Kath and Tom's Birth

Finally I've worked out how to upload pictures!! Woohoo!!
These gorgeous shots are of the beautiful Kath and her partner Tom waiting for their little girl to arrive.
Kath and Tom had changed care provider towards the end of their pregnancy, when they realised that the OB they had chosen was not supportive of their birth choices. They changed hospital and OB so they could have the natural labour and waterbirth they wanted.
Kath was so focussed throughout her labour, this pic is of her blowing onto the water to help her focus on breathing through the contractions.

Tom was absolutely fantastic. He was really involved and supportive of Kath, and very protective, NO-ONE was going to do anything to Kath that she didn't want! His presence and strength was such a huge comfort to her.

Kath was determined to have a waterbirth, but as she got closer to birthing, we discovered that there were no midwives available who had experience with waterbirth, and it was starting to look like it may not "be allowed". The lovely dutch midwife caring for Kath informed her that although she would be happy to support a waterbirth, she had no experience with it and protocol demanded that she get out of the bath to birth. Kath and Tom faffed around in the bath until it was too late to get out, so the midwife rolled up her sleeves and with Tom in the bath with Kath, their beatiful baby was birthed exactly as they had planned, with her father lifting her out of the water into her mothers arms!

What a beautiful mother and baby!! It's such an honour to be able to support women and their families during birth, and to be able to support 2 such amazing people as they welcome their baby into the world is an absolute privilege!

In Kath's words, "Both my partner and I walked away in disbelief, amazement and excitement at both the miracle of birth and that we had been so lucky to have such a wonderfully positive birth experience."