Franklin’s Free Birth Story

“Pregnancy and birth has taught me many things about myself. My second birth proved to be a little wilder, less picturesque and more powerful than anything I dreamt of. 

After 3 days of early labour signs and thinking ‘maybe this is it’ I was feeling frustrated and disheartened. I was ready to meet our baby and feeling incredibly impatient and yet the irregular and short contractions I was experiencing the day our baby was born had me in complete denial that we might actually meet them soon. 

By 4pm my contractions had begun to build in intensity but remained short and unpredictable. Convinced I wasn’t in labour yet I sent my husband to work at 5:30pm and pottered around home with our two year old. By 8pm, as I was putting our daughter to bed I realised I could no longer speak through contractions but they were still only 30-40 seconds long and between 5-8 minutes apart. I figured once she was asleep I would contact our midwives to have them on standby incase things continued to progress. 

At approximately 8:25pm as I went to the toilet, my waters broke. I screenshot the timings in my contraction app, sent it to our 

midwives (at 8:28pm) and experienced an instant change in my contractions. I contacted my husband at 8:35pm asking him to make a plan to leave work (he required someone to replace him on shift before he could leave). Between contractions I contacted the rest of our birth team, our friend Hannah at 8:37pm and our photographer Sheridan at 8:39pm. At 8:40pm I replied to our midwives confirming I thought it was time they came (“please come, very intense”). 

Our son, Franklin Lou, was in my arms at 8:48pm before anyone arrived at our home. 

In the hours after his birth, while I processed the shock and delight of the experience, I was loved and doted on. Early minutes and hours were captured forever. Comfrey pads were stocked in our fridge. Dishes put away and washing folded. Tucked up in bed by midnight, I was already quietly wishing I could relive the entire experience over and over again. 

Birthing without my well considered team was not something I ever thought would happen but with knowledge and skills behind me and supports on their way, it felt like the greatest accomplishment I’ll ever achieve in life. .” - Kelsey