S1 Ep2: Gaby’s VBAC Waterbirth Story: The Power of Preparation and Trust

April: You’re listening to the VBAC Hub podcast and I’m your host April Austin. I’m a doula and antenatal teacher, VBAC mum and the founder of the VBAC Hub CIC. This podcast is here to dig into the messy, complicated and deeply human side of birth after Caesarean. We’re going to talk about the evidence, the guidelines, share birth stories, give context and talk about the realities of navigating the maternity system. We’ll be having respectful conversations, discussing all of the nuances and hopefully having a bit of companionship along the way. If you’re ready to get informed and feel less alone in this journey, you’re in the right place. Make sure you follow along so you never miss an episode.

Hello my loves and welcome back to the VBAC Hub podcast. Today we’ve got our first birth story episode and I’m so excited. I’m here today with Gaby, so welcome, Gaby, from Pure Perinatal. If you could just start by telling our listeners today a little bit about yourself and your family and the work that you do.

Gaby: Lovely, yes. So yeah, I’m Gaby. I’m from South Wales and I’m a mum of two. When they were born it was two under two. But yeah, my son Teddy is three and my daughter Daisy’s one. And yeah, Daisy was my VBAC baby. I recently this year qualified as an antenatal educator and hypnobirthing instructor. I did some lovely pregnancy relaxation and birth prep sessions over the summer and I’m slowly getting ready for 2026 to help support any pregnant people with their first time birth. I’m obviously passionate about VBACs as well but anyone who is pregnant I’m happy to support, giving them antenatal education, hypnobirthing and the tools to prepare them for the maternity system essentially.

April: That’s amazing, wow, we’ve got so much going on there. So today, before we start with your VBAC story of Daisy, I want, if we can, just have a little too long, don’t read version of your first birth — that was your caesarean birth — and a little bit about how that came about.

Gaby: Yeah. So basically with my son, it was an uncomplicated pregnancy. My waters went first, about — I think it was — ten days before my estimated due date. I wasn’t sure if — well, I was pretty sure it was my waters, but when I had a check they sent me home, all good. And then when my contractions started, I arrived and it was essentially failure to progress. It was in 2022 where COVID regs were still in place, and especially within the hospital I was at, they were very short staffed. So I went to the midwifery led unit within the hospital as the standalone midwifery unit was closed, home birth service was closed. So it would have to be the alongside unit of the hospital. They had a community midwife there covering because they had no midwives available. And yeah, essentially, I think it was a mixture of being short staffed — I got moved to labour ward, interventions were offered and I kind of went down that cascade of interventions because labour wasn’t progressing as quickly as they wanted it to, and they were conscious that my waters had gone. I believe I had a caesarean then 36 hours after my waters had gone, but yeah, essentially it was down to failure to progress.

April: Once you had processed having a caesarean — which is quite the experience during COVID times with everyone being in their little bubbles — how did you feel after that birth?

Gaby: Yeah, so originally, straight after, I was in that baby bubble. I thought, you know, baby’s healthy, I’m fine. As long as baby’s healthy, that’s all that matters. I was in that bubble, I felt okay in the moment. It was a big shock, but yeah, I was originally okay. And then when I had time to digest it, I was feeling more half-broken, really. I did an online hypnobirthing course, but I didn’t really do all of it, wasn’t really taking it in, didn’t do it with my birth partner either. And I did do an in-person one, but it didn’t really prepare me for the maternity system. So I thought, you know, I’d go in and it would be pretty lights and — you know — that wasn’t really preparing me for that. So I was in complete shock at how quickly things can just escalate, the cascade of interventions — everything, even down to them clearly telling me how short-staffed they were and how that led my care the way it did. Essentially, from when I went to the midwifery unit to the labour ward, they said, “Do you mind going earlier because I can’t physically look after you?” And when I had my caesarean section, it was meant to be within two hours of being decided — it was four hours because they said, “We’re on skeleton staff, so I’d rather not split the team. Is that okay with you?” So a lot of this stuff played on my mind and I felt cheated in a way. The staff were brilliant, but they were so limited in what they could do because of how short-staffed they were. I felt that if there’d been enough staff, maybe it could have gone another way — if I’d had a midwife who could help promote my mobility. There was a lot of reflection, thinking, what if this, what if that? Obviously I can’t change it now, but that did leave a lot of trauma with me.
