WEBVTT - The Mum Who Gave Birth With The Help Of Her Four Year Old 0:00:21.773 --> 0:00:24.493 You're listening to a Mumma Mia podcast. 0:00:25.212 --> 0:00:28.413 Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters 0:00:28.453 --> 0:00:31.452 that this podcast is recorded on. We pay our respects 0:00:31.533 --> 0:00:35.092 to elders past, present and emerging, and feel privileged to 0:00:35.132 --> 0:00:38.253 continue the sharing of birth stories and knowledge that has 0:00:38.293 --> 0:00:46.053 been a fundamental part of Indigenous culture. I'm Cassanna Lukisch. 0:00:46.173 --> 0:00:49.173 Welcome to Diary of a Birth. How would you like 0:00:49.253 --> 0:00:52.453 to give birth in the place you feel most comfortable, 0:00:52.893 --> 0:00:55.893 with all your stuff around and with as many loved 0:00:55.893 --> 0:00:59.533 ones on hand as you wish. Sounds pretty idyllic in theory, right. 0:01:00.333 --> 0:01:03.293 That's describing a home birth, a choice that less than 0:01:03.373 --> 0:01:06.173 one percent of Australian women make to bring their baby 0:01:06.212 --> 0:01:09.693 into the world. The Aussie figure is half that of 0:01:09.773 --> 0:01:13.333 British homebirths and only a third of New Zealand's number. 0:01:14.372 --> 0:01:17.012 Many members of the homebirth in community rave about them. 0:01:17.253 --> 0:01:20.213 And while a homebirth isn't for everyone and strict medical 0:01:20.212 --> 0:01:23.853 condition must be met to have one, home births like 0:01:23.893 --> 0:01:27.413 the mum we're meeting today, shout loudly and proudly about 0:01:27.453 --> 0:01:28.732 their experiences. 0:01:29.252 --> 0:01:31.973 Everybody is very shocked. If you say, oh yeah, I'm 0:01:32.413 --> 0:01:34.533 I'm gonna have my baby at home. They go, oh, 0:01:34.733 --> 0:01:36.933 what really, Oh, why would you want to do that? 0:01:37.453 --> 0:01:41.212 I'm thinking, why would you not want to? 0:01:41.212 --> 0:01:44.453 Today we're going to learn about a truly magical birth. 0:01:44.972 --> 0:01:55.893 I would describe my birth as healing, as magical, and 0:01:57.013 --> 0:02:01.773 absolutely perfect, just everything that I had hoped that it 0:02:01.813 --> 0:02:03.813 would be and more. 0:02:04.413 --> 0:02:07.453 A birth where Mum was able to tune right into 0:02:07.493 --> 0:02:10.773 her body and be a crucial part of the most 0:02:10.972 --> 0:02:11.813 special moment. 0:02:12.532 --> 0:02:15.453 One push, I was able to bring him up out 0:02:15.493 --> 0:02:18.653 of the water, and I remember when I reached down 0:02:19.293 --> 0:02:22.253 and saw his face. He was so stunned. He looked 0:02:22.293 --> 0:02:23.853 like a stunned mullet. 0:02:24.133 --> 0:02:26.533 And this mum was able to choose the guest list 0:02:26.573 --> 0:02:30.333 for her son's arrival, including a very special four year 0:02:30.373 --> 0:02:30.933 old helper. 0:02:31.532 --> 0:02:37.933 Having her there was the most beautiful thing. I needed 0:02:37.972 --> 0:02:41.373 her to know that women are so strong. We are 0:02:41.532 --> 0:02:45.972 so strong. What we can do is absolutely incredible. 0:02:46.333 --> 0:02:48.012 So let's meet today's supermom. 0:02:48.493 --> 0:02:51.292 Hi. My name is Casey and this is the diary 0:02:51.412 --> 0:02:52.773 of my birth with Brodie. 0:02:56.013 --> 0:02:58.493 Any city dweller who's dreamt of slowing life down a 0:02:58.493 --> 0:03:02.292 bit will envy Casey's laid back rural life that sounds 0:03:02.333 --> 0:03:03.972 a world away from the right race. 0:03:04.933 --> 0:03:08.933 Before I had Brodie, I was thirty years old and 0:03:09.132 --> 0:03:13.933 we live on our family's apple orchards, so we grow apples, peaches, nectrons. 