BEING A BIRTH PARTNER

Just as there is no warning for childbirth, there is no preparation for the sight of a first child… There should be a song for women to sing at this moment, or a prayer to recite. But perhaps there is none because there are no words strong enough to name the moment

There are actually no words to describe that moment in time. Seeing a child being born is a miracle and an experience that will change you forever. It will make you more humble, it will make you appreciate life with all in it, it will make you love with more intensity and it will make you realise just how strong a woman can be.

You see a woman becoming a mother and the change is instant. The second her newborn is in her arms she is a different human being. You can see it in her eyes, you can see it by the way she is trying to protect her baby from the world, you can see it all over her and it’s absolutely mesmerising.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be a birth partner and I can tell you this is so much more different than giving birth.

I wanted to be there to support my friend and see her give birth to her first child and I did. It was a long process as midwives worried the little man might be in distress and needs to come out earlier than his actual due date

And he did. He came into this world last Sunday, on the 18th of November 2018 and I can tell you this was one of the most intense and beautiful days of my life.

Mummy and baby are doing fine and getting used to life as it is now. Feeding, smiling, cuddling and kissing all day. Just what is supposed to be. And I cannot wait to see them today.

It was a hard labour as mummy needed to be induced but it was also a beautiful one. She managed to have a natural birth in spite of all that happened around those days. Everyone was on stand by around her birth room, getting ready for an emergency C section but they soon came and said congratulations to our new mamma and little Kevin.

I did not have time to be emotional, to process what I was feeling in those moments when my friend was pushing her baby out of her womb. I was trying to encourage her, tell her she can do it and just be there so she can squeeze my hand and find strength. I only asked the midwife to let me cut the cord and I didn’t think for a second what exactly involves. I did not think of the process of actually cutting the cord, I did not think of the fact that he took his first breath when I made the cut.

I was in the moment and only when I got back home I poured myself a glass of wine and let all feelings come out. I cried tears of joy and I realised just how much I love these two people now. I realised that I was part of a miracle and I can tell you this makes me feel so small in relation to it all. I was a tiny part of it but nobody can take that away from me.

I went and kissed my daughter while she was asleep and it all came back to me. The moment I first held her in my arms, those sleepless days and nights when I was staring at her in awe, hardly believing she came from inside of me, those precious tiny hands around my neck. oh, all those and much more came back to me and gave me such joy and pride for being a mother.