Helena & Phoebe’s Birth Story

At 36 weeks pregnant, I was sent for a growth scan after measuring big. The scan showed that the baby was actually a normal size, which was reassuring, but we were told something unexpected, she was lying transverse.

This meant I couldn’t give birth vaginally if she stayed in that position, so we were booked in for another scan at 37 weeks to see if she’d moved.

Before that second scan, we tried to have the baby turned by a doctor. It was really unpleasant and unfortunately didn’t work. Because of the position she was in, the medical team couldn’t risk me going into natural labour, it would have been too dangerous, so I was booked in for a planned caesarean at 38 weeks.

This was a huge mental shift.

For months and months, I had been manifesting and envisioning an unmedicated water birth. I had pictured it so clearly. Letting go of that plan and adjusting to the reality of a caesarean was really tough. It meant releasing everything I thought I wanted and accepting something completely different.

But the experience itself was so good.

Everything ran smoothly, and in a way, knowing the day Phoebe was going to be born actually took a lot of the stress and worry out of the situation. There was calm, clarity and reassurance in having a plan and feeling supported through it.

It wasn’t the birth I had imagined, but it ended up being beautiful nonetheless.

Phoebe arrived safely, and that is what mattered most.