This home water birth in Detroit, Michigan was incredible in so many ways. Not only was it full of love, and support, but this sweet baby made her way down the birth canal, face first. Each birth feels different. The vibe, the team, the space and comfort level. It's unique, each and every time. My friend Celeste at Gentle Mama Holistic Midwifery, was her midwife and I love her energy during birth. Erin was planning her second #HBAC. (Her second homebirth after a Cesarean birth) As a vbac mama myself, it's a different level of grateful, when a baby comes out of your vagina as you had hoped.
I got the call to come to Erin's birth about 10 minutes after I walked in the door from another birth.....I threw my bags in the car, kissed my family, and drove to Detroit. At 7pm I walked in the door. Erin was having intense contractions and her older kiddos were leaving to go to their grandparents house. Celeste was applying counterpressure to Erin's back and after the kids left, Erin got into the tub and smiled at her hubby with such joy because it was finally time ✨.

You can check out the full birth story in parts on my Instagram page. Start HERE.

Then her water broke!! 🌊💦
It was a huge gush and then she said “things feel different”. I thought things would continue to pick up, but instead, her contractions spaced way out.
Eventually the decision was made to get out of the tub and to try some position changes.
We got out and walked into the bedroom - it seemed like things were getting more intense. Erin went into the bathroom and she screamed. We ran in and the midwife checked her. Baby was still high in her pelvis...
Erin is so strong and continued to work through the intense contractions with the help of her Midwives and husband. 💖
It was about this time that I wondered if baby was in a wonky position. Things had been so intense and then her water broke and instead of picking up, things slowed down....

We moved from the bed to the toilet and then to the birthing stool.
We checked babies position as best as we could and the midwives felt like baby might have a nuchal hand (hand up by baby’s head as they are trying to descend).

It was very intense for Erin.

We were all trying to support her - but she’d been contracting all day, she was having a #vbac and her midwife didn’t want to push things too far if we needed to transfer.
At this time, her midwife Celeste, thought Erin should lay down to try to get some rest. It was the middle of the night and she was tired.
We had a few more things to try before we made the decision to transfer....Erin laid down to try to rest in between intense waves of contractions. She was so strong.
We plotted out next move.
I thought we should try the Walchers position, and the midwives agreed. But first - she needed to rest.

Erin had a big contraction and baby moved down a little farther. It was then that her midwife made the smart decision to get her out of the water.
Celeste and Erin’s husband picked her up and laid her on the floor next to the tub.
We were able to see, with such amazement, at what was happening. She was doing amazing - and so was the baby.

The variations of birth are so fascinating, aren’t they?

Head is out, making a full rotation — Her head is out and it makes a full rotation before her shoulders present. It was a really amazing birth to witness.

She’s a little bruised, but otherwise, totally fine.

If you’d like to chat about your birth story in photos, please reach out today! I do fill up fast!

Homebirth with Gentle Mama Holistic Midwifery in Michigan - Face Presentation