So it was more the labour leading up to my caesarean that I felt quite traumatised about, and it was traumatic. Because when I fell pregnant last year, I had a lot of stuff to work through mentally. I really suffered mentally because I couldn’t even say the word “caesarean” or “c-section” without crying because it scared me. Even though, aside from my spinal block travelling a little further than it should, everything was uncomplicated. So people say, “Well, if it wasn’t complicated, why was it traumatic?” It was because I wasn’t in control — how easily everything just went down a different path that I felt I couldn’t control.
April: I think your experience here will talk to so many women and birthing people who have had caesareans. I know that people can’t see, but we’re on video while we’re doing this and I’m nodding along and I can feel that experience in my heart because I know exactly what you mean. With the preparing for your birth, doing all the right things, doing the hypnobirthing — and hypnobirthing is amazing, you’ve trained yourself as a hypnobirthing teacher — but I’m sure as you’re aware, the maternity system is very different when you get into it as well. So, reflecting from your experience moving forward, did your caesarean birth then affect when you decided to have another baby?
Gaby: No. When I was being discharged from the hospital they did say 12 to 18 months until you can try for your next, and I believe it was about 15 months after. It didn’t really affect me as to when to have another. I don’t think I really thought about it that much. I didn’t think it would be an issue — until I got pregnant and had some of my appointments. I didn’t realise how much pushback there would be with going for a VBAC. So yeah, it didn’t affect when I decided to get pregnant, but I think I was in a bit of denial about how much it had affected me. As soon as I was pregnant I realised that actually I’d had a traumatic birth experience, and that’s when I thought, all right, I need to work through this. But right up through those first 15 months I just thought, yeah, it’s fine. Everything’s fine. When I fell pregnant I realised, no, it was traumatic for me. And yeah, like I said, even saying the word “caesarean” just reduced me to tears, because I thought, I cannot go through what I experienced before. Even if I did decide to have an elective c-section, I’d still need to have stuff to work through regardless of what I decided for the second time around. But I knew I had a lot to work through and I could either be depressed and full of anxiety throughout the second pregnancy — which isn’t going to achieve anything — or I could flip the switch and be proactive, get knowledgeable and make the decisions that are right for me and be in control. That’s why I realised I need to be in control to change the outcome.
April: Absolutely. And it really sounds like you did have that defining moment of flipping the switch and deciding that actually you want to be in control of your own narrative. And there is a lot of power within that. So when you found out that you were pregnant with Daisy, what types of things did you go and do to help you process your previous birth?
Gaby: Yeah, so I think one of my first things was going back to hypnobirthing, but this time my partner was involved. It wasn’t possible to go to someone locally to me because of the way me and my partner’s work shifts. So we did an online hypnobirthing course, but I made sure we’d watch a couple of clips and then sit and talk about it. I made sure my husband was as involved as possible to be the best birth partner he could be, because that’s one of the things we spoke about — he said he didn’t feel in control, he felt useless and he didn’t know what was going on. He actually said he didn’t realise I was having a caesarean when we were in the theatre. He was never educated on what could or couldn’t happen. So that really, really helped. And it helped with my anxieties as well.
I also did a birth reflection where I found out that Teddy was at a funny angle during labour, and he was back to back as well. So I did all my research. I went into several Facebook VBAC groups for support and several accounts on Instagram. I was getting as much knowledge as I possibly could on VBACs, and a lot of them were talking about being active. That’s why I made sure I was going to pregnancy yoga, doing daily stretches and using the birth ball. I have an office job, so I made sure every half an hour I was getting up and having a little move around. I was really going for it. I even went to a chiropractor — a local birth worker recommended her. My pelvis was really out of alignment. We only had about two appointments but I felt that really did help as well. It was just all about promoting optimal fetal position.
Daisy was transverse for quite a while, so I was worried about whether she’d go breech, and that brought up another thing to think about — what do I want? So physically I did a lot of that. Hypnobirthing helped me mentally. I listened to a lot of hypnobirthing tracks to ease my anxieties and I was making sure I did that daily because I really needed it. But the main thing for me was the education. I found that the hypnobirthing course I did didn’t really cover the maternity system — knowing your facts and figures and how a VBAC would look for me specifically. So that was a lot of stuff I did proactively.
