Birth stories from parents
Enchanted by the newborn's voice
Waiting period and the first contractions
We were scheduled to be at the birthing center at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Even the night before, my mind was racing with thoughts: What would I do if our little son took his time and I might not be able to give birth at the birthing center after all??? I mentally played out various scenarios and was already thinking about what I would do in ahosp..
Labor finally began during the night of October 4–5. Around 5:00 a.m., the contractions became so intense that I had to consciously breathe through them. I stayed in bed for about another hour, breathing calmly through the contractions. However, they were still irregular.
At 6:00 a.m., I got into the bathtub. It didn’t make the contractions any stronger, but it helped me relax. I was also able to go to the bathroom twice—both to urinate and have a bowel movement. That’s when I thought to myself: “Hey, cool — mybodybody is already emptying itself and getting ready.”
That morning, I told both the first midwife and the second midwife that my contractions had started, though they were still irregularyet.
Arrival at the birthing center
Around 10:00 a.m., Moritz and I headed to the birthing center. There, we were greeted by Ute, the lead midwife, and Anna, a midwifery student. I first sat down for the CTG and told them how the morning had gone so far. During the entire CTG, I had exactly one contraction—which made us all laugh.
After that, we went to the yellow delivery room. The vaginal exam showed that everything was very soft and the cervix was already about 3 cm dilated.. That surprised me, because up until then, the contractions had been very manageable.
Ute then conducted an egg poll.. After that, I lay down for a while longer and Moritz massaged my stomach, which felt very nice. However, we quickly noticed that whenever I lay down, the contractions became significantly less intense.
After that, I was given a high enema so I could empty my bowels thoroughly one last time. Shortly after that, I also had to vomit. By the next exam, my cervix was already 4 cm dilated,, and everything was wonderfully soft. It was mentioned that the cervix could be dilated further,, but there was no need to do so.
Moritz and I then spent a lot of time in the birthing center’s classroom. We quickly realized that the movement was doing us a world of good. We walked back and forth a lot, talked to each other, and made a point of taking our time with each contraction. The room just felt like the right place for us to let the birth progress.
In the meantime, I was examined again and was told to lie on my side afterward. But this time, too, the contractions subsided as soon as I lay down. So they ended up giving us a quick tour of the garden. We were only there for a few minutes, though, because it started to rain. At least I got to eat a delicious apple.
The birth is picking up speed
At some point, Moritz got really hungry and popped out to the bakery. When he came back, I was standing by the birthing tub, breathing through my contractions, which had gotten much stronger in the meantime. Shortly after that, I got down on all fours in front of the bed because that position felt especially good to me.
They tried to gently break the amniotic sac, but it was so tightly wrapped around our baby’s head that nothing happened—which was perfectly fine, since the birth was progressing very quickly anyway. Between contractions, I talked about different vocalization techniques I knew from yoga. When I was on all fours in front of the bed, the second midwife, Maja, joined us and stayed in the room. That’s when I knew: It won’t be long now.
The contractions grew stronger and stronger, and I was even able to feel our baby’s head. Shortly after that, the urge to push set in—and a short time later, our fourth little miracle was born. Karl Eduard was born on October 5, 2025, at 4:41 p.m. in the all-fours position, just like his big sister Rita had been before him.
We were instantly enchanted by his voice—which he let us hear right after he was born. After I picked him up and lay down on the bed, we were able to settle in as a family in peace. Shortly after, Moritz was allowed to cut the umbilical cord. The placenta was delivered at 4:50 p.m. I had a second-degree perineal tear, which was stitched up. Afterward, we were lovingly provided with tea, cookies, and coffee.
Around 7:00 p.m., we finally headed home, feeling completely relaxed.
For us, it was a wonderful birth experience during which we worked very closely together as a team. Moritz and I were very attuned to each other’s needs. At the same time, we felt wonderfully supported by the midwives on site. We are very grateful that Ute, Maja, and Anna were there for us during the birth of our son and shared this special moment with us.
By Jill