Caroline
Welcome To the World
Pippa Alba Warr
Caroline and Hayden Warr
The Birth of Pippa Alba - EDD 12th of May 2025
Born at 41 weeks & 4 days
Born 23rd of May 2025
At 23:24
4.16kg
55cm
“Motherhood begins with a single act of courage—the courage to love, to surrender, to begin anew.” Every mother carries the memory of her birth story, not only in her body, but in the way she mothers.” - Krista McCrimmon-Doula
I am so honoured to share Caroline’s pregnancy and birth story here on my website. From the very beginning, it was such a joy to walk alongside her—Caroline already carried an incredible depth of knowledge before we even began working together, and throughout her pregnancy, she continued to build on that wisdom with such thoughtfulness and strength. She even taught me things along the way, which is the beauty of this work: every woman brings her own wisdom to the journey.
Caroline was deeply prepared to welcome her baby, and while I had planned to be there on the day she gave birth, I sadly became unwell and was in hospital myself. Though I couldn’t be by her side in person, I held her close in my heart. Her birth unfolded with the strength, calm, and knowledge she had gathered, and she stepped into motherhood in the most incredible way.
It is with so much pride and love that I share her story here, as told in her own words.
My first pregnancy and Pippa’s birth story
It feels so special to be able to write Pippa’s birth story – not because it’s my own birth experience, but because it encapsulates and pays tribute to all the special people who supported me and guided me to be able to successfully have a natural physiological birth and bring our first baby, Pippa, into the world.
Before conceiving Pippa, I have always had a special interest in birth – being a pelvic health physiotherapist I bear witness everyday through my work to the vastly different births that women experience. For years I’ve patiently listened to both positive stories and stories of disappointment and firsthand seen the impact of birth trauma both physically and mentally on my patients. I’m acutely aware that the outcome of one’s birth can’t always be determined by what you do, who you involve and how much you plan, because there are many “uncontrollable” factors that influence the outcome of your birth experience. However, having been through a pregnancy, birth and now post-partum period – I can truly say how supported and validated you feel, and how those around you hold you as you experience the wonderful events of matrescence, makes a world of difference, and the support I received has fortunately allowed me to have a very positive pregnancy and birth experience – for which I am very grateful.
I chose to be part of the MGP program through the LGH public hospital. This program aligns with my values of wanting a low intervention birth, whilst providing continuity of care for my ante- and post-natal period with a midwife focused model of care. I chose to birth my baby in hospital as I felt this was the right decision for me given I work in the public health system.
Very early on I contacted Krista to see if she would be my doula alongside the MGP midwives - I had heard a previous colleague’s positive experience having Krista supporting her through her post-partum period and being aware of the research supporting the use of doulas. I knew that having Krista to guide both Hayden and me throughout my pregnancy, birth and post-partum was the best way to support my mental and physical health in becoming a mother. As soon as I met Krista, I immediately knew I had made the right decision.
I’m not going to sugar coat it – early pregnancy was hard. From 7 weeks I vomited daily, it made me question why people even talk about how they loved pregnancy, because I was experiencing the complete opposite. Once the fatigue set in, I remember vomiting in the morning, getting through my workday and then coming home from work to vomit again in the garden before getting in the door then spending the rest of the evening on the couch or going straight to bed. Fortunately, Hayden was very understanding of how I was feeling and supported me, for which I am very grateful. During this time, I was working, studying and completing my masters, travelling to WA for prac and exams which made it for a challenging time. Waking overnight to vomit, and then the hunger and cravings for weetbix or sultana bran and yoghurt is something I was happy to close the door on. The only relief I got was being able to take Frankie (our golden retriever) into the bush for a walk and get fresh air. I was fortunate a few work colleagues were pregnant at the same time as me, so we were able to share the difficulties of pregnancy that each day bought. Quite early on I had to change up my high intensity exercise and running for swimming, gentle walks in the bush, strength training and yoga. Prioritising rest when I could, was the only way my mind and body was able to get through each day.
Once the second trimester came, I felt so much better in myself. The vomiting continued but I was at least able to get through a day of driving to and from Devonport for work and exercising. This period was pivotal in having Krista’s expertise. I met my MGP midwives (Tash and Emily) and started to have more tests and decisions that influenced my pregnancy. At each step Krista and my midwives provided evidence-based information, links and resources for me to listen to, read and digest. I’m so grateful for this because if I didn’t have this information, like anyone naive to the medical system, I would’ve just agreed with whatever was presented to me. I spent lots of my spare time reading and listening to podcasts about how I could be preparing my mind and body for birth. I was also fortunate to find out my sister in WA was also pregnant and due just 10 days after me. Both of my sisters were such a great support for me having combined had 5 babies (and 1 more on the way) in the past 6 years we were able to discuss their pregnancy journeys, and birth experiences before and after each appointment and pregnancy milestone.
