This positive birth story is extra special to us here at From Bumps 2 Babies as Linda was there to support Kay and Jamie through her Private Midwife service. Over to Kay to share her special journey.
It’s hard to put into words how blessed we both feel having come to know Linda as a midwife support and now a friend. Childbirth is a very intimate experience and we couldn’t have picked a kinder, more professional person, to share this experience with.
Since my partner and I are both frequent travellers for work, we spent quite a lot of my pregnancy abroad. The Private Midwife package we created with Linda, enabled us to access lots of really useful online resources, whilst we were away, and helped diffuse some of the anxiety of moving from private healthcare abroad back to NHS care.
Linda was on hand at all times to answer questions and give advice. She even attended a couple of a consultant appointments at the hospital (when baby was measuring big!), giving us the confidence to take on board doctor advice and make our own decisions regarding the birth of our son. We met with Linda many times in the lead up to his birth, attending group classes at her home (feeding and newborn baby care) and prenatal massages that really helped instil confidence and relaxation.
When the day of his birth arrived, my partner and I were both relaxed and excited, comfortable in the knowledge that we had the most amazing support on hand to guide us through this magical process. Like with many labours, ours didn’t exactly go to plan, but we couldn’t have asked for a more positive experience. We were able to utilise all the hypnobirth training Linda had instilled and remain calm and centred during some pretty worrying moments. Since my labour was much longer than anticipated, the continuity of care we received from Linda was exceptional, having cycled through 3 midwives at the hospital due to routine shift changes. I was in labour for over 24 hours and Linda didn’t leave our side once! Towards the end we had to make some difficult decisions and opted for a C section to deliver baby safely. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised that positive birth stories aren’t about having an extensive birth plan that you follow to the letter; It’s about having the right environment, support, mindset and people around you to empower you to make the right decisions for you and your baby.
Linda helped us do just that and was on hand to help and support postnatally, as I recovered too. Our son has continued to make excellent progress and I have also got back on my feet very quickly. The colostrum harvesting she encouraged prenatally was particularly valuable. After such a long labour, our son was at risk of jaundice, and a good many midwives at the hospital attributed his intake of colostrum to avoiding this. Linda’s insightful and extensive coaching also enabled me to establish breastfeeding straight after a C section, which is just incredible, and baby didn’t drop any weight at all at his 5 day weigh in!
We’ve seen Linda a couple of times since we were discharged from hospital and baby Bowie is doing better than we could ever have imagined. Whilst we are kind of discharged from Linda’s care, she is still readily available via phone or text to answer those niggling new parent worries (such as smelly belly buttons and bathing tips!) and I can’t wait to meet up again in 4 weeks time for a postnatal massage. Overall my husband and I have had a fantastic experience and Linda’s extensive professionalism, knowledge and expertise were incredible value for money. We wouldn’t hesitate to hire her again and will be recommending her to all of our family and friends.
One of the key learnings from this story is that even busy professionals can find the time to get prepared for a positive birth story, especially with our Complete Hypnobirthing and Newborn Course. Kay also shares how even though her labour did not go to plan, it remained positive as she knew the right decisions to make.
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