I didn’t even realise about decision-making tools — it was kind of a fluke. I think it was also about confidence. With your first birth you just go along with what they say and trust that what they’re saying is best for you, when sometimes it isn’t. So that was one of my defining moments — realising that actually I have control of my own maternity care. When I saw a consultant at around 20 weeks, she said, “When you give birth you will birth on labour ward.” And I said, “Oh, okay.” At that point I’d also heard that the birth centre was opening back up, and another midwife had said it would be amazing for me to birth there — though I don’t think she’d looked at my full notes at the time. So I was thinking I could, and the consultant said, no, it’s labour ward. So I went, “Oh, why can’t I birth on the midwifery unit?” And she said, “Because we want you to have continuous monitoring.” And that was my trigger. I didn’t realise until that moment that continuous monitoring was the start of my traumatic experience the first time. And I said, “I’m not having continuous monitoring — what’s the alternative?” She explained about the intermittent monitoring, and I said I thought monitoring every 15 minutes was more than fine. She said, “Ultimately it is your choice, but have a think about it.” And that started me on a mission. I thought, right, I’m going to get all my facts and figures. So a main chunk of my pregnancy was just research, research, research. And knowing what I was and wasn’t comfortable with. Because a lot of the facts and figures — some people think it’s a very small percentage, others might think it’s actually quite a large percentage. It’s individual to each person.
So that was my prep. I knew what I wanted and what would be triggering for me, and what my alternatives were. I got referred to a Consultant Midwife — I was only meant to have one phone call appointment but I ended up with three, and several emails back and forth over a few weeks. I was asking things like: if I were to birth on the midwifery unit, how would that look? What would the transfer times be if I needed to be transferred? How would that compare to being on the labour ward? If I did go on the labour ward, could I have strictly midwives only — no obstetricians unless absolutely medically needed? What are the statistics on CTG picking up a uterine rupture compared to intermittent monitoring? What are the other signs to look out for? I was giving her every single question, and with that I wanted the risks, the benefits, the alternatives. I actually apologised to her several times for asking so many questions, but she said she was glad I was asking them because I was seriously considering all my options to make the best decision for me.
That consultant midwife was amazing. I didn’t feel coerced at all, and ultimately it led me to make my decision and create my birth plan.
April: That’s fantastic. Can we clone that consultant midwife, please?
Gaby: She was amazing. There was one little — not so much a hiccup — but it did make me cry after the appointment. My scar is actually about one inch higher than the standard scar. When she did my birth reflection, she said it was because Teddy had laboured at a funny angle for quite some time, which created a Bandl’s ring. My bladder had shifted up a little bit, the position was funny — that’s why my scar was higher. And she said she’d have to check whether I was at a higher risk of uterine rupture compared to a normal incision line, and that it could take up to a week to find out. I broke down. I couldn’t wait another week. So I made an immediate same-day appointment with an independent midwife — the only independent midwife in Wales, Kat. She’s absolutely amazing. First thing she did on Zoom was, “Right, let’s see your scar then.” And she said, “If you went in for a home birth, I’d 100% take you on. There’s nothing stopping you from achieving your VBAC at home. I’m happy with that scar.” That gave me a huge confidence boost. It was just a 20-minute call, but it made such a big difference and made me even more determined to have a VBAC.
So I did that plan with the consultant midwife. One thing I found was a big eye-opener: I’d essentially decided on labour ward, but with strictly midwifery-led care only. I did not want an obstetrician in there at all, because looking back on my first birth, as soon as I entered that labour ward it was, “Right, you’re going to have the hormone drip, let’s give you an epidural” — all from the minute I walked in. I said midwifery-led care only, I want the birth pool — there’s one on labour ward. But then this bit kind of took me aback — the questions she asked me when signing off on my birth plan. For example: “When you arrive, would you want a blood test?” I asked what I needed a blood test for on arrival and she said it was just to make sure they knew my blood type. I said, well, you already know that from my 12-week scan. So no, thank you. Then: “Can we cannula your hand?” Why do I need that? “In case we need to administer anything quickly.” Well, if you did, it would be an emergency, which is what you’re trained to handle. So no, thank you. And then: “Take an antacid.” Why do I need an antacid on arrival? “In case you need a c-section.” And I thought — you’re essentially setting me up for a caesarean when that’s not what I’m planning.