From 20 weeks, I started completing the “Spinning Babies” manoeuvrers every day to help get baby Pippa to stay in an optimal position for birth. The fundamentals of Spinning Babies made sense to me – how you move, stand, sit and rest influence the position of your baby and therefore the ability of your body to support a growing baby. Doing this helped reduce the impact of growing and carrying a baby on my body and I was fortunate to get through my pregnancy with minimal back and pelvic pain. Krista taught Hayden how to do the “daily essentials” when she met with us at our home to discuss different stages of pregnancy and birth. I prioritised my daily walks with Frankie in the bush, swimming when I could and loved completing the weekly community yoga at the Yoga Loft on Sunday’s. Being active allowed me to know that my body was strong and able to birth a baby, as well as pushing my mind– which was something I knew I was going to need to do to have a natural physiological birth. I wrote my birth intentions early after reading “Birth with Confidence” and “Beyond the Birth Plan” by Rhea Dempsey:
- I am a willing woman; I want a natural physiological birth that is drug-free.
- I want to feel the pain of natural labour and know my body is capable of tolerating this pain.
- I want my baby to have autonomy over the outcome of their birth.
- My values are hard work, to be informed and throughout my pregnancy and birth I want to practice patience – as our time will come.
- I know my education and experience as a pelvic health physiotherapist will allow me to be aware of birth outcomes and interventions.
- I have chosen to and am fortunate to be part of the MGP program as it aligns with my values of wanting a natural physiological, low drug and low intervention birth.
- I have chosen to engage Krista, our doula, to help support Hayden and I, and I’m looking forward to having her guidance and expertise throughout my pregnancy and birth.
- No matter the outcome, I am proud of my body and mind to carry a pregnancy and birth a beautiful baby girl.
Once the third trimester came and I started my maternity leave at 34-36 weeks, I continued to support my body and mind to get ready for birth. Each day I walked in the morning with Frankie, and in the afternoon completed the Spinning Babies Yoga. I spent time meditating and visualising my birth. I engaged in oxytocin inducing activities which luckily Hayden was on board with. I met with and had contact from Krista most weeks to discuss my birth plan and other strategies I could practice using once labour started. As well as identifying how Hayden could support me during labour.
From 34 weeks, I started perineal massage and taught internal release strategies to Hayden to help prepare my pelvic floor for the stretch required to deliver a baby vaginally. These strategies have been shown to reduce the incidence of perineal tears and knowing Pippa was >95%tile I knew this was going to minimise significant tearing. I visualised my pelvic floor relaxing and releasing when doing my pelvic floor exercises, as this was going to help me to birth her. These are essential skills that a pelvic floor physiotherapist can teach you in the lead up to your birth and highly recommend them particularly leading up to your first birth where you’re at a greater risk of tearing.
At 34 weeks, I also started seeing Dr Naomi at Point of Balance Acupuncture to prepare my nervous system for birth. Amazingly the nausea and vomiting stopped completely after her sessions, and I was sleeping 8+ hours a night straight. I was amazed how much acupuncture helped my nervous system to be in a complete state of “calm”, and next time I would start this earlier in my first trimester to help with the nausea. I know acupuncture has been shown to improve cervical ripening, however in my case I don’t think this worked for me.
I felt the weeks leading up to Pippa’s birth were long, I tried to keep consistent routines to help me not fall into the trap of being impatient and giving in to an unnecessary induction which I knew wasn’t what I wanted. I spent my days preparing from Pippa’s arrival and cooking warming post-partum meals that would help support my recovery once she arrived. I started ante-natal expressing at 37 weeks which I enjoyed doing each evening. The 40 week “due date” came and went – and like many first-time mum’s a sense of “when’s this baby coming” met me each day as did the stream of commentary and messages asking if the baby had come yet. Mentally, I found this very difficult and at times felt it was easiest to just not respond to people as a way of protecting my mindset waiting for “the day”.
It reached 41 weeks with no Pippa, and I was encouraged by my midwives to have an appointment with the obstetricians to discuss induction given Pippa’s size. Krista had given me lots of information to digest around unnecessary inductions in low-risk pregnancies, big babies and the relative low risk but increasing risk of stillbirth with each week beyond 40+ weeks gestation. I felt well equipped going into this appointment with Hayden’s support to make a decision that was right for me. On this same day Krista informed me she was unwell and being admitted into hospital. As much as this was very sad knowing she likely wasn’t going to be present for Pippa’s birth I knew she had prepared both Hayden and me the best that we could to bring Pippa into the world.
At this appointment, I was met with information that was necessary to inform me of the risks of avoiding an induction including increased risk of 3rd and 4th degree tears, shoulder dystocia with a big baby and the very small but increasing risk of still birth (1 in 10,000 to 6 in 10,000 beyond 41 weeks) – despite this, I agreed to an induction in 5 days (A time that felt right to me) and agreed to a stretch and sweep. The obstetrician indicated there was no sign of labour with only just being able to insert a finger into my cervix.
