Unexpected delivery led to a water birth

Amanda McLure with son Brodie and daughter Haileigh. 129330

By LIA SPENCER

AMANDA McLure had something different in mind when she planned a water birth with her first child in 2012.
The Pakenham woman, now 39, had a smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness, swelling or cravings, so she thought labour would also be drama-free.
“I had no reason to think there would be any problems,” she said. “I wanted a water birth, but I didn’t make many plans because I know birth can be unpredictable.”
Amanda’s sister, who is a midwife, went into labour 12 hours after she had acupuncture, so when Amanda was eight days overdue, she decided to try it too. Twenty-four hours later at 10pm, while Amanda was lying in bed watching The Footy Show with her husband Grant, she felt a strong contraction. She had two more contractions within the hour but, being her first child, and since contractions were so far apart, Amanda thought there was still several hours to go.
“At 1.15pm I told my husband that if the pain gets worse I won’t be able to cope,” Amanda said.
“Grant called my sister, and when she heard the noises I was making, told us that she thought I was far along and should call the ambulance or head to the hospital.”
Amanda sat on the toilet while Grant called triple-zero, but their son Brodie was in a hurry to make his appearance and wasn’t waiting for anyone.
“Grant hung up on triple-zero when he saw our baby’s head come out. He just guided the rest of the baby out, and the waters broke,” Amanda said.
“Grant couldn’t believe how calm I was. He was in shock and a little overwhelmed, but he handled it really well. As soon as we put Brodie on my chest the paramedics arrived and Grant cut the cord. I guess I had a water birth – just not exactly the one I had expected!”
Amanda gave birth to her second child, a girl Haileigh, on 5 March this year, and she too made a quick appearance.
“Stage one of the labour started at 5.30am, I went into hospital at 1.10pm and had Haileigh at 1.42pm.”
Amanda said she is “pretty lucky and blessed” to have a healthy boy and girl and now feels like her family is complete.