This is the story of a humbling birth with history.
Caroline had hoped for a homebirth for her first baby boy and instead of fulfilling her dreams, gave birth by a needed caesarian section. Caroline, a personal trainer by profession, had fallen on her sacrum and coccyx in her twenties, not once but several times while performing extreme sports. A very firm band of muscle including possible scar tissue around her coccygeal joint surrounded her pelvic area to compensate for these injuries. These apparently minor injuries impeded the natural birth of her first baby.
For her first vbac 21 months ago, Caroline worked on loosening the tension around her pelvic area with massage, rebozo, hip rolls and ‘spinning babies’ techniques. Her first gorgeous vbac/hbac baby was born at home at 42 weeks of pregnancy, which for this mother appears to be her normal length of pregnancy. Rebozo, Hip rolling, standing and correct positioning of the head during labour, enabled the baby to slip through her pelvis successfully. Caroline’s second baby boy weighed 3,2kg.
View of the Farm on our walk from the garden 
Walking towards the outdoor fire shower on the right 
Caroline, in early active labour is showing me the vegetable garden 
As the sun sets, the almost full moon rises 
The home, a work of art in process 
Strong surges demand safety and comfort 
Effleurage helps to release of oxytocin and endorphins and lessens distress 
When the mother is ready, the birth is quick! 
Beautiful healthy baby
undisturbed birth
Weighing the baby after the first hour 
Charlie’s turn for skin to skin with his baby girl 
Mother and daughter as the morning light shines through
For her third birth, Caroline felt softer, although her pregnancy still lasted 42 weeks! Our relationship of trust held the space during 42nd week. Baby moved vigorously and Caroline walked alot. Physical and emotional release preceded the start of labour. Carolines’ strong baby girl was born after rebozo technique, hip rolling, standing and correct positioning of the descending head, similar to her previous labour and birth. A Gaskin manoevre facilitated birth of the shoulders, this baby girl weighed a healthy 3.7kg. Here is the beautiful photo story of an undisturbed birth with permission from Charlie and Caroline.
Postcript written by Charlie:
“I am a farmer, birth is no foreigner to my world. A sacred moment of life and death, where, if it works, the only death is the psychological uncertainty that rushes at you when you realise just how difficult birth can be, and as a man I can never truly know this, I can only feel and see.
And we gamble, light hearted and excitedly with genetic alchemy, and inevitably this ends up more than we ever dreamed. More pain, more pleasure love and change, more than words can explain.
But a woman can be the most amazing constellation, for which I have the most admiration. We are all connected but we are not all the same. We are a collection contained in a presence. Twice I’ve watched Caroline collect herself, prepare for birth and deliver to me a healthy child. Undoubtedly the greatest gifts of my life.
Marianne is present. Not just when my unborn baby girl was struggling to manoeuvre her shoulder through my roaring lovers birth canal, or when my son’s first gurgling breaths of air through birth fluids became his first fight. Even now she is on my WhatsApp, guiding and helping us when we need it. “
Photographs courtesy of Melissa Mann (copyright)