Freebirth in GHANA
I woke up in labour on Friday 19th June, 3 days before my guess date. It felt like very mild period cramps to begin with, and I assumed it was more 'practice' sensations (I'd begun to notice some gentle Braxton Hicks for maybe a week prior to this). Actually, I didn't end up doing many of the things I had planned to in the first phase of labour, since I was so convinced for most of the day that it was just practice (even though the first contractions I timed around 11am were 15-40 seconds in length and at least 3 or 4 every 10 minutes). In the morning I caught up with friends via video call & in the early afternoon Sam (my partner) set up the paddling pool outside and we enjoyed some sunshine, while I worked through some contractions, which was really lovely. It was after 2pm that I finally said to him "you do realise I've been having contactions all day?"
Around 3pm I tried to listen to a hypnosis track, but I got too uncomfortable with the contractions, so went straight to the next phase of my plan: distraction (British Comedy Panel TV on youtube). At some point the strength became such that I was pausing and concentrating on breathing through each contraction but at 5pm I texted my mum to ask how regular is 'regular' (still not believing!) and at 7.45pm I texted to let her know that my mucous plug had gone. Within an hour of this I felt a little internal popping sensation and a gush of fluid as my waters broke.
During this period, Sam had emptied, cleaned & begun to refill the pool in the little bedroom of our two-room 12x24ft house. Without any hot tap, it was a lot of work ferrying pots of water back and forth, and by this point I was listening to relaxing music, watching a time lapse video of flowers blooming and concentrating on keeping my breathing calm. The sensations just grew and grew at a steady rate. Fortunately Sam's work setting up the pool finished around the time I felt it absolutely necessary to have him with me for each contraction, to provide counter pressure, light touch massage and sips of water. He was amazing! At some point, the sensations felt so enormous that I really had no other option but to surrender. As they began to come in heavier, nausating waves, I couldn't help but ask "how many more of these can I take?". Fortunately, every time I was able answer "just this one...". At one stage, I put my hands together and said thank you to the universe for every contraction that I'd already managed. Key to pain management, for me, was staying in the present.
Some time after 9pm I knew that I'd done enough and I got in the pool for some relief. Very soon, after maybe a contraction or two, the sensations changed. Completely involuntarily, the contractions began to move my whole body, squeezing me around the top of my bump and pushing down toward my birth canal. It was like vomiting; I could not stop the sensation, and I began to roar and sing and growl and make other primal sounds that I have neither heard another human make nor knew I was capable of making, as my body opened completely up and began to push my baby down. During this phase, I put my fingers inside and felt a head crowning. After a couple of involuntary pushes, I joined my body very consciously; I stopped roaring, I blew hard and began to push. Through a few contractions, I could feel the internal sensation of a head coming down and then sliding back up.. Eventually I held my breath and pushed so hard into the wild sensations that I thought I might explode. It was within 5 or 6 contractions that her head was out, and her whole body followed immediately afterward.
I lifted her up and she looked around, a little dazed, eventually let out a small cry, and then settled on my chest. It was absolutely everything that I hoped it would be: perfectly undisturbed, completely intuitive, 100% natural. Our little girl arrived shortly after 10pm. A midwife checked us both over the following day; I have a couple of minor tears & the baby is very much intact, and life ever since has been a series of blissful moments, of which I am savouring each and every one.