April: Are you already seeing that, like you just said — they’re already setting you up for a caesarean the moment you’re walking through the door?
Gaby: Yeah. I felt like there wasn’t much hope, but I said no — I’m not planning on it. The only reason I was staying on the labour ward was so that if I needed something more, I didn’t have to cope with being transferred. I could still stay within my own space. Because being moved from room to room was another trigger from my first — I didn’t have anywhere to call my birth bubble. I couldn’t relax anywhere. I wanted it to be like a hotel room — you get in, you unpack and that’s it, that’s my birth bubble. If I needed anything, it comes to me.
April: I love that — it comes to you.
Gaby: So that was purely my reason for staying on the labour ward, but yeah, I did feel a bit annoyed that I was being set up for failure. So I did that plan, and I created a plan A, B and C. I did a prettier, more readable version as my plan A alongside the consultant midwife plan, and then I put my B and C in my birth bag — my husband knew where they were if needed, but I didn’t even want anyone to see those unless necessary. At least I knew what my decisions were. It was so much preparation, but it gave me that confidence — especially from speaking to the independent midwife, getting all the information from the consultant midwife and then the support from VBAC Facebook groups and VBAC support on Instagram. And it really gave me the confidence that yeah, I can do this.
April: Yeah, I think that’s what you need, isn’t it? You need all of that confidence, particularly when you describe what happened in your first story — where you went in with confidence, and when you start dissecting the story, you can see avenues where actually it might not have needed to go that way, but you just didn’t know how to handle it. And the system was so short-staffed because of COVID. It sounds like you did an enormous amount of prep, and it’s interesting listening to you talk about this because I’m nodding along going, “This is what I would tell everybody to do” — and it is a lot, isn’t it? The amount we have to pack into our brains just to be able to go in and say, “Hi, just a physiological birth please.”
Gaby: Yeah, and I did feel like it was taking over my life a bit. When my friends would ask — one of my friends did have a VBAC, but she’s a bit more strong-willed and she didn’t need all the information. She just thought, I know what I want. But I needed the information. I needed to make an informed decision. I needed to know I was making the right choice. So speaking to friends, that’s all we talked about — planning a VBAC. I’d come home and be looking at something to do with a VBAC. My husband said, “Do you think you’re looking into this a bit too much? Just let it happen.” And in reality, that is what we should be doing — just let it happen. But I think it is a lot of pressure and pushback from within the maternity system that makes you doubt yourself. I was doing everything I could to avoid going down that slippery slope of being depressed and anxious about this birth. So I thought, you know what, it is consuming me, but I think it’s more of a healthy approach.
But a week before I went into labour, I did seriously doubt all my decisions. And I think that is completely normal. From speaking to others who’ve had VBACs, they’ve said the same — you’ve made your decision, but have I done the right thing? What if something happened that you didn’t want to happen, or what if it deviated? I just got to the point where I thought, right, baby, you need to come now. I don’t care how it happens. I just needed it to happen because I couldn’t go another day being anxious about whether I’d made the right decision.
April: Yeah, I would say that’s completely normal. I did that four hours before my son was born. I was sat there crying on a ball because my waters had been broken for two days. I was like, I’m going to go and have a c-section. Then labour started 30 minutes later and he was born. So I feel like that happens quite a lot for people — that feeling of, I’m not going to do this. We talk about that happening at transition, but I think it happens for a lot of us regardless of what type of birth you’re going for, just before labour decides to go, right, we’re going for this.
Gaby: 100%. Because even if you had your first birth and it was a vaginal birth, you’re thinking, hang on, I’ve got to birth this baby — I can’t do this. Or someone who’s opted for an elective caesarean — I can’t do this. It’s completely normal whatever way you birth. It’s just one of those things you have to work through. Whatever happens, happens. It’s the dwelling over it — you’ve just got to try and push your way through and be proactive. That’s what I found: being proactive to work through any anxieties that you have.
