Bonnie – Two Births, Hospital Induction to Empowered Water Birth

Bonnie’s journey to motherhood began after seven years with her husband. Though they were ready to start a family, conception took about eight or nine months. “I thought it was gonna sort of happen straight away,” Bonnie recalls. “Every time I got my period it was a little bit like, ‘oh, okay, gotta do this all again.'” She finally discovered she was pregnant on Boxing Day, only to find out she had COVID the very next day – a bumpy start to her pregnancy journey.

For her first birth, Bonnie chose private care through a program with her health insurance that covered prenatal appointments without excess fees. She selected obstetrician Peter Wood at the San Hospital in Sydney, who was known for supporting vaginall births. “He has a lovely midwife who works with him, Ally, who’s in every appointment as well. She’s super warm and very encouraging of what the mum wants,” Bonnie explains.

Bonnie’s mother had been a midwife and had four vaginal births herself, which influenced Bonnie’s desire for a low-intervention birth. To prepare, she read books by recommended authors and completed the She Birth course with her husband when she was about 30 weeks pregnant. They also hired a doula, Tara, to support them during labour. “I just wanted someone who knew the system… I wanted to be in our own little world and we want you to manage the rest,” she explains of their decision to work with a doula.

At 38 weeks, Bonnie noticed a trickle that she suspected might be amniotic fluid, but she initially ignored it. After about 36 hours, she called the hospital and was advised to come in. Tests confirmed it was amniotic fluid, and since she was five days past her due date, the substitute obstetrician (as Peter was away) recommended induction. “You dunno what you dunno in your first birth. I had no frame of reference,” Bonnie reflects. “I just sort of felt like, ‘oh here we go. It’s exactly what I thought would happen.'”

Following her doula’s advice, Bonnie requested the lowest possible starting dose for the induction drip. The early stages of labour were slow, and after four hours, she was only one centimetre dilated. When they increased the drip, contractions intensified. Around 8 PM, Bonnie experienced intense back labour when the baby moved into a posterior position. “I just got really intense back labour and I was like, ‘oh no,'” she remembers. Her doula calmly reassured her, “We’ll flip him around,” and guided her and her husband through positions that successfully turned the baby.

As labour intensified, Bonnie moved to the shower, sitting on an exercise ball with her husband directing water onto her back. After some monitoring challenges, she was fully dilated by about 9:30 PM. “I was having very intense contractions by this point. Like sort of blacking out and coming back to, and getting really deep into it,” she describes. When the obstetrician suggested a fetal scalp monitor, her doula helped her request time to consider options.

After a vaginal check revealed she was six centimeters dilated, the obstetrician broke her waters completely. “I just like felt the baby drop so hard,” Bonnie recalls. Shortly after, to her surprise, she was told it was time to push. “Just this like relief and this joy and I was just like, ‘what? Like we did it’ sort of thing.”

Bonnie chose to push while standing, leaning over the bed with her husband supporting her. “The photos doula took, I’m like fully, like feet are completely widespread and I’m just like standing up clenching my butt. Like there’s no way that baby was coming out,” she laughs. With coaching, she adjusted her technique, and after just four pushes, Will was born. “I’m just like losing my mind with joy and just couldn’t believe from that moment of sort of giving up… to, basically, it was about 15 minutes of pushing and he was out.”

Breastfeeding proved challenging initially, with nipple damage that persisted for about six weeks. “It was pretty torturous and I think it had a lot of fear sort of going into feeding time and lots of crying and pain,” she shares. However, she persisted, and eventually “something just figured out and then I loved it for 14 months.”

When planning for a second child, Bonnie and her husband aimed for a two-year age gap. After experiencing a miscarriage at six weeks, she conceived again the following month. This time, she chose obstetrician Andy Pickering at Northern Beaches Hospital, who supported her desire for a water birth. “There was so much more confidence,” she says of her second pregnancy. “I’ve done it before. I can do it again.”

On April 2nd, just after midnight, Bonnie’s waters broke dramatically. Unlike her first experience, when she called the hospital, they respected her preference to labour at home. “All of a sudden it felt like I had this time on my hands, like I didn’t feel like I was racing the clock,” she explains.

After labouring at home throughout the day, contractions intensified around 9 PM. By 11 PM, they were heading to the hospital. The birth suite was prepared with dimmed lights and fairy lights, creating a calm environment. After about 45 minutes of contractions in the room, Bonnie entered the birthing pool. “The bath was phenomenal. Just the relief of the warmth and the belly sort of feeling lighter and I was just like in heaven when I got in there,” she describes.

Just an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital, with minimal intervention and supportive care from her midwife, Rachel, Bonnie birthed Oscar in the water. “I just felt so in control and quite calm and just excited,” she recalls. The cord was wrapped around his arm “like a seatbelt,” but there was no rush to bring him to the surface. “He just sort of slowly came up and we saw it was a boy and just got to cuddle and have a kiss with Snotty and I was just, yeah, just so, so special.”

Reflecting on the differences between her births, Bonnie notes, “With Will, I thought that I kept going in and out of the universe sort of thing… whereas this time we just felt like we were both [present].” She attributes this to her prior knowledge, confidence, and the calming effect of the water birth.

Bonnie’s story beautifully illustrates how subsequent births can be transformed by experience, knowledge, and the right support team. “I love birth and I just feel like the joy that it can be if you’re lucky enough, is just such a privilege and feel really lucky with both my births.”