0:03:14.412 --> 0:03:17.013 And our family's been here since nineteen thirty nine, so 0:03:17.613 --> 0:03:20.293 a pretty long time. We lived in the country out 0:03:20.333 --> 0:03:22.493 of the place is called Imbrellen Laurie for a few 0:03:22.613 --> 0:03:26.213 years before meeting back with my husband and our then 0:03:26.333 --> 0:03:31.052 six month old, and when he was two and a bit, 0:03:31.613 --> 0:03:34.493 we finally decided that it was time to add another 0:03:34.773 --> 0:03:38.653 to our little troop and complete our family, so we 0:03:38.693 --> 0:03:40.013 decided to have Brodie. 0:03:40.613 --> 0:03:43.773 Casey had long been fascinated by the idea of having 0:03:43.813 --> 0:03:45.493 Brodie at home on their farm. 0:03:46.093 --> 0:03:48.573 I knew very early on that I wanted to have 0:03:48.773 --> 0:03:50.533 a home birth with Brodie. 0:03:50.893 --> 0:03:53.333 It took her husband, Callum, some convincing. 0:03:53.653 --> 0:03:56.013 I talked to my husband and we talked about the 0:03:56.053 --> 0:03:59.612 implications of home birth. He was a little bit unsure. 0:03:59.693 --> 0:04:02.493 He's a paramedic, so he was a little bit unsure. 0:04:02.533 --> 0:04:05.493 But I was so so confident that I really, really 0:04:05.533 --> 0:04:08.293 really wanted a home birth and I wanted to experience that. 0:04:08.933 --> 0:04:11.293 So I applied as soon as I found out I 0:04:11.373 --> 0:04:14.413 was pregnant for number three, I applied to the Midway 0:04:14.453 --> 0:04:18.493 Free Group Practice Program at Wolligong and I was so 0:04:18.693 --> 0:04:22.332 fortunate enough to get in. So we're very lucky down 0:04:22.413 --> 0:04:25.853 here in that the Midway Free Group Practice Program does 0:04:25.933 --> 0:04:28.573 offer home birth. There's quite a few hoops that you 0:04:28.613 --> 0:04:30.733 do have to jump through to be allowed to homebirth, 0:04:30.813 --> 0:04:34.693 but I was lucky to pass all of the tests, 0:04:34.813 --> 0:04:38.853 I guess you can say, and my beautiful midwife and 0:04:39.213 --> 0:04:41.973 I worked towards our home birth. 0:04:42.253 --> 0:04:46.613 Casey's pregnancy was nice and mundane, exactly as she wanted it. 0:04:46.973 --> 0:04:50.173 I started off feeling a little bit sick, but after 0:04:50.213 --> 0:04:54.452 the twelve fourteen week market all settled down, I barely 0:04:54.453 --> 0:04:56.493 even knew I was pregnant. It was the first time 0:04:56.573 --> 0:05:00.733 I'd had a posterior placenta, which means that the placenta's 0:05:00.733 --> 0:05:03.973 at the front, So I felt his kicks and everything 0:05:04.053 --> 0:05:06.013 a little bit later than my others, which I was 0:05:06.093 --> 0:05:09.933 devastated about because I prided myself on feeling them really early, 0:05:10.293 --> 0:05:12.053 so I felt like I was waiting forever for that. 0:05:12.733 --> 0:05:15.533 I did start to get a little bit of back 0:05:15.613 --> 0:05:18.253 pain just from being on my feet all the time 0:05:18.293 --> 0:05:21.213 with two other little ones running around. But on the 0:05:21.253 --> 0:05:25.213 whole it was a very, very boring pregnancy. I like 0:05:25.333 --> 0:05:26.853 to describe it as so. 0:05:26.973 --> 0:05:29.933 While Casey was full steam ahead with her plan to homebirth, 0:05:30.693 --> 0:05:32.573 everyone shared her enthusiasm. 0:05:33.213 --> 0:05:35.933 Everybody is very shocked. If you say, oh, yeah, I'm 0:05:36.373 --> 0:05:38.573 I'm gonna have my baby at home, they go, oh 0:05:38.693 --> 0:05:40.853 what really? Oh why would you want to do that? 0:05:41.573 --> 0:05:44.413 And I'm thinking, why would you not want to? You're 0:05:44.453 --> 0:05:48.173 in your own space. We got to set up very lights, 0:05:48.453 --> 0:05:50.173 got to have real candles. I didn't have to have 0:05:50.213 --> 0:05:54.332 battery powered candles. I could have whatever music I liked playing. 