April: And I think it is good to normalise that stage. For many people who are listening to this and thinking about having a VBAC, they might be having their own doubts going, “What’s the right option?” And the thing I’ve always said to people — and feel free to share your thoughts — is that you never 100% know what it is you want to do. You’re kind of like 90% sure, but this is the path I want to take. You’re tapping into your instincts and going, “Okay, this feels good,” but no decisions feel 100% certain because we can’t control every outcome. So we kind of have to remain a little bit on the ball.
Gaby: Exactly, 100%. Because every labour is different, same as every pregnancy is different. You can plan as much as you want, but you can’t control the outcome. That’s why I put together plan A, B and C. If you have a broad enough knowledge of “if it went this way, what would I want?” then you’d feel a bit more confident in your choices. So if you came across something and they were asking you for a decision, you’d feel a bit more confident because you had the knowledge prior. Again, I think that was another thing in my first labour — my mentality was, “Oh, I don’t need to know about c-sections, I’m not planning one.” But I had one, and because I hadn’t planned for it, I wasn’t knowledgeable about it. I had nothing to help me with my recovery. So I think it is about being educated about all modes of birth, all options and interventions — so that if you are offered something, you’re confident in the choices you can make and it’s a bit less scary.
I kind of compare it to driving a car. If you’ve never driven before and someone gives you the keys and says, “Go drive,” you’re going to think, well, I don’t know what to do, I’m scared. But if you’re knowledgeable, you’ve passed your test, you know what you’re doing — you’re going to drive, no problem. You don’t know exactly where you’re going to go, but you’re knowledgeable, and you know the choices you’re going to make.
April: Yeah, I think that’s kind of the philosophy of the system at the moment, isn’t it — realistically, do the majority of us need to know about caesareans? No, because physiology should just work. And in the perfect world, which sadly we don’t live in, we’d have a system set up to support physiology, more midwives, better staffed labour wards that support physiological birth, and then we would feel in control of those decisions.
I think what you were saying earlier with the word “control” — it’s not about trying to control the outcome. It’s about controlling your own narrative, being part of your story. You’re the lead character, and you’re the one making those decisions. So we need to know about caesareans because the rate is so high, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t birth. We’re having to do something to protect ourselves against the system because the rates are so high, while also empowering ourselves — giving ourselves that self-trust, those instincts and that knowledge that we actually can birth physiologically, because this is how the majority of humans got here in the first place. For many of us going for VBACs, it’s the one where we really face it head on — we’ve had the caesarean, we know what that looks like, and now we’re having to challenge the system in a different way.
Gaby: Yes, 100%. And you do sort of feel bad for challenging them as well.
April: Yeah, because we’re nice!
Gaby: Yeah. And we feel like we shouldn’t have to. But from that — it was kind of a fluke where I didn’t even know about informed decision making. I just sort of asked the question, and then it was kind of like, “Well, ultimately it is your choice.” So I thought, oh, so I can not birth on a labour ward? It’s that language that makes you feel like you don’t have a choice. And I realised then, having broken that barrier a bit, that was my light bulb moment. You don’t have to go with what they’re suggesting, even though the way they present it to you feels like you haven’t got a choice. But ultimately, everything is your choice.
April: Yeah, I love that light bulb moment of, “Oh, I’m in charge. Yeah, I’m the one that gets to decide here.” That language is such a hard barrier for people, because it’s not presented to them as if they have a choice. But that is my number one advice regardless — whether you’re planning a VBAC or any type of birth — if you are offered something but it doesn’t feel like an offer, ask why. Just ask all the questions. If you’re unsure about anything being offered and it doesn’t feel like a choice, ask why, and you can make that decision for yourself.
And ultimately, that blood test question — I find it bizarre, because I’ve had it as a doula recently attending a birth. They said, “We need to take her blood,” and it had only been three days since the last one. And I’m like, well, blood type doesn’t change in that time. For myself, I’m O negative, so there was always the question of making sure they had O negative on site in case of a caesarean or in case they needed to provide anti-D. And I find it bizarre — you need to know what blood group I am to keep me safe on the labour ward, but you now need to take my blood again just to double check that I haven’t miraculously become rhesus positive.
