"My VBAC birth"

I was fortunate to have been involved in KEMH midwife program for my birth, which occurred recently, and it was an incredibly positive experience.

My previous pregnancy and birth was quite discombobulating as it occurred during Covid in 2021 and it wasn't a particularly positive experience.

In contrast this pregnancy and birth was totally different and we are so grateful for the care and support we received from our very first appointment through to the home check ups. I felt Sophie, our midwife, was truly incredible - I believe she is the best example of the kind of support we were seeking and could have ever hoped for. She was authentic, caring, invested, and so empowering - the way she provided the education so that could understand, so it wasn’t overwhelming, but helped us navigate the journey was so helpful. I believe her assistance gave us every chance of having a VBAC and we were so thrilled that a VBAC did eventuate even though it looked like it may not given spurious/prodromal labour.

Every single midwife we encountered was so reassuring, helpful, encouraging - from the women who were monitoring me when we had to go into the hospital on a few occasions leading into the birth, to the midwife’s on the day of the birth, the the home visit midwifes - everyone was exceptional.

Sophie helped us through a difficult few days leading into the birth where I was having early contractions that kept becoming irregular through the night making it frustrating and hard to sleep, and I vomiting so much that I wasn’t able to keep food down for several days which made me quite depleted. Sophie really helped me through the experience - she actively listened and laid out options so clearly every step of the way, which made me feel so safe and supported. She laid all the foundations for the experience and this was truly invaluable and contributed significantly to the positive outcome.

On the day of the birth I found Courtney was fantastic at the beginning of the day, providing encouragement and support that helped set the tone for the day, and then this was followed by Maddi who I felt was also absolutely amazing. She was by my side the whole way through and again her support, rapport, care, and encouragement, which she maintained all day from the beginning of the process to the arrival of the baby, was absolutely brilliant. We were so impressed by her stamina and her all round approach. I found the Doctor, Will, was also excellent and his warmth, genuine nature and investment contributed to the beautiful environment that was created for us. Other midwives such as Janette, and Sigrid also contributed to this positive environment- caring, encouraging, supportive and such upbeat, helpful dispositions that meant so much to us and contributed to making it such a special experience.

Once the baby arrived we were over the moon - it was such a magical feeling and we were so thrilled to have so many of the people involved in helping come in to say congratulations, it really felt the most supportive and collaborative effort. I found the people who assisted with the stitches, the checking of the baby and everything else thereafter were also fantastic.

I felt the midwifes who looked after me in the ward for the night and the next day in hospital were also wonderful - Megan and Megg - they provided helpful information, assisted with such great care and made my transition back out of the hospital so seamless and comfortable. The education and support provided that first day from different departments was also great and made us feel prepared and ready to leave and adjust. I felt Maddy and Tarnee the midwives who did the at home care visits were also brilliant offering very helpful advice, organising the loan of a breast feeding pump, assisting with latch tips etc.

I honestly could not have felt happier about this experience and I'm so grateful to have been involved in the program. It has been one of the most special events of our lives and we attribute the positive way we feel about the journey to the program and in particular to the people who we were fortunate to be supported by, especially Sophie. We are in awe of the commitment, care, professionalism, empathy and authenticity of every person we met over the period of the birth and we would not hesitate to recommend the program and can not speak more highly of the experience. It meant the world to us to receive this level of care and support.