Clients' Feedbacks

Homebirth for me was a natural, normal & obvious choice for a happy, healthy & safe labour & birth experience.I was fortunate enough to have heard about the wonderful midwives of Homebirth Midwives Christchurch – their reputation is legendary. These amazing baby-catchers are well known and well respected in Christchurch. I feel honoured to know them.

 

“I so enjoyed my magical and empowering homebirth experiences that I announced immediately after birthing my second baby that I would have another just so I could have my homebirth midwives again! ~ Anna

 

In fact, I so enjoyed my magical and empowering homebirth experiences that I announced immediately after birthing my second baby that I would have another just so I could have my homebirth midwives again!

My homebirth experiences are two of the most treasured, magical and positive experiences of my life. In my view the wisest, most well-informed and well-researched families choose homebirth. We take ownership of our bodies, our babies and our births. We give ourselves and our babies the chance to start life the way nature intended – surrounded by family and friends in the peace and comfort of our own familiar surroundingS.

Baby’s first precious breath is taken in the warmth and comfort of home – familiar, tranquil, beautiful. There is no rush – you greet your baby in your own time, marvel at them, immerse yourself in the feel and smell of their precious baby skin, stare in wonder at this gorgeous little being you have created.

You labour in your lounge, your kitchen, your bedroom, your bathroom, your garden – anywhere you choose.

You have with you the people you have chosen to be with you, you eat what and when you like, use your own toilet, sleep in your own bed – no one needs your room!

groenfamilyThe simple pleasures of being in your own environment bring immeasurable benefits and allow you to labour and birth in your own time with the strength, support and love of the people you have chosen to accompany you on this extraordinary and precious journey. No drugs, no strangers, no car rides, no worries – Homebirth rocks!

With heartfelt thanks and admiration to my extraordinary midwives – you have a gift and have found your calling. I still maintain I couldn’t have done it without you!

Anna and Rick Groen

Both of my births were messy and not of the norm but I was in the safest hands in Christchurch so I could concentrate on my primal instincts with full knowledge that everything else was being taken care of.

They are your advocate, your calming sense when needed, your teacher and your friend all throughout a time that you’re at your most vulnerable and in need of potency.

In fact, once we got to the 6 week check up, neither my husband or I wanted to let Jacqui go – how on earth could we cope without her! I can’t recommend the Home Birth Midwives enough.

Anna and Greg May

Violet was our midwife for our first baby. I knew right from the start that I wanted a homebirth. I was born at home. My siblings were born at home. My niece and nephew were born at home. And most importantly, I was most comfortable at home. I was surprised to find how many practices and midwives did not support homebirth, so it was like a sense of relief when we found Violet.

She has a calm and reassuring presence that inspires confidence – not just in her, but in yourself. I appreciated her ability to offer relevant facts in a neutral way, encouraging us as a family to make informed decisions that were right for us. During pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, she had a remarkable ability to maintain the needed balance between support, direction, and freedom.

Tara

We had planned from the outset to do everything we could to make the birth of our first child as special and natural as possible. Birthing at home was an obvious and easy choice for us and we are so happy that that is the decision we made.

It is hard to put 15 hrs of agony and ecstasy into just a few words. We had made our plans and the whole team was there to help us through the process, all 11 of them!

I woke up at 5.30am on Sunday morning thinking I was just another day overdue and as I walked to the toilet something happened…. I sat on the toilet for a minute thinking

“oh dear I think this might be it.” And yes it was. I was petrified for a brief moment.

And then thought to myself, harden up, you have been waiting for this moment for 9 months, Just go with the flow.

It was a beautiful warm summer day and I spent much of my time labouring in the garden under an umbrella while my father weeded the vege’s. I had plenty of shoulders to lean on during my contractions and plenty of willing hands to hold an ice pack or massage my back. At any one time I believe I had at least 4 people around me. This made it really interesting while I had contractions on the toilet, trying to squeeze 5 people into our tiny loo. Things were coming on stronger and I was progressing well, due to the support of my crew feeding me honey sandwiches and lucozade.

It was around 5.30pm when Juliet told me I was only 3 cm dilated. I could have strangled her! 12 hours for 3 cm’s are you kidding?! During this time of dismay I had a wave of contractions which helped things along. By 7pm I felt like I needed to push and said I need to get into the pool. The water was warm and I rested with my head on the side of the pool and had my first good break in hours. I remember my friend Anna telling me it won’t be long now, it’s nearly over.

MeraniThe last part feels almost like a dream as my body took over and went into auto pilot. I will never forget the moment our baby’s head was born. The rest of our baby quickly followed at 8.17pm and landed in the hands of daddy. He lifted the little bundle to the surface and there was not a dry eye in the room, all of my team crammed into our baby’s room all itching to see the beautiful creation we held in our hands.

My mum had to ask what our baby was, she said “Jeff is it a girl or a boy?” he replied “it’s my baby, my baby girl.” She looked up at us with her big dark liquid eyes and we instantly fell in love. Time stood still and tears rolled down all of our cheeks. Temperence Beth Oliver is born.Nothing will ever come close to the way we felt that very moment. We were parents!!!!!

A huge thanks to our fabulous midwives, Juliet and Kelly. A memory never forgotten for our birth team.

Meranie and Jeff Oliver

“The Homebirth Midwives have made each of our pregnancy/birthing experiences something to be cherished”

Your Homebirth Midwife is always there for you when you need her for the entire nine months of your pregnancy and for six weeks after the baby is born. We can count on them 24/7.

Birthing is such a major milestone in life that you want to be able to trust your Lead Maternity Carer completely. We shudder to imagine what it would have been like if we didn’t find the Homebirth Midwives at the very beginning of our parenting journey.

The Homebirth Midwives have made each of our pregnancy/birthing experiences something to be cherished, not because they made the labour easy for us (who could?) but they have carried us through the whole ordeal with an unwavering positive outlook and shared with us the triumphant joy at the end. We will definitely choose the Homebirth Midwives if we ever get an opportunity to have another baby.

Junko's family
Sayna, Saxon, Heidi, Hunter holding baby Keaton, Cerise, Sophia, Ken and ‘friends’.

Junko and Neil Smith

EricaMy sisters and I were lucky enough to have the Homebirth Midwives Christchurch at seven of our babies births. From the first born, we were impressed by the commitment to their work as they would often go beyond the call of duty. Their passion for supporting women to own their birth and the rapid response to any unexpected outcomes put our husbands and loved ones at ease.

The Homebirth Midwives have a deep faith in women’s bodies and respect for the natural process of birthing which gave me confidence to cope with the intensity of labour. They showed patience, kindness, strength, authority when needed and huge experience and knowledge.

Homebirth has become a culture within our family now, the Homebirth Midwives taught us how to respect and support women through-out pregnancy, birth and motherhood. I thank them for helping me become a strong and loving mother.

Erica Viedma