Photos by Bianca Alexiuc during baby meet-ups
MILA
Born Mar 18th, 2023 at home in Amsterdam (10 days after her due date)
"(...) I remember thinking that I was unable to do it. I remember feeling desperate. I remember wishing that I’d taken a painkiller. (...) I didn’t know that it was possible to feel so weak and so strong at the same time. (...)"
ELLIE
Born Oct 3rd, 2022 in OLVG West hospital in Amsterdam (breech baby girl born naturally, just like her mom)
"(...) However, within one second of the ultrasound the obstetrician saw that our baby was breech. Probably meant to be! As I was planning on a home birth, this was quite a shock to us as with a breech baby you cannot deliver at home. Luckily, we were very relaxed about it and as we said to each other before, if it would be a hospital birth we didn’t mind and we would go with the flow... (...)"
ALMA
Born Mar 22nd, 2022 in AMC hospital in Amsterdam (when your body and your baby know exactly what to do, despite that not everything went as you had planned for)
"(...) It was the most intense, wild and beautiful experience I've ever had and yet, becoming a mother is just the beginning. I was reborn with her birth. She has given me strength and power from the inside, and now, lying on my chest while she sleeps she does it too.. (...)"
NORNA
Born Sep 7th, 2021 in OLVG Oost in Amsterdam (when you experience everything you didn't want, yet it doesn't change the empowering feeling of meeting your baby)
"(...) The birth of my daughter was the opposite of all I had wished for. And still, I felt that it was a wonderful birth experience. Knowing that I could always re-connect with my breath, with my body and my baby, helped me to feel in control throughout the entire time. (...)"
ROSE AURORA
Born May 11th, 2021 at home in Amsterdam (including raw and honest thoughts of her mom when in labor)
"Rose was born swimming underwater, looking up at us with her big blue eyes through the surface. That first image I have of her is the most incredible moment of my life. She is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. My daughter, I carried her for so long, yet didn’t know much about her, in that moment I finally got to see her. I kept whispering to her, “I’m your mama”. Like I was introducing myself! (...)"
LUNA
Born April 13th, 2021 at home in Amsterdam (birth story with 100 pictures on the wall)
"(...) at 11.25, our child was born. I will never forget the feeling of her body passing through! I held her at my chest, so absolutely grateful for this moment, my head falling back from the effort, when we realized: we forgot to check her gender! (...)"
TEDDY
Born September 21st, 2021 in OLVG West in Amsterdam (change of plans from home birth)
"(...) in the hospital immediately at 10 cm and after an hour on the birthing stool he was born. David and the midwife helped me through it so very much. (...). Little Teddy was born at 7:11 am, with a full moon (...)"
PIPPA
Born May 13th, 2021 in a hospital in south of The Netherlands (overcoming the previous birth experience)
"(...) My husband looked at me and asked whether the pain was really more severe or if it was my head which was tricking me. He was right; it was my head. The playlist together with contractions made me go back to my first birth, the panic I experienced in the last phase. But now, once we started talking, my attention was off my contractions and my mood changed. (...)"
KYLIE AURORA
Born December 29th, 2020 in a hospital in Amsterdam (positive VBAC story written by a dad)
'When all is said and done, and we reflect on this incredible journey and roller coaster of emotions, we are so proud and grateful for the safe and natural arrival of our little girl. Armed with passion, knowledge and motive, and with a dose of good luck, we achieved the coveted Hypnobirthing experience we so desperately desired. (...)'
IRIS
Born October 29th, 2020 in a hospital in Geneva
'(...) For a moment there everything could have changed...the situation could have turned upside down...and I could have been traumatized...all this did not happen thanks to a set of factors...but I think the most decisive were the competence of the midwife.. and my state of mind, calm and tranquil...if only one of these two variables would have been different...maybe the birth could not have ended like this, in this beautiful way (...)'
RAVI
Born February 20th, 2020 at home in Amsterdam
'(...) I knew I could do this, that I was doing this! I breathed deeply to the back of my throat, I would bear down with each push, figuring out how to make them each more productive. I could feel my baby moving down. It is so intense, yet also a satisfying feeling to know you are moving them through your body..'(...)
FAY
Born February 6th, 2021 in a hospital in Amsterdam (a positive induction story)
(...) I was very scared for induced labor but looking back at it: it was a great experience. All the nurses and doctors accepted our wishes, the atmosphere was relaxed and I felt I was still in control. It went super fast and I only had 'pain' for 1,5 hours which was something I could handle very well. Looking back at it, it wasn't necessary to be so scared for it at all.. (...)'
LUCAS
Born October 22nd, 2020 at home in Amsterdam
(...) Lucas emerged from the water, perfectly pink and calm with a full head of dark brown hair. I had no doubt he was our baby. I told my wife to get in the pool and cuddle our son. And just like that I suddenly had the feeling I could do it all again! (...)'
MARIE
Born June 20th, 2020 at home in Amsterdam (not a planned home birth)
'(...) It was 5am on a Saturday morning, and outside the sun was rising. Early birds began to sing their songs, and in our living room there was a serene silence. I was exhausted, but intensely happy. It was over. We did it. She was here, our tiny Marie, in perfect health. In our own living room.'
MIA
Born May 22nd, 2020 at home in Amsterdam
'When I tried to welcome my baby, I just listened to my body and encouraged my baby to come out to this beautiful world. That is why I could always relax and be happy during my baby's birth! I want to tell you three things about my birth story to help you get ready for your baby's birth. (...)'
FINN
Born July 12th, 2020 in Amsterdam (a positive VBAC story)
'I had my first birth in NYC which ended in emergency c-section after a 24 hr labor, and 5 combined hrs of pushing on epidural. I thought I was fine, but in the years that followed symptoms surfaced showing that there was an emotional and physical toll left (...)'
DAPHNE
Born March 27th, 2020 in Amsterdam
'During the time proceeding labor I had 2 sessions of acupuncture, I used teas, essential oils, I massaged my calves every day, walked a lot.. Then on Friday at 10 am I lost the mucus plug.. I started some batch cooking for the next days, full of hope.. (...)'
ABY'S GIRL
Born February 7th, 2020 at VUMC in Amsterdam
'I was admitted to the hospital at 37 weeks to start the induction. Kasia was such a sweetheart that she even came to see me at the hospital to practice breathing techniques and some postures to get the baby into the perfect position for birth. (...)'
