EP24| Rachel - 5.2 kilo homebirth baby, midwife mother, history of PND & big babies

<p>In this episode, we meet Rachel new midwife and mother of two based in New South Wales.&nbsp;</p> <p>Rachel shares her birth stories only 6 weeks postpartum of her second baby. &nbsp;</p> <p>Rachel found herself surprised by her first pregnancy and decided to have GP shared care with her local hospital. &nbsp;Expecting to have a natural vaginal birth just like her mother, she didn't think much of birth.&nbsp;</p> <p>She had HG throughout her entire pregnancy and suffered while working as a nurse up until very late in her pregnancy.&nbsp;</p> <p>At 38+2 she thought her waters had broken and she had cramps. &nbsp;She went into the hospital and was told her waters hadn't broken and that she wasn't dilated enough to keep her in. She was sent home.&nbsp;</p> <p>She later started having closer contractions and headed back into the hospital to find she was already 8 cms. &nbsp;</p> <p>She had early pushing, a cervical lip and a posterior baby with assisted vacuum and eventually forceps were tried in the operating theatre.&nbsp;</p> <p>This birth ended up in a c-section and her baby in special care for 48 hours afterwards. &nbsp;Rachel also found herself back in the hospital a week later with a womb infection and suffered PND and breastfeeding challenges.&nbsp;</p> <p>Her baby was born 4.2 kilos.&nbsp;</p> <p>Baby number two was a planned pregnancy and during this time Rachel had been training as a midwife and had Hazel Keedle as one of her lecturers who had made her feel much more comfortable about having a vaginal birth after c-section with her studies &amp; research.</p> <p>She had met a student midwife in her class who suggested homebirth and recommended a homebirth midwife Louise.&nbsp;</p> <p>When Rachel was pregnant she was in two minds about where she would birth her baby and decided to book into an MGP (midwifery group program) while she continued to educate her now-husband on the benefits of a homebirth.&nbsp;</p> <p>Eventually, around 15 weeks, she decided to book in Louise and plan for a homebirth and so t