0:05:54.733 --> 0:05:57.053 I was in front of our fire. We set up 0:05:57.093 --> 0:05:59.933 the home birth pool right in front of the fire, 0:06:00.413 --> 0:06:05.293 which Callum graciously pretty much rebuilt just for the birth 0:06:05.333 --> 0:06:09.533 because that's what I wanted. Then after you have the baby, 0:06:09.573 --> 0:06:11.773 you can be on your own lounge, you can be 0:06:11.933 --> 0:06:14.693 in your own bed, eating your own food. There's no 0:06:14.733 --> 0:06:16.253 hospital food to deal with. 0:06:16.893 --> 0:06:19.613 I think the question that most people grapple with around 0:06:19.653 --> 0:06:22.453 home birth is a bit one what happens if something 0:06:22.493 --> 0:06:23.093 goes wrong? 0:06:23.493 --> 0:06:27.573 The Midwifree group practice has a relatively low threshold for 0:06:27.613 --> 0:06:31.293 transferring to hospitals, so the minute anything looks like it's 0:06:31.333 --> 0:06:34.573 not going to go right. You do transfer to hospital, 0:06:34.693 --> 0:06:38.093 whether that is through you driving from your house to 0:06:38.133 --> 0:06:42.373 the hospital, or if something is going not very well, 0:06:42.413 --> 0:06:44.973 then you will get an ambulance, but that is very 0:06:45.053 --> 0:06:48.293 very very rare. And before you have the birth, they 0:06:48.293 --> 0:06:51.813 bring up the birth pool and a bunch of medications 0:06:51.853 --> 0:06:53.373 that are in the fridge, and they bring up a 0:06:53.373 --> 0:06:56.573 whole emergency kit to your house so that if anything 0:06:56.613 --> 0:07:00.213 does go wrong, everything is there that you'll need. And 0:07:00.253 --> 0:07:02.493 that made him feel a lot more comfortable because he 0:07:02.533 --> 0:07:06.373 could see that it was so prepared. And the statistics 0:07:06.413 --> 0:07:09.773 of people transferring to hospital with a home birth are 0:07:09.973 --> 0:07:14.253 very very low because things generally tend to go right 0:07:14.333 --> 0:07:16.813 in home births, very very luckily. 0:07:16.893 --> 0:07:20.373 With ninety seven percent of berths in Australia happening in hospitals, 0:07:20.733 --> 0:07:23.293 we're pretty limited with who is in the room sharing 0:07:23.293 --> 0:07:26.813 the experience. Most women are restricted to one birth in partner. 0:07:27.173 --> 0:07:30.453 But at Casey's place, she was able to surround herself 0:07:30.493 --> 0:07:33.453 with loved ones, including a very junior helper. 0:07:34.133 --> 0:07:37.013 You can have whoever you want there, So I had 0:07:37.133 --> 0:07:40.773 my beautiful mother in law, I had my sister in law, 0:07:41.373 --> 0:07:44.013 my now five year old. She was four and a 0:07:44.053 --> 0:07:46.813 half at the time, was able to be there. We 0:07:46.933 --> 0:07:49.213 talked about it a lot leading up to the birth. 0:07:49.493 --> 0:07:52.653 She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to be there. 0:07:52.933 --> 0:07:54.613 She thought that she would, but she was a little 0:07:54.653 --> 0:07:56.773 bit scared of whether she would like it or not. 0:07:56.893 --> 0:08:00.133 So before the birth, leading up to it, we watched 0:08:00.173 --> 0:08:05.293 lots of videos. We watched YouTube videos, and after she'd 0:08:05.333 --> 0:08:07.413 seen a couple, she didn't want to stop watching them. 0:08:07.453 --> 0:08:09.773 She wanted to watch more and more and more. And 0:08:09.813 --> 0:08:13.533 then after that she was so excited. So we actually 0:08:13.613 --> 0:08:17.093 woke her up to be part of the birth. She'd 0:08:17.133 --> 0:08:20.173 been involved in getting ready for it as well, like 0:08:20.653 --> 0:08:23.893 colecting all of my supplies that I wanted. She also 0:08:24.093 --> 0:08:28.613 painted beautiful birth affirmations and pictures for me so that 0:08:28.653 --> 0:08:31.253 we could stick them around the fireplace. It looked like 0:08:31.293 --> 0:08:35.892 a little pregnancy shrine. It was a really, really beautiful experience, 0:08:36.213 --> 0:08:39.693 and I wouldn't let anybody talk me out of it. 0:08:39.813 --> 0:08:43.133 I knew that it was definitely the right choice for 0:08:43.213 --> 0:08:44.693 me for this birth, for sure. 0:08:45.413 --> 0:08:47.973 So how do you prep to give birth at home? 0:08:48.533 --> 0:08:50.892 Getting ready for a home berth in the last month 0:08:50.893 --> 0:08:55.173 of pregnancy was a little bit crazy, particularly for me. 0:08:55.293 --> 0:08:58.533 I always leave things right up to the last minute. 