Farah, a strong, inspirational woman who I am proud to call a friend and colleague. Farah is the mother of 4 beautiful children, 2 boys an 2 girls, she has had 1 normal birth, 2 cesarean births and she decided to have a HBA2C (Home Birth After 2 Cesareans) with her 4th baby, Ayesha… This is her birth story. Thank You Farah for allowing me to be with you for this birth, it truly was one of the most inspiring births I have ever had the honour of being a part of.
On the 21st of August 2016 around noon I started to get mild tummy cramps. I knew it was labour, but didn’t say anything to my husband Sharief. I got him to massage my feet though. I eventually told my husband I was in labour and we tidied up the bedroom as I was having a home birth.
My two sons were at their dad so I was able to relax. My sons got home around 7pm and I remember talking to my ex husband. My husband told our sons that tomorrow they would have a sister and they best go to sleep.
After he left I started to get proper contractions. My daughter who is 18 months old was also making the moaning sounds I was making. She wanted to be held and I was having strong contractions. I tried to eat my dinner but she also wanted some and I eventually gave up trying to eat. I told sharief that I could not carry on holding her during my contractions and he better see to her.
I contacted Nadia and escaped into the shower for some peace. I lost track of time after that pretty much. At the same time I contacted Nadia at 9:30pm and asked her to come through, just before she arrived I contacted my midwife who brought another midwife with her. Now that everyone had arrived I was so happy and relieved to have my birthing team with me.
The room lights were dimmed down, the contractions were coming thick and fast and I decided to lie on my side in bed to try and calm them down a bit while Nadia gave me foot massage. I was so glad to have her and my midwives with me; they calmed me down a lot and supported me through the contractions.
I pretty much zoned out after a while and I just breathed, grunted and moaned through most of the contractions. It felt like 5 minutes had just passed and I was told that I was ready to push.
I screamed a lot as I pushed, but all my children slept through it believe it or not. My husband was in bed with me holding my hands and at some point while pushing Sharief wanted to go check on my daughter and I yelled at him and told him to come back NOW , I knew that she was about to be born. After some pushing and complaining from my side I got fed up and decided to push with all my might and my daughters head came out and I was told in the same contraction to push the rest of her out. The relief was instant and awesome.
Baby Ayesha was born on the 22nd of August 2016 at 01:05am weighing 3.690kg. I cried so much and kept saying ‘I did it, I did it’. Because of my history of 2 previous cesareans, everyone kept telling me that I must have another cesarean with this baby, but I believed in my body’s ability to birth naturally and I proved them all wrong and had a safe, amazing home birth after two cesareans (HBA2C).
My daughter is so beautiful. No pain medication, no internal checks and no interventions. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! I had a second degree tear that was stitched up. My team stayed with me for as long as I needed afterward, I was on such a high and nothing else mattered to me. Thank you to my team for their amazing support.
Farah and Ayesha in bed a few hours after birth having a beautiful moment enjoying the natural oxytocin high.