QEQM St Peters Midwife-Led Unit Birth Example

QEQM St Peters Midwife-Led Unit Birth Example in pictures. As a doula, I don’t feel it is my place to share birth stories as such. This is R with birth partner S. This couple were aiming for a QEQM St Peters Midwife Led Unit Birth to have access to a birth pool. They were also keen to avoid intervention.

Kent Doula

I was their Margate antenatal, birth and postnatal doula. I have included a write-up of their experience using a doula for their QEQM St Peters Midwife-Led Unit Birth below.

R + S stayed at home for as long as possible. They then transferred to their local Kent QEQM MLU for a short, efficient physiological birth.

A huge thanks to R +S for allowing me to share these intimate birth photos. Taken by myself as part of their doula package.

R + S Birth photos (some of):

R’s experience of using my Kent doula support

The Shoot

“I initially came in contact with Naomi on my pregnancy photoshoot.

I’d been looking to do a pregnancy shoot for a while. I didn’t like any of the images I was seeing online. All very staged and unnatural. I wanted a way to capture my growing body, whilst having significance to where we lived, the place my baby was to be born. 

As soon as I saw some of Naomi’s previous shots and style of photography I knew she would be perfect for what I wanted and decided to book a session with her.

Naomi made me feel so comfortable and confident throughout the shoot, cheerleading me, making sure we were getting all the shots we’d discussed and making sure I didn’t get too cold, I barely noticed that I was in a bikini on the beach in January!

She also made my partner who was present feel helpful and involved.

Naomi understood exactly what I wanted from the shoot and the final photos were amazing.

Starting the doula journey

At 37 weeks pregnant, after attending NCT classes and reading as much as I could, I was aware of Doula practices and what they could bring to a birth experience. After making that initial connection with Naomi I felt she was someone who could make an impact on my partner and me, so we decided to go with her as our Doula ❤️ 

For my birth and the way I wanted it to unfold, I wanted to labour at home in my safe place for as long as possible, to remain calm and relaxed and to approach labour with a positive mindset, and belief in my body and its capabilities.

A water birth in the QEQM St Peters Midwife-Led Unit Birth was my aim and to keep the experience as natural as possible, without pain relief If I could, even though I knew this was ambitious. I have a great partner who also knew what I wanted, believed in me and had been to all the classes with me. I also knew that having the extra support of a doula would enable him to keep calmer and more confident, remind him of what he could be doing to help and also for him to rest and have a point of support if things were to unfold differently from what we wanted.

It felt that having a doula who offered such unique and dedicated post-natal care would make the recovery experience special and give me something on the other side of birth to encourage healing of my body and mind, as well as support us during those first consuming weeks.

Antenatal Sessions

The antenatal sessions with Naomi, helped us connect more with her and she got to know us as a couple. Having Naomi in our home and personal space during these sessions got us familiar with her presence and made us feel more relaxed about what was to come.

Naomi was knowledgeable about her stats and info that was relevant to our birth and helped us to sit with thoughts and ideas should things not necessarily go our extremely useful way. By the time Labour came, we were more than comfortable with Naomi’s presence and after a day of intermittent contractions, we called her to come over.

Margate Birth Doula Support

Having Naomi at the Labour and birth was a blessing, she was supportive and level-headed as my contractions continued for almost another day, she helped me with positioning and exercises when we realised the baby may not be in optimum position and her ongoing support for both my partner and I enabled me to labour at home for what I believe to be the perfect amount of time as by the time we arrived in QEQM St Peters Midwife-Led Unit. My baby was born a short 3 hours later, in the exact way I had wished, an unmedicated water birth.

Those final moments in hospital before my baby was born Naomi was just the right amount of present and observant, offering help where she felt it may be needed and holding space for me and my partner in the times we needed that time together.

Naomi stayed with us for a while after our baby was earthside in the QEQM St Peters Midwife-Led Unit Birth whilst my partner & I were in awe, and also paid us a most welcomed visit in the hospital the next day. 

Margate Post-Natal Doula Support

Once we were home Naomi’s postnatal home visits were a godsend, she encouraged me to slow down, rest my body and show it gratitude after what it had been through, and how important it was to spend time alone with my baby and partner to bond and appreciate each other. 

I had always been open to placenta chat, holistic healing & the pelvic work I was aware Naomi offered. I decided to accept and allow myself to experience each of these offerings. I’m so glad I embraced each session and suggestion she put forward as this all made for a more unique and fulfilling experience that made me feel held. Both my partner and I felt her visits always made us feel more positive, made us appreciate the little wins each day and to realise that we were doing just fine as new parents!

Another amazing offering from Naomi is that she can photograph those special moments that would otherwise be lost in time, we had some newborn shots of our baby at home, and the photos that she captured during my labour and birth were incredible, and real all the while I was unaware of them being taken.

Final words

If you are considering hiring doula help I cannot recommend Naomi enough, I felt as though I had a knowledgeable friend with me throughout my birthing experience, someone who connected with both me & my partner, someone to reach out to when my partner and I had questions or worries and ultimately someone to empower me and facilitate me in achieving the positive birth experience I was hoping for, with memories that will stay with me forever& photos that will last when the memories fade.”

R x

To discuss your birth you can explore my Kent doula and birth photography services here.

Or you can email me here: hello@thisisnaomigale.co.uk