0:08:58.733 --> 0:09:02.373 But my first two pregnancies, I had both of those 0:09:02.413 --> 0:09:05.773 babies like in the thirty eighth week, so I knew 0:09:05.773 --> 0:09:08.653 that I had to be ready for the thirty eighth week. 0:09:08.693 --> 0:09:10.773 I wasn't even sure if I would make it to them, 0:09:11.453 --> 0:09:13.453 so I knew that I had to get everything ready. 0:09:13.453 --> 0:09:17.653 So I was madly going to buy towels and my 0:09:17.813 --> 0:09:20.173 birth comb and making sure that I had a tens 0:09:20.213 --> 0:09:24.853 machine and essential oils that I could diffuse. I had beautiful, 0:09:25.173 --> 0:09:28.093 a beautiful diffuser going with my lavender oil because I 0:09:28.133 --> 0:09:32.573 love the smell of lavender padsicles. Getting ready for a 0:09:32.613 --> 0:09:35.133 home birth in the last month of pregnancy was It's 0:09:35.133 --> 0:09:39.653 a really nice introduction to the finish line, almost because 0:09:39.693 --> 0:09:42.293 you can have exactly what you want. You can make 0:09:42.333 --> 0:09:45.693 your space exactly how you want it, and it's not 0:09:46.453 --> 0:09:49.093 a shock. It's not a hospital room. It's not got 0:09:49.133 --> 0:09:52.053 bright lights, it's not got a bed right in the 0:09:52.053 --> 0:09:54.733 middle of the room, so you can be up and 0:09:54.813 --> 0:09:58.492 moving about. I knew that that's what I wanted. When 0:09:58.493 --> 0:10:00.173 I have my berths, I know that I want to 0:10:00.213 --> 0:10:02.413 be upright and I want to be moving and swaying 0:10:02.453 --> 0:10:05.613 and leaning over things rather than being on my back 0:10:05.653 --> 0:10:08.253 on a bed. That's the worst possible position that I 0:10:08.293 --> 0:10:12.893 could imagine being in giving birth. I love home birth. 0:10:14.013 --> 0:10:17.173 So along with Casey's daughter, there was another surprising guest 0:10:17.213 --> 0:10:21.213 of honor. Many women wouldn't be so keen for Casey, 0:10:21.533 --> 0:10:22.853 it was an easy choice. 0:10:23.373 --> 0:10:25.653 Some people might think it's weird that I had my 0:10:25.853 --> 0:10:30.132 mother in law there. We have the most beautiful relationship. 0:10:30.493 --> 0:10:33.493 She is like a second mother to me. She is 0:10:33.613 --> 0:10:37.773 also a midwife, so I am so so thankful that 0:10:37.853 --> 0:10:41.613 she was there. She is such a beautiful support. She's 0:10:41.813 --> 0:10:47.413 a beautiful woman, and she's absolutely incredible coming up and 0:10:47.453 --> 0:10:49.973 then all of a sudden, I can feel myself poohing, 0:10:50.733 --> 0:10:54.973 which was my biggest fear. I did not want to 0:10:55.013 --> 0:11:06.333 pooh in front of everybody. So for the few days 0:11:06.373 --> 0:11:10.973 before labor started, I was niggling. And for me, when 0:11:11.133 --> 0:11:14.413 I niggle, all three of my pregnancies have felt like 0:11:14.493 --> 0:11:17.253 period pain coming and going, so I knew that as 0:11:17.293 --> 0:11:21.293 soon as that started it was getting close. Except it 0:11:21.413 --> 0:11:24.613 happened for longer with this last pregnancy than it did 0:11:24.653 --> 0:11:27.773 with the other two. It was a good few days 0:11:27.973 --> 0:11:30.493 and then I might have had a day where I 0:11:30.573 --> 0:11:33.653 didn't niggle, and then another two days where I did. 0:11:34.133 --> 0:11:37.213 So it was probably like five days or so before 0:11:37.773 --> 0:11:41.013 that I was niggling for before I actually went into labor. 