In this episode I talk about my own and only home birth experience birthing my daughter about 7.5 years ago in our little flat in Hackney at the time.

I didn't have a free birth but had a home birth with two NHS midwives from the Homerton homebirth team attached to Homerton present. I didn't have any interventions, drugs or pain relief.

I am keen to share this experience not only because so far we have talked a lot in this series about freebirthing and the socialisation and medicalisation of birth but what is the reality for lots of women these days living in cities? What do we feel comfortable with?

I am not only sharing what I remember from the birthing in detail but I also share

· my bodily experience like intense and painful surges, primal screams, the crowning and tearing and my fear of my clitoris being damaged,

· how the midwife helped me twice intervening in hyperventilation and stopping me pushing to hard,

· the environment with fire and darkness and no birthing pool plus kneeling birthing position,

· my partner's involvement with the tense machine,

· not thinking a lot about the postnatal period and placenta birth in my birth plan and my regrets about it,

· my breastfeeding difficulties,

· how long it took me to heal and the realities of the postnatal time,

· and my opinions about postnatal care and the benefits of a 40 day rest period afterwards.

Hope you enjoy this episode and it is helpful some way.

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A transcript of the podcast episode is available here:

https://rss.com/podcasts/mothermouth/1099423/

Music by 12Volt, with great thanks to my friend Sascha Usison.