Gaby: Exactly. It baffles me. Why? The bureaucracy. The waste of time for pathology. That’s what baffled me towards the end of my appointment. I just thought, there’s no need. So yeah, it’s just wild.
But yeah, I think that was a lot of prep I did do, and that was the way it had to go. And I think, as I’ve previously said, this is highlighting the types of things that we need to be thinking about and the things we can do to positively influence our chances of having a VBAC. Like we said, we can’t guarantee anything 100%, but these things help us remain in control and help us to feel safe. And ultimately that is the goal — we want to feel safe and empowered going into motherhood, particularly going in and mothering an extra child afterwards as well.
April: So I love that we’ve spoken this much about prep, because it is so much a part of the birth. Which is the next bit I really would love to talk about — your birth story.
Gaby: I know! Like I said, I did so much — the actual birth prep is longer than the birth.
April: Ha! So, yeah —
Gaby: So yeah, about a week before, I took an extra week off because on my first pregnancy I went on maternity leave two weeks before my due date and only had about five days before he was born. So I thought, I’m going to take three weeks off just in case, similar to my boy. I took three weeks off, but essentially had one week and then Daisy arrived. And I made sure that week I was being active. I was in the gym every day — I’m a member of David Lloyd and they do a class that’s a mix between yoga and pilates. I made sure I went to that class, because with my boy I went to the exact same class and that evening I went into labour. So I even joked — it was a Thursday — I said, “You got me into labour last time, let’s see if it works today. I might have the baby by the morning.” And that’s exactly what happened!
April: Oh my god! She needs to advertise it as labour-inducing yoga or something.
Gaby: Yeah! So I did my workout, joked with her, said let’s hope this class puts me into labour — and I have the baby by the next morning. And that’s exactly what happened.
So yeah, my in-laws had my boy for the day as they usually do on Thursdays, so I had a really, really chill day. Every other day or so I’d been harvesting colostrum and usually got about two vials each time. But this one night I was just watching TV and I looked down and thought, oh my god, I’ve done about five — so that was brilliant! Put it in the freezer. I really should have thought, oh, that’s a bit more milk than normal, but there we are.
Went to bed, and at about 1:30 in the morning I woke up to cramping. I thought, I’ll just go back to sleep — and this happened every half an hour. At about 2:30 to 3 in the morning I said to my husband, look, not sure — it’s just a bit crampy, we’ll see what it is. The week before I’d had one evening of a lot of cramping, had a shower to relieve some pressure on my back and then went back to bed — no problem. So my husband, who can open up and lock up work premises, said he was going to go and do some work at 2:30 in the morning just in case — I said okay, I’ll keep you updated.
Half an hour after he left, I had what felt like my first contraction. Some were stronger than others and sort of regular, though there wasn’t really a clear pattern. Importantly, I did not time my contractions — which is what I did on my first — and I thought, no, I’m just going to focus on them myself. Then I thought, right, I need to get in the shower. I was in the shower for about three hours, just having the water on my back — it felt really nice. I tried the bath but felt a bit restricted, so I went back in the shower.
I rang my husband at about 4am because my waters had started to trickle with every contraction. With my first it was a full-on gush like in the films, but this time it was just a little drop here and there, so I wasn’t sure. We rang triage at 6am because things were ramping up. As soon as I got out of that shower that was when I went from room one to room two — I needed to really concentrate. I was in my little zone. I was really struggling just to get dressed. My husband had to help me, and my sister who lives next door came over to look after my little boy.
It felt like a million years just to get down my stairs. I jumped on my birth ball and I could hear my sister saying, “Oh, this is so exciting!” and I just went, “Shut up.” She was like, “Oh, okay.” Then I started mooing and she said, “Oh yeah, you need to go to the hospital now.”
So yeah, we went to the hospital. From the moment I got in the car to having Daisy, I think I opened my eyes about three times. I was in that zone, in my little bubble.