0:11:41.813 --> 0:11:44.093 The day that I went into labor, I think I 0:11:44.133 --> 0:11:47.333 woke up and I knew that something might be happening. 0:11:47.373 --> 0:11:50.333 I don't know how, you know, but I just knew. 0:11:51.013 --> 0:11:54.053 So we decided to go for a walk around our farm. 0:11:54.813 --> 0:11:58.773 And our farm has a little a few hills on it, 0:11:58.813 --> 0:12:00.693 so we were walking up and down the hills, and 0:12:00.733 --> 0:12:04.613 that whole time I was getting like Braxton Hicks type contractions, 0:12:04.613 --> 0:12:08.453 so not real contractions, just tightenings. They weren't painful at all, 0:12:08.493 --> 0:12:12.653 but they were there. So it got to five thirty 0:12:12.733 --> 0:12:15.453 six o'clock at night and I was still getting these 0:12:15.533 --> 0:12:18.773 regular tightenings. We were like, yes, it hasn't fizzled out. 0:12:18.813 --> 0:12:21.813 This is awesome. Let's just feed the kids and we'll 0:12:21.853 --> 0:12:24.493 get them into bed and hopefully then I'll do some 0:12:24.573 --> 0:12:28.093 bouncing on my birth ball and that might get things 0:12:28.173 --> 0:12:31.893 going and we'll really get into it. This is perfect timing. 0:12:31.933 --> 0:12:35.213 The kids will be asleep, particularly our middle one, because 0:12:35.253 --> 0:12:38.093 he wasn't planned to be there. So we got the 0:12:38.213 --> 0:12:41.533 kids fed, and halfway through dinner, Callum and I were 0:12:41.533 --> 0:12:43.973 eating and I'm going, ooh, these are I think I 0:12:44.013 --> 0:12:47.093 can start to feel there's a bit This is exciting. 0:12:47.133 --> 0:12:49.813 So we called my mother in law and we let 0:12:49.853 --> 0:12:52.893 her know, Hey, we think you might need to come 0:12:52.973 --> 0:12:56.453 up tonight. We'll let you know. But I'm just like 0:12:56.533 --> 0:12:59.933 starting to feel things. It's not painful at all. She 0:12:59.973 --> 0:13:02.213 could tell that I wasn't in pain, but she knew 0:13:02.293 --> 0:13:05.293 better because she'd seen me with the other two how 0:13:05.373 --> 0:13:08.693 quick they went. So she started to get ready to 0:13:08.693 --> 0:13:10.613 come up, and she's saying, would you like me to 0:13:10.613 --> 0:13:13.573 pick up Kirsten. That's my beautiful sister in law on 0:13:13.613 --> 0:13:15.973 the way, and we'll both just come up and if 0:13:15.973 --> 0:13:18.013 nothing happens, and we'll just have a cup of tea 0:13:18.013 --> 0:13:22.413 and go home. And that's totally fine. So another five 0:13:22.493 --> 0:13:26.133 minutes later, I called my midwife because I could start 0:13:26.173 --> 0:13:29.373 to feel it getting a little bit more intense, and 0:13:29.413 --> 0:13:32.293 the midwife's going, Okay, well, I'll call our second midwife 0:13:32.293 --> 0:13:34.933 and make sure that she's available, and we'll get out 0:13:35.293 --> 0:13:38.493 student midwife as well. And I'm going, oh, don't rush, 0:13:38.573 --> 0:13:41.612 like I'm only just starting to feel a couple of 0:13:41.653 --> 0:13:44.213 like tightenings every now and again. I think at that 0:13:44.293 --> 0:13:46.493 point they were not painful, but it was like every 0:13:46.693 --> 0:13:50.573 three or four minutes or something. They were relatively close together. 0:13:51.333 --> 0:13:55.053 So we hung up the phone, and my kids hadn't 0:13:55.053 --> 0:13:57.893 finished dinner yet, and everything started to get a little 0:13:57.893 --> 0:13:59.933 bit stronger. I'm going, callum, we really need to get 0:13:59.933 --> 0:14:03.612 these kids into bed. I think this is actually starting 0:14:03.613 --> 0:14:06.893 to happen. We were both getting really really excited then, 0:14:06.973 --> 0:14:10.333 so we got the kids in bed, luckily, just as 0:14:10.373 --> 0:14:12.333 it started to ramp up a little bit more. At 0:14:12.333 --> 0:14:14.813 this point, it's