Florence tells us about her birth at home surrounded by two midwives and her spouse

When labor begins, the midwives should be notified quickly, even if it is not necessary for them to arrive immediately. Depending on the medical progress of the birth, we always have the possibility of changing our minds and giving birth at the maternity ward.

For the technical side, I had rented a swimming pool for childbirth in an association in Grenoble called “Bien naître et grandi” and which supports families in their home birth and parenting project.

My baby girl was born at term at more than 5 days. Every two days, I had to go for an ultrasound and monitoring.

On the other hand, at D+4 of the term, I had an experience that left me with a bitter taste. During the check-up at the hospital, I accept the examination of the cervix to see if a detachment of the membranes is possible (he had already proposed to me at the appointment before and I had refused, but now , I wanted to try to speed things up to avoid an outbreak that involves giving birth in the maternity ward). After examination, it is not possible to make a detachment, but following this examination, the midwife makes a test which indicated the tiny presence but presence nevertheless of amniotic liquid. She said it was tinted and that it was a sign of fetal distress, following that, the obstetrician on duty insisted that we stay in the maternity ward. (actually, I believe it was the mucous plug).

The problem seemed to be that the pouch was cracked, but as my mate rightly pointed out, that’s part of the birth process, and if the pouch had cracked at home, we wouldn’t have set out to maternity.

I had to call my midwives who reassured and comforted me. If the liquid was not green (in this case it is that there is meconium and there it is annoying) everything was under control and I could go home with peace of mind to give birth at home.

On the other hand, at the hospital they were not of this opinion, they did not want to let me go and they made me wait a few hours without eating, without drinking in a room, when I began to feel slight contractions. . I wanted to welcome them but I didn’t know if I should let myself go here or if I was going to be able to go back, I was waiting. I heard a woman giving birth in an adjoining room, and she seemed to be in so much pain! It was really very exhausting a few hours before my delivery. As the caregivers are overwhelmed, I couldn’t see anyone, so I was waiting for them to pass, but I think they were all mobilized since I didn’t meet any of them. My partner and I were writing a note to explain that we were going home when the obstetrician arrived with a waiver to fill out. We signed it, knowing that she would give us an appointment the next day for an induction if the delivery had not taken place by then. We went home but this experience cooled me down a bit just before I gave birth. The context did not help me to let go.