Hannah – three births, induced vaginal birth, episiotomy, private to public maternity care, Darwin

“My name’s Hannah. I’m thirty two years old and I live in sunny Darwin with my husband Josh and our three sons, Atlas who’s just turned five, Abel who’s three, and Solomon who’s four months old,” Hannah begins. She and Joff conceived Atlas on their very first attempt, not long after marrying in January 2020, right at the start of the pandemic. “I remember driving home from dinner and going through McDonald’s drive through and getting chips. I was like, what is going on, this is not normal,” she recalls of the early pregnancy symptoms that led her to take a test.

Living in Melbourne without family close by, Hannah found her obstetrician through a workplace recommendation. “People call him vaginal lion, he is amazing. She said it with such conviction that I thought, if she loved him, I’m going to love him too.” Hannah threw herself into birth education from early pregnancy, listening to podcasts and completing a hypnobirthing course at twenty weeks with her husband by her side.

Her first labour didn’t go quite to plan. Her waters broke at 39+5 weeks and were meconium stained, meaning she needed to head straight into hospital rather than labour at home as she’d hoped. “He said, your waters have broken and it’s meconium stained, so we’ll try and get the baby out today, which means we’ll induce you.” After hours on the drip, pushing became a real struggle. “I reckon two hours of just trying to push and thinking, this feels really hard, like I just couldn’t get him out.” An episiotomy was eventually suggested and Hannah agreed, with local anaesthetic used beforehand. “He said, put your hands down, I can see your baby, pull him out. It was just the best moment of my life.”

The family spent four nights in hospital during a snap lockdown, a time Hannah remembers fondly despite the isolation. “I kept saying to Josh, this is the most vulnerable time of my life and these midwives are true angels.” Not long after, the family made the move to Darwin to be closer to relatives, a decision that shaped the very different experiences she’d go on to have with her next two babies.

When Hannah fell pregnant with her second son Abel, she hoped for a vaginal birth without induction this time round. She found a Darwin based obstetrician, Jenny, through her sister’s recommendation, and leaned on The Birth Class in her preparation. “I really wanted to try and experience labour without being induced, I thought maybe my body wasn’t quite ready the first time.” Regular acupuncture in the final weeks helped her feel calm heading into labour.

Abel arrived at 40+5 after a slow start that ramped up quickly one evening. Hannah’s waters were broken by her obstetrician and she settled into a rocking position over a peanut ball that she credits with helping her baby move steadily down. “I could just feel him coming out, it was more just a gentle push,” she says, a stark contrast to her first labour. Abel arrived calm and content, and breastfeeding came far more easily the second time.

Before her third pregnancy, Hannah experienced a missed miscarriage that required a surgical procedure. “I felt relief after the D and C because I thought, at least my body can heal.” The couple conceived again the following cycle with Solomon, though a bleed at twelve weeks sent Hannah to the emergency department, a frightening introduction to a maternity system that was about to change dramatically.

By this stage, Darwin’s private maternity hospital had shut down completely, meaning families across the Northern Territory were funnelled into an already stretched public system. Hannah continued seeing her trusted obstetrician privately but had to birth in the public hospital, which she found outdated and understaffed. “It’s such a significant moment, yet here we are with these really old birthing facilities that are understaffed,” she reflects, pointing to the local campaigning happening to improve maternity infrastructure and restore choice for women in the territory.

Solomon arrived at 40+10 after Hannah was sent home twice during early labour. Once contractions properly kicked in that night, things moved fast. “I just knew this baby was coming, I didn’t even feel like I had to push.” Her husband Josh, quietly reading affirmations from The Birth Class notes on his phone the whole time, turned out to be the perfect birth partner. “He was reading it on his phone, I didn’t realise at the time, I was just thinking, he’s amazing, he’s saying all the right things.”

Looking back across three very different births, from an induced hospital birth with an episiotomy to two fast and instinctive vaginal births, Hannah speaks to the power of preparation, trust in her care providers, and the strength it takes to keep advocating for yourself when your maternity system is changing around you. Her story is a beautiful reminder that every birth looks different, and that real choice in maternity care, whether that’s private obstetric care, midwifery led care or homebirth, is something every pregnant woman deserves.