"The full body relief I felt when I heard [midwife] Ellie’s voice is something I will never forget. While I felt so safe and in control throughout my whole labour I so desperately wanted Ellie there when I met my baby.” 

The day my daughter was born was like any other ‘typical’ maternity leave day. My husband and I went for a walk, we watched a movie, I had a long shower. Throughout the day I was having uncomfortable tightenings but I didn’t think too much of them because they would disappear as soon as I lay down. At 4pm, while lying on the sofa, I felt and heard a pop, and when I stood up it was obvious my waters had broken. I was so excited because I knew within a matter of days I would meet my baby. I severely overestimated how long it would be until we met.

At 4:30 I felt my first contraction, it was completely different to the tightenings I had experienced that day as there was a distinct rise and fall. I messaged my beautiful midwife Ellie to let her know things were just getting started but no need to rush over, I was prepared for the marathon we had ahead. But my daughter had other ideas. My contractions were soon on top of each other and by roughly 5pm I felt the urge to push. My husband, Ryan, had Ellie on load speaker at this point who heard me bearing down and asked me to do a quick internal check. All I felt was the top of my daughter’s head and it was apparent that I was already fully dilated.

As Ellie drove (very quickly) to our house, she contacted Jan Ireland who lived close by to come as the second midwife. Thankfully Ryan is forever a calm and stable presence in my life and that day he did not disappoint. I felt completely safe with him and I had no reservations about letting my body take over. It was around 5:40pm when Jan arrived to me on all fours with head on view. Ellie was only 5 or so minutes behind. The full body relief I felt when I heard Ellie’s voice is something I will never forget. While I felt so safe and in control throughout my whole labour I so desperately wanted Ellie there when I met my baby. Goldie arrived at 6pm in a beautiful hurry, only 2 hours after my waters broke. Birth was better than I could have ever imagined and I am so excited to experience it again next year when we welcome our second child.

Birth story by Matilda McMinn.