My husband eventually got me into the hospital — they sent us up to the labour ward instead of triage first, which was fun. And immediately a lovely midwife came out and said, “Oh, I thought I could hear a labouring woman” — because I was mooing! She said, “Right, you’re not going anywhere — I’ll come down with you.” Got me a wheelchair, went down to triage. I did accept a vaginal examination, even though they could clearly tell I was in established labour. They said, “Hop on the bed on your back” and I said I’m absolutely not going on my back — that’s where all my sensations were. So I was on my side, leg up in the air, and she did it that way. She said, “Five centimetres, and she’s got a lovely head of hair.” I had a bit more awareness in triage — I was really mooing and there were a few people there who weren’t as far along in their labour and there’s me mooing and shouting — but I was aware of it and didn’t give a damn.
They wheeled me up swiftly to the labour ward. My husband told them straight away she wants a water birth and needs the pool — he was doing a lot of answering for me. The midwife did say I needed to speak for myself, and I just looked at her and said, “No, my husband needs to speak for me right now. I’m in my little bubble.” He was the most amazing birth partner.
I think I got in the pool around nine-ish — we arrived around 7:30, so yeah, around nine. I had gas and air. The midwife we had was a student midwife doing her 36th birth with Daisy, before reaching 40 to become fully qualified. She asked if we were practising hypnobirthing, my husband answered, and I had a birth bag with nice lights, nice smells, my water bottle — but he left it in the car, didn’t he! So I was like, oh god. But I didn’t need it. That’s the thing — you can have a birth bag full of everything, but ultimately I just needed that space.
Because we said we were practising hypnobirthing, the student midwife made sure all the curtains and blinds were down, had the extra curtain by the door, and I think she went out and told people to knock gently and keep disruptions to a minimum. She asked my husband if I had a playlist and I was just muttering, yes. That was all I needed.
I’m so grateful I had such an amazing midwife, because one of my concerns during pregnancy was what if I got a midwife I just didn’t gel with? My community midwife did say to me, “Well, you can ask for another midwife if you’re not happy.” That was another bit of control I didn’t know I had. My husband was aware of what to do if needed, but she was absolutely brilliant. She gave me my space, did the intermittent monitoring every 15 minutes. I believe she only asked me once about scar pain, and I think that was towards the end. Apart from that they just left me to it.
I remember transitioning a bit — it was like coming out of a trance. I opened my eyes, looked around and just said, “I’ve had enough now. I just want this done now.” Not that I needed something more, or that I couldn’t do it — just, I want it done now. And I gave myself a little pep talk to the baby: “Right, baby, on this next contraction, you’re coming out.” My husband looked at the midwife as if to say, is this baby coming? And she gestured no, not ready yet.
That’s when my husband kept giving me little pep talks too — he even suggested I try a different position because I’d been in the same one for a while. I was on my hands and knees in the pool, leaning — I actually had a lovely bruise the next morning from leaning so much. But he remembered about optimal birthing positions and said, “Remember — upright, forward and open. Do you want to try knees in, ankles out?” And I did that, and Daisy was born shortly after. A little bit of bobbing in and out — and she was born at 11:11 in the morning.
Yeah. I was on my hands and knees, and as I leaned back she kind of swam underneath me. So I caught her and cried instantly. It was amazing.
Like I said, that’s a really short labour story. Although I started having little tingles at 1:30 in the morning, things really started — full contractions — at about 3am, and I had her at 11:11. It just happened. I stayed home as long as I could, arrived, got in the water straight away and just did my thing.
April: That’s fantastic, isn’t it? Listening to people’s birth stories always makes me emotional. Your husband sounds amazing, as do you.
Gaby: Oh, thank you. I remember when she was born, I just looked at my husband and said, “I did it, I did it.” It was just a big relief. Because like I said, I had all those worries — but as soon as I went into labour, all those worries went. I just focused on the task in hand. I wasn’t thinking, am I going to have a rupture, is this going to happen? None of those thoughts entered my head. And I truly think it was because of all the practice I’d done that set that tone and gave me that internal confidence. So when labour day came, I was just doing it with no worries at all.
April: Absolutely. That internal confidence. Like you said, you were asked about your scar once — which I think is still a good thing to do for duty of care, just as a quick check-in — and then no more mention.
