When the Publicly Funded Home Birth program launched on the Sunshine Coast last year, first-time mum, and midwife, Meghan was in her first trimester of pregnancy.
“Home birth is something I’ve always been interested in, and if my pregnancy went that way I’ve always wanted to aim for a physiological birth,” Meghan shared.
She expressed her interest in the program knowing she definitely wanted to be a part of it and was connected with Sunshine Coast Health Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) Midwife Katy Russell.
“Katy was phenomenal, every member of the home birth MGP birth centre team were amazing,” Meghan said.
“Everything was really transparent from the start – the goal was to always work towards a home birth but linking in with that MGP team I always knew if something was to pop up throughout my pregnancy, their care would transfer into hospital easily, so I felt really comfortable.”
In her third trimester, there was a moment of uncertainty for Meghan when the baby was breech.
“At that stage, we were like okay that’s fine we will have to move things into the hospital, but she flipped by herself, and we were back on the home birth train again,” Meghan said.
Two prenatal appointments were held at Meghan and her husband Brydon’s home, so Katy could assess the birth space and ensure the couple felt comfortable and confident with everything.
“Irrespective of the fact I’m a midwife, as a first-time mum, when you have a look at the physiology behind going into labour and birth a lot of that has to do with feeling safe, secure, and comfortable, and where else do you feel the most safe, secure and comfortable than in your own home?” Meghan said.
At 40 weeks and 4 days, Meghan began feeling the first signs of labour on a Friday night.
“We were very excited, I thought, oh my god, my body is actually doing this!”
Katy came and assessed Meghan Saturday morning and supported her for a few hours before the contractions slowed down.
“She said don’t worry call us back whenever you need,” Meghan recalled.
Meghan then spent the day trying to rest and snacking when she could before her contractions picked up again once the sun went down.
“I then called Katy back that evening, and was like okay thank you, this has been lovely, but I think I will go in for that epidural now,” Meghan said laughing.
“She said ‘yep not a problem, that’s definitely an option, but how about we try a few things first?’ so we tried a few things and I think I finally went into active labour and forgot about the [epidural] arrangement we had made.”
Another member of Meghan’s birth team was her gorgeous dog, Moose.
“He disappeared for the whole labour…and then he reappeared in the corner of the room and Katy our midwife, who has been a lot of home births, said normally that’s when you hit fully dilated and you’re about to push your baby out - the dogs just kind of get a sense,” Meghan said.
Moose’s senses were spot on.
When speaking about the actual moment her baby girl, Olive, was born in the early hours of Sunday morning, Meghan seemed at complete ease.
“I had a water birth in my living room – it was lovely,” she said with a smile.
“Coming out of that labour space and birth space and being like oh my gosh I’ve got a new baby; it was lovely to just hop out [of the birth pool], get on the couch and relax for the first time in two days.”
Katy stayed for around 6 hours, baby Olive fed, Meghan also ate, her husband made coffee, then the new family tucked themselves into their own bed and slept.
“I felt really safe at home with the midwives, there was access to that medical equipment if they needed to, and I always knew that if I did need assistance the hospital was so close,” Meghan said.
“I just sort of put my trust in their care and they were phenomenal, amazing, and it was through their support that I think I was able to achieve my home birth.
“It’s pretty powerful – you just feel so strong afterwards – yeah I can do that, I can do anything.”
Another win for Meghan, is she didn’t need to go into work to give birth.
View more information on Sunshine Coast Health’s Publicly Funded Home Birth program.