probably quarter to seven, and we've got 0:14:14.813 --> 0:14:16.853 the kids in bed, and we're starting to light the 0:14:16.973 --> 0:14:20.373 candles and bring all of my supplies. I had my 0:14:20.413 --> 0:14:24.853 mate sarge oils everything that I could possibly think of 0:14:25.053 --> 0:14:30.613 was in these three kmart baby storage caddies, and my 0:14:30.933 --> 0:14:33.733 mother in law and my sister in law came and 0:14:33.813 --> 0:14:37.013 I was still walking around, fluffing everything up, bouncing on 0:14:37.053 --> 0:14:40.053 the ball, having a great old time, going this is exciting. 0:14:40.093 --> 0:14:43.733 We're gonna have a baby soon, we think, and my 0:14:43.813 --> 0:14:46.813 sister in law goes, do you think we should blow 0:14:46.853 --> 0:14:47.933 up the birth pool? 0:14:48.373 --> 0:14:50.293 I'm going, nah, nah. 0:14:50.093 --> 0:14:53.253 It's still way too early for that. She's going, how 0:14:53.253 --> 0:14:55.933 about we just blow it up just in case, because 0:14:55.973 --> 0:14:57.853 the worst thing would be for you to want to 0:14:57.893 --> 0:15:01.173 get in the pool and it's not ready. And I'm going, oh, okay, 0:15:01.493 --> 0:15:04.773 can't hurt, Maybe we should blow it up. Well, in 0:15:04.893 --> 0:15:09.493 the next fifteen minutes, it really really ramped up, and 0:15:10.333 --> 0:15:14.533 my contractions started to get quite I wouldn't say painful, 0:15:14.533 --> 0:15:17.293 but they were definitely quite strong, and I was starting 0:15:17.333 --> 0:15:22.853 to need to almost breathe through them. The midwives, two 0:15:22.893 --> 0:15:26.213 midwives and my student midwife came. I think it was 0:15:26.253 --> 0:15:31.013 about seven forty that they came, and the birth pool 0:15:31.133 --> 0:15:34.053 was blown up and we'd started to fill it because, 0:15:34.413 --> 0:15:37.533 as I said, it was getting a little bit more intense. 0:15:38.333 --> 0:15:42.573 At about seven forty five, I was starting to really 0:15:42.613 --> 0:15:48.013 go inside myself and concentrate what I was doing, think 0:15:48.093 --> 0:15:52.333 about everything, thinking about how I'm breathing, and I was 0:15:52.373 --> 0:15:55.933 sitting next to the birth pool with my head on 0:15:56.013 --> 0:15:58.013 my hands, trying to concentrate. 0:15:58.733 --> 0:16:01.213 If you're wondering what a birth pool actually looks like, 0:16:01.413 --> 0:16:05.093 think of a giant kiddie pool, but it's a bit taller. 0:16:06.213 --> 0:16:09.213 I'm fascinated by how this actually works. 0:16:09.613 --> 0:16:13.093 You cannot imagine how slow the birth pool fills up, 0:16:13.213 --> 0:16:17.093 and it's got to be warm water, so when it 0:16:17.133 --> 0:16:21.333 comes out of a tap, it's not lukewarm, but it's 0:16:21.453 --> 0:16:24.213 not hot. It's not like boiling water is being poured 0:16:24.253 --> 0:16:26.893 into the birth pool. So it takes a long time, 0:16:26.933 --> 0:16:28.733 and you've got to make sure that you also have 0:16:28.973 --> 0:16:32.573 a continuous hot water system. We're very lucky we had that, 0:16:32.813 --> 0:16:35.613 or burns or some way of heating up the water. 0:16:35.693 --> 0:16:37.813 Otherwise you're going to have a cold bath to get 0:16:37.853 --> 0:16:41.253 into and if it's too cold, then labour stops. So 0:16:41.373 --> 0:16:45.093 it needs to be just the perfect temperature. So the 0:16:45.853 --> 0:16:48.453 birth pool is filling up so slowly, and I'm sitting 0:16:48.533 --> 0:16:51.173 on the edge of it on my berth ball. Then 0:16:51.213 --> 0:16:54.133 all of a sudden, my waters break. They go pop, 0:16:54.813 --> 0:16:58.973 and with all three berths. As soon as my waters break, 0:16:59.293 --> 0:17:03.093 the head just comes straight down and smacks onto my cervix, 0:17:03.573 --> 0:17:07.693 and that's when everything really happens. So sitting on the 0:17:07.733 --> 0:17:10.773 ball next to the berth pool, and my midwife is 0:17:10.812 --> 0:17:13.812 standing next to me, and she can see me watching 0:17:13.853 --> 0:17:18.093 the water rise so slowly, and she goes, don't watch 0:17:18.133 --> 0:17:20.693 the water. I'll tell you when it's ready, you just 0:17:20.733 --> 0:17:23.933 concentrate on what you're doing. She's got this beautiful calming 0:17:24.052 --> 0:17:27.893 voice and going Okay, just breathe, just breathe, just breathe. 