didn’t worry about anything, I was away with the pain fairies and was just concentrating on getting through each contraction so I wasn’t thinking about or answering any questions. The midwives even had Dan helping with holding the monitors on my tummy as the baby was moving around. He even knew when I’d last had a wee, the midwife had asked me to do a wee earlier but I had been on my way to the loo and then had a contraction which stopped me in my tracks. So they did the little tube catheter which was a little uncomfortable.
Dan knows more of the details than I do as he was so involved. I think knowing what(ish) was coming/should be happening meant that he could relax and take the experience in rather than being bombarded with information. It was definitely down to you I think his experience was top!
Marcus (little Mac) was out in 7 minutes with 3 pushes. I had no tears or grazes so didn’t need any stitches and only 93mls of blood loss so nothing really. I birthed the placenta myself (with a couple of little coughs to help).
Dan sobbed (and he did also cry 3 other times during the labour!)
We were able to stay in the MLU room for a little while after but we were discharged and home by 9pm the same day.
Vic, Dan and baby Marcus