Gaby: Yeah, 100%. Let’s just leave this alone. Because as well, that was another thought in my head — how am I meant to know what scar pain feels like? I’ve never had scar pain before. But then thinking about it, it’s the same as if you’ve never been in labour before — how are you meant to know if you’re in labour? You’ve never experienced it. It’s all about trusting yourself, trusting your body and your instincts, knowing what feels right and what doesn’t. If it’s never happened to you before, you’ll have some self-doubt, but when it happens, you’ll trust your body. Our bodies tell us when something’s wrong.
April: Yeah, exactly. So — in that babymoon, that afterbirth experience, how was that? Obviously it was going to be different compared to Teddy, but what was that experience like for you after you knew, after you said “I did it, I’ve got my VBAC”?
Gaby: Oh, that was amazing. It just felt so much more surreal. I felt more at home. I just felt the love — whereas in comparison to having the caesarean, yeah, I had him, but in all honesty until I went onto the recovery ward I didn’t feel much. I thought, oh, there’s the baby, but there was so much going on around me that I wasn’t prepared for. I couldn’t really feel that connection straight away — and it’s okay to not feel anything straight away, either. But in comparison, because I felt in control — I did it, I didn’t have to wait for anything else to happen, to be moved — I could get out of the pool when I wanted to. I could just take that moment to be with the baby. And I was so bloody proud of myself. All those months of stress and it’s done. I was just looking at her and she was just perfect.
It was a bit more dramatic afterwards, not too badly — my husband fainted. He’s going to kill me for saying this. He was about to cut the cord and he fainted. So they were rushing him tea and biscuits and he was sitting there going, “Shouldn’t you have the tea and biscuits? You’ve just given birth.”
April: Oh, we love him!
Gaby: I said, don’t worry love, it’s fine. I’ve got the baby. You have your tea and biscuits. He’s going to kill me — he tried to keep that quiet for a while!
Yeah, so it was a little bit dramatic straight after, but we had that lovely little baby bubble. I did have a second degree tear so I needed stitches — but if anyone’s scared of tearing, for me, I didn’t really feel it. I didn’t even think I had a tear. We had loads of skin-to-skin time while I was having my stitches. Even though I was being stitched up, it just felt nice. It was a relaxed environment and I did feel so much calmer. There are fewer observations after a vaginal birth compared to a caesarean, so I did feel just more relaxed all round.
April: And before we finish — you’ve had your VBAC, you’re in your wonderful baby bubble — I want to ask: if you could talk to someone who’s considering having a VBAC, what’s the one thing you’d say to them to help them with that choice or to stack the odds in their favour?
Gaby: Ask all the questions. That is my major takeaway. With anything regarding your maternity care, whether it’s asking the health professionals or if you’ve got thoughts on how to prepare — find the support, listen to positive birth stories like your podcast — just ask all the questions. How is this going to look for you, for your circumstance, for your labour? That’s how I came across preparing baby to be in the optimal position, how I came across the chiropractor, how I came across hypnobirthing — just asking all the questions. If you have any questions, ask people. And that’s where you find a lot of good information, good things to consider, and how to make informed decisions that are suitable for you in your circumstance.
April: That’s amazing. I love that. Gaby, I have thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you for sharing your story with us — it’s such a personal thing to do. I’m sure it’s going to help so many people on their journeys, whether they’re considering a VBAC or whatever choices they make. Just before you go, let us know where we can find you because you are a birth worker yourself.
Gaby: Yes! So I’m on Facebook and Instagram. It’s Pure Perinatal — on Instagram it’s pure-perinatal — and that’s where you’ll find me. I’ll have some exciting things to bring to people within South Wales in 2026!
April: That’s amazing. I’m so excited to share this podcast with everybody. Thank you so much for coming on today, and hopefully we can get you back on again another time to chat about some other things.
Gaby: Really, thank you so much for having me. I loved it. It’s nice to be able to just reflect and talk about your birth story. Like you said, even if it’s been a while, being able to reflect brings back all those lovely memories.
April: It’s been a pleasure. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the VBAC Hub podcast. If this episode has stirred something in you today, share it with someone who might need to hear it too. You can find more conversations, resources and updates over on our socials — just search The VBAC Hub. And if you’d like to support our crowdfunder, you’ll find links to that in our show notes. Remember that you deserve dignity, respect and autonomy always, and I’ll see you in the next episode.