0:17:28.373 --> 0:17:30.892 And then all of a sudden, she goes, Okay, the 0:17:30.933 --> 0:17:33.453 water is at the minimum fill level you can get in, 0:17:33.573 --> 0:17:36.453 and I'm going, oh, thank goodness for that. 0:17:37.293 --> 0:17:39.573 So by this time, it's almost eight pm. The kids 0:17:39.573 --> 0:17:41.853 are tucked up in bed. How very lucky for her, 0:17:42.293 --> 0:17:44.052 and this labor is moving. 0:17:47.253 --> 0:17:52.213 The song spirit Bird was playing by Xavier Rudd, and 0:17:52.333 --> 0:17:55.773 this song I don't know how it managed to happen, 0:17:55.853 --> 0:17:58.532 but this is a very special song for me. My 0:17:59.053 --> 0:18:03.213 cousin passed away when I was pregnant with my first baby, 0:18:03.813 --> 0:18:09.613 and Spirit Bird was like his song, like embodies him. 0:18:09.773 --> 0:18:14.812 He was this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful human. So Spirit Bird 0:18:14.973 --> 0:18:17.893 is playing as I'm getting into the water and as 0:18:18.013 --> 0:18:23.373 I'm just really really sinking into into labor and breathing 0:18:23.533 --> 0:18:26.773 through everything. This is like the hardest part right now. 0:18:27.213 --> 0:18:32.173 It's a part where you're very internal, so I don't 0:18:32.213 --> 0:18:36.173 really know what's happening around me. I'm just concentrating on 0:18:36.373 --> 0:18:40.532 breathing and focusing on my body and trying to feel 0:18:40.533 --> 0:18:43.893 the baby moved down. I've got my eyes closed or 0:18:44.333 --> 0:18:47.413 I don't know whether it's hazy, just you feel like 0:18:47.493 --> 0:18:51.773 you're just internal. Nothing else matters. It's just you and 0:18:51.853 --> 0:18:54.733 your baby. So I get into the water and spirit 0:18:54.813 --> 0:18:58.332 birds playing and I'm focusing really hard, and then all 0:18:58.373 --> 0:19:02.653 of a sudden, my body just goes bam, like you 0:19:02.733 --> 0:19:07.733 need to push, and it's not a conscious push, it's 0:19:08.013 --> 0:19:12.213 your body just bearing down and pushing for you. So 0:19:13.173 --> 0:19:16.413 for this birth, I really really really wanted to focus 0:19:16.533 --> 0:19:20.373 on letting my body do its thing. So I'm in 0:19:20.413 --> 0:19:23.773 the word water trying to breathe as much as I can, 0:19:24.533 --> 0:19:28.332 but your body just takes over and it pushes for you. 0:19:28.413 --> 0:19:31.453 There's nothing that you can do to stop it. Trying 0:19:31.493 --> 0:19:34.013 to look at my birth affirmations and make sure that 0:19:34.093 --> 0:19:37.453 I'm breathing. I've got up on the wall. Everything from 0:19:37.933 --> 0:19:42.973 inhale exhale, to every contraction brings me closer to you, 0:19:43.773 --> 0:19:48.852 or soft lips equals soft lips, and that is a 0:19:48.893 --> 0:19:52.812 little code for soft lips of your mouth equals a 0:19:52.893 --> 0:19:57.373 soft vagina, soft vagina lips. So I'm trying to focus 0:19:57.413 --> 0:19:59.532 on those things, and then all of a sudden, I 0:19:59.533 --> 0:20:04.653 can feel myself poohing, which was my biggest fear. I 0:20:04.693 --> 0:20:08.133 did not want to pooh in front of everybody. But 0:20:09.173 --> 0:20:11.332 it's just one of these things that happens. Is the 0:20:11.373 --> 0:20:14.013 baby's coming down, it pushes on your bow and it 0:20:14.053 --> 0:20:16.532 pushes pooh out. It's not you being like, oh, I 0:20:16.573 --> 0:20:18.292 need to pooh and you just squeeze what out. It 0:20:18.413 --> 0:20:19.493 just happens. 