When I finally met Peta after several messages back and forth, she was just as I imagined -very sweet and gentle in nature, but with a determined side. I chatted with her and Michael for a couple of hours about their upcoming birth. It would be Peta’s first baby after a long wait, and a third child for Michael, who has two older boys. They expressed to me all that they wanted captured in their birth images. The first time Michael’s boys would see their new brother and the expression on the face of Peta’s mum, who had also been waiting so long to become a Grandma. I listened to Peta’s fears about how she would handle the labour and how hard it was to even fathom that this baby would soon be out of her belly and in her arms. We talked about her desire to birth her baby naturally and drug-free if possible.
I spent a small amount of time with Peta and Michael in the early hours of the morning during Peta’s early labour. She was to be induced the next day, but as often happens, she went into labour spontaneously the night before. After a few hours sleep back at home, I returned to the hospital to find things moving along nicely. Peta had just gotten out of the bath and was clearly in active labour. She was managing her contractions with Michaels constant words of encouragement. Peta’s mum was looking on with the mix of sheer delight, excitement, concern and empathy that only the mother of a birthing woman can clearly express. Peta showed such courage and birthed her baby exactly as she wanted, with her mum cheering her on and Michael’s older boys just outside. The room quickly became a place of celebration as we all welcomed this long-awaited baby boy, Bodhi.
Peta, it has been such a pleasure getting to know you and I can’t tell you how happy I was to see that beautiful boy being passed into your arms for the very first time. Bodhi is such a lucky boy to have chosen you as his mum. And Michael, thankyou so much for welcoming me in to your very private and sacred birth space. I know what a personal experience it was for you and I felt so privileged to be there. X