My Midwife

I read a comment on Twitter yesterday from Davina McCall to her midwife saying: ‘You are the most AMAZING midwife.  I LOVED giving birth BECAUSE of you.  I love you and owe you so much xxx.’

I know exactly what she means, because I feel the same way about my midwife.  Yep, you heard me, MY midwife.  That’s how you feel about an amazing midwife; possessive and a tad jealous that they’ve delivered other babies apart from yours.  You also feel a little in awe of the fact that they take bringing NEW LITTLE PEOPLE into the world completely in their stride, as though it’s just like any other job.

And although you know that your midwife delivers other babies, an amazing midwife (did I mention mine is?) makes you feel as though yours is the first and last baby she is delivering.  Her focus is completely on your baby, you and your partner and makes you feel as though it’s a life-changing moment for her, too.

An amazing midwife makes you feel in control but lets you know, in a calm, measured way, that if you lose that control, you’ll be 100% safe in her capable hands.  She’ll tell you to listen to your body, stay calm, breathe and say those magic words, ‘There’s gas and air if you want it’ that make you want to kiss her (if you weren’t a little preoccupied by the small person trying to squeeze itself out of your vagina).

I was lucky enough to get to know my midwife throughout my pregnancies because I was on caseload care for my second baby following a traumatic first birth and post-natal depression.  Then we loved her so much that my husband and I basically stalked her when she moved to a birthing centre.

I also tried my damnedest to time my contractions with her shift patterns (not an easy thing to do, as anyone who’s been in labour knows.  They will insist on coming at the most inconvenient times).  And because she’s an amazing midwife, she tried to sort out her shift patterns to coincide with my contractions (again, not an easy task, especially as the little monkey was five days late when the other two had been early.  That REALLY scuppered our plans, let me tell you).

My amazing midwife trusted me to rely on my natural instincts and I trusted her implicitly with mine and my babies’ lives.  The mutual trust was well-founded.  We worked as a team, my midwife, my husband, me and our baby and both times were beautiful, relaxed, memorable experiences.

So, I agree with Davina.  I loved giving birth because of my midwife.  And I love and owe my midwife, too. 🙂