0:20:20.173 --> 0:20:22.973 Love PC's honesty. There happens to the best of us. 0:20:23.733 --> 0:20:26.493 I can feel the baby come down a little bit more, 0:20:26.533 --> 0:20:29.933 and I have to bring my focus back onto breathing. 0:20:30.093 --> 0:20:36.293 But instead of breathing like big deep breaths like it 0:20:36.373 --> 0:20:39.493 was more it's too hard to do that at the time, 0:20:39.653 --> 0:20:42.773 so I was trying to focus on not pushing and 0:20:42.853 --> 0:20:46.733 letting the baby come down by doing very shallow breasts. 0:20:46.773 --> 0:20:47.573 It's more like a. 0:20:49.893 --> 0:20:53.093 Here's Casey in the moment, just incredible. 0:20:55.693 --> 0:21:06.413 Oh. 0:21:10.013 --> 0:21:12.693 Casey worked hard to stay in tune with her body 0:21:12.773 --> 0:21:13.933 as much as she. 0:21:13.973 --> 0:21:17.573 Could all through this labor. I'm trying to focus on 0:21:17.733 --> 0:21:20.013 what I want to do, what my body wants to do, 0:21:20.733 --> 0:21:25.373 and I can feel the baby coming down further and further, 0:21:25.453 --> 0:21:29.013 and then it starts to really stretch and really burn. 0:21:29.093 --> 0:21:32.532 You get this burning sensation, and that's when you know 0:21:32.693 --> 0:21:36.933 that the baby is right there. It's coming out any second. 0:21:37.213 --> 0:21:42.173 And if you push too fast then I know that 0:21:42.253 --> 0:21:46.133 you can run the risk of tearing, which I tore 0:21:46.373 --> 0:21:49.573 with my first. I had little grazes with the second, 0:21:49.773 --> 0:21:52.693 and I was trying as hard as I could not 0:21:52.813 --> 0:21:55.493 to tear this time. So I knew that if I 0:21:55.533 --> 0:21:58.773 didn't push it out too quickly, that would reduce the 0:21:58.853 --> 0:22:02.733 risk of tears. So I'm trying to breathe and let 0:22:02.773 --> 0:22:06.893 the stretching happen and let him come out in their 0:22:06.933 --> 0:22:11.532 own time. So it's stretched, and it stretched, and it burnt, 0:22:11.573 --> 0:22:16.453 and it burnt, and I'm going and he came out. 0:22:16.773 --> 0:22:21.453 It came out in almost one push. I think my 0:22:21.533 --> 0:22:24.933 beautiful midwife Sarah pushed him through my legs and I 0:22:25.053 --> 0:22:27.173 was able to bring him up out of the water. 0:22:27.613 --> 0:22:31.493 And I remember when I reached down and saw his face, 0:22:31.533 --> 0:22:34.573 he was so stunned. He looked like a stunned mullet. 0:22:35.053 --> 0:22:37.453 I think babies always look really strange when they first 0:22:37.533 --> 0:22:40.133 come out. They're a little bit they're squished, and they're 0:22:40.173 --> 0:22:44.333 a bit blue grayish looking. They're a funny color they're 0:22:44.333 --> 0:22:47.852 not like you would expect. So I looked down and 0:22:47.933 --> 0:22:50.413 I could see his eyes they were open, looking at 0:22:50.413 --> 0:22:52.933 me through the water. And I brought him up and 0:22:52.973 --> 0:22:55.493 I expected him to cry, but he didn't. He just 0:22:55.573 --> 0:22:57.293 kind of looked at me, and I looked at him, 0:22:57.333 --> 0:23:01.453 and we kind of looked at each other and processed 0:23:01.453 --> 0:23:06.133 what had happened. And I brought him close to me, 0:23:06.173 --> 0:23:08.413 and he had the cord wrapped around his neck a 0:23:08.413 --> 0:23:11.813 couple of times, so my midwife helped it unravel through 0:23:11.853 --> 0:23:14.733 his neck, and he still didn't cry, and I'm going, 0:23:14.773 --> 0:23:18.173 You're a bit shocked, aren't you. He was still trying 0:23:18.213 --> 0:23:21.493 to adjust to everything, But he was so so calm. 0:23:22.053 --> 0:23:24.373 He was really calm. I don't know whether that was 0:23:24.973 --> 0:23:28.613 because he was born in the water or whether it 0:23:28.693 --> 0:23:31.693