Birth Story 13

Birth Story 13

After being confronted with the coronavirus pandemic in my third trimester of pregnancy and then hit with the reality that my dream home-birth, which we’d been planning since day one, was no longer a reality via the NHS, it suddenly felt that all our months of staying calm and feeling prepared were going out the window.

We desperately searched for other alternatives, to-ing and fro-ing between just giving up and trying to make peace with the idea of giving birth in hospital, and scouring through numerous websites for private midwives, hoping they could help us achieve the birth we’d planned. After some days of debating we finally agreed that we couldn’t put a price on giving our child her best possible entrance into the world, and talking to Leonie our minds were put at ease and the decision was cemented.

With only weeks to go before my due date, the girls were so accommodating and agreed on a mini plan for us to work with, something which other midwives we’d contacted had been hesitant to do as we were so late in the pregnancy.

From the first meeting with Leonie days later, we once again felt in control and calm about our upcoming birth, which I’m so happy to say couldn’t have gone more smoothly. We will forever be grateful to Leonie and Tess for guiding us through the process, for keeping us calm and for letting us do our thing as a couple, safe in the knowledge that they were right there with us when we needed them, with a confidence they project that can only come from extensive knowledge and experience.

As I write this in reflection, with my daughter lying on my chest, I can honestly say that choosing Leonie and Tess as our midwives was the best decision we could have made, and I am even grateful for the initial stress of our plans being overthrown as it meant we landed these two! The girls are gentle in approach, amazingly attentive and genuinely caring, and we are sure that without them our birth wouldn’t have been in any way such an amazing experience. I would recommend Tess and Leonie to anyone and everyone, especially if they are nervous about the idea of birth (and who isn’t, really?). The girls will make you feel comfortable and confident from the very beginning, and there really isn’t a better start than that!