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Parenting
Natural Birth – My Home Birth Story
Birth deserves to be reframed. Labouring women shouldn't be seen as patients with a dangerous condition, and giving birth doesn't have to be the scary medical emergency that we see so often in the media.
In Parenting
I consider home birth to be my greatest achievement. It was a beautiful birth for Baby Magnifique, but I, too, was born that day as a mother, as was my partner, as Louis’ father. Six weeks on, we still look back joyfully on that powerful event, feeling blessed to have begun our family life in such a special way.
We chose a home birth for many reasons, not least because the numbers show that home birth is in fact safer than hospital birth. I’ll probably be covering this in a future post, but suffice to say we did all the research and felt that home birth was the optimal choice for us.
Let me underline that I’m absolutely not telling you what kind of birth you should have, nor am I judging anybody’s choices around birth. I simply want to share my happy birth story as a beacon of hope for mothers-to-be, as I certainly would have liked to hear more positive stories during my pregnancy.
The day after Louis' arrival, looking for a special spot in the garden to bury the placenta.
Birth deserves to be reframed. Labouring women shouldn’t be seen as patients with a dangerous condition, and giving birth doesn’t have to be the scary medical emergency that we see so often in the media. To refuse the anxiety-inducing hospital environment by taking birth back into the home is to provide the best conditions for your innate capacity to birth be expressed.
Natural labour offers women a personal opportunity for empowerment. Having traversed labour fully conscious, I now know the extent of my strength. With no drugs to dampen the sensations, I was forced to abandon myself to the process, dig deep, and unbury a forgotten confidence in my ability to meet challenges head on. My experience showed me that I am a force of nature. And when life as a new mother took over, this knowledge was key.
My 100% Natural Home Birth
Here’s my story, filmed at the house in which Baby Magnifique was born.
- Amis français - il y a des sous-titres, il faut cliquer sur CC.
I will forever treasure my labour experience, and I hope that more and more women will be able to experience this awesome rite of passage by choosing a non-medicalised birth whenever possible, confident in their own innate power to bring their babies into this world, naturally.
With love,
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So great to hear you !
I am really interested in knowing how you prepared for natural birth and especially how you found this beautiful midwife.
Thank you for this moving personal story
Thank you for your lovely comment ?❤️. I’ll be doing a video about preparing for natural birth soon. As for the midwife, I was referred to her – most of the natural-leaning midwives in France know each other, and since there are so few who do home births, it’s a lottery as to whereabouts in France you are. I was lucky enough to be close-ish to my midwife, but she still had to drive 90 mins to get to us!
AH! *tears* you gorgeous mama! beautiful story– thank you for sharing! <3
Thank you for your lovely comment Cole! xxx
I have always thought I’d be someone who would just want all of the drugs so I could get through labor and birthing as pain free as possible. I’m not near this time in my own life yet, but hearing your experience made me reconsider my “fear based” ideas and I think if I do have the opportunity to have a baby in my life, I will now strongly consider this option. I especially love your thoughts on empowerment as a woman and natural body responses, and how your partner was involved – making this a family experience but emphasizing the importance of each persons role. Lovely lovely. Thank you!
Thank you Amanda for this thoughtful message that warms our hearts! So pleased that my story has you rethinking birth and considering the natural way – that was the aim in sharing it, so it’s brilliant to hear your reaction. All the best xxx
Was your baby born in Paris? I am trying to find a midwife here.
Hi Rosa! Her baby was born in the South of France. Paris can be a tricky place… definitely check out this article that Chloe wrote for HipParis: https://hipparis.com/2019/02/20/how-to-have-a-natural-birth-in-paris/