With no signs of labour, the following day I spoke to my midwives and asked if I could have another stretch and sweep the following evening with the impending induction day drawing closer. The early hours of this morning my sister birthed her baby in WA, Solley, and with lots of positive birth motivation I knew I too would meet my baby soon. I also called Dr Naomi to book one last acupuncture appointment to help induce me naturally. Hayden and I spent the day doing lots of relaxing, oxytocin inducing activities, and we both wrote letters to Pippa. That evening, I went into the labour ward for another stretch and sweep from Dani (midwife), and as soon as I got up off the table I felt back pain – we had joked at the time to try do everything she could to bring labour on. We went home and to my relief contractions started that night (41+4).
Early labour was very manageable; I felt surges come on and leave and was able to utilise breathing techniques Krista had taught me and using a heat pack. I was able to sleep in between contractions. Krista had organised for another Doula to step in her place, and we spoke throughout the day and made a plan that when I needed her, she would come to our house. Hayden agreed to stay home from work. In the morning we walked Frankie in the bush with the contractions still coming and going. I even enjoyed cooking some labour cookies which we later took into hospital with us for energy and shared with the midwives. As the day progressed, so did the intensity of the contractions – by 11am I put on the TENS and loved being able to use this as a pain distraction. I spent some time in the bath, the shower and stayed as active and upright as I could be. By the evening the contractions were getting stronger and stronger, I’d count them down in blocks of 10 before moving to other positions to relieve the pain.
Later that night, I decided to call our step-in doula as I knew things were ramping up but wanted to avoid going to hospital too early. To my surprise, as soon as she arrived the contractions turned right down which I later understood was a primitive instinct in my body. As I hadn’t worked with this doula and she was new to me, my body naturally slowed down as a way to say this wasn’t right for me. We decided to try go to bed and get some sleep, but as soon as the doula left the contractions ramped right back up – I knew I needed a mental shift and didn’t feel I was coping at home so decided to call the ward to say I felt this was the right time to come in. Little did I know it was still going to be another 24 hours before Pippa would arrive.
I was met with the kindest midwife Eleanor and was so grateful to feel safe in the space where I’d bring Pippa into the world. The midwives supported my birth plan and aim for a low intervention birth, and as the hours ticked over, I used all the strategies I could to welcome and make peace with the pain, breathe through it and rest in between.
I opted for doppler US rather than CTG monitoring because I knew I wanted to stay up and moving as much as I could. We dimmed the lights and put on a playlist I found in the last weeks of my pregnancy from “Birth with Beth’s” Spotify. I continued to use breathing strategies, TENS, Hayden helped with counter pressure, I used the shower and moved in and out of the birthing pool. The water was amazing and took all the pressure away - it was crazy to experience the difference of the contractions in the water versus on land. I adopted active positions in all 4’s, over the medicine ball, lunging, forward leaning – everything I knew to help use gravity to bring Pippa down low into my pelvis. We also did spinning babies positions which really ramped up the contractions. The morning came and by 9am I was exhausted – when was this baby coming! Meanwhile Krista was messaging from her hospital bed to see if things had progressed. I called her asking for motivation – I knew I could handle the pain but now 2x nights and 2x days into labour fatigue had set in. I discussed with Annika my midwife what options I had and agreed to have a morphine sleep - this was a power move as it allowed me to get some sleep and regain some energy knowing there was still many hours of labour ahead. Hayden went home to shower, eat and feed Frankie.
As the hours continued to tick over and midwives shift changed, I continued to question when this little girl was coming. I used the gas and air which took some edge off the pain but felt the water was the most beneficial pain relief as I continued to hear Krista’s voice “you can do anything for 60 seconds”. I took a call from my Mum (in WA) who also was wondering why my labour was taking so long – naturally, she was wanting to “save me”, and I continued to tell her I’m not giving up Mum!
By 5pm that evening – I was met with the same fatigue that I had earlier in the day. My midwives Jacinta and Sarah did everything they could to support me, but I felt a sense of fear that I wasn’t going to get through a 3rd night of labour and decided I needed a shift – and an epidural, at the time, felt like the only thing that was going to shift things. I remember Jacinta bringing in the trolley to insert a cannula in my arm to start the epidural, and suddenly the most intense surges came one after the other – I couldn’t stay still, sit on the bed or stand. The only relief came from being in a forward lean position or 4pt, it was now, finally, I knew I was in active labour. The intense feeling as Pippa was moving down into the birth canal came with relief because I knew this was the home stretch – 5 more hours of intense contractions, another nursing shift change, and we finally were able to push.
I loved the process leading up to the second stage of labour including the loud snoring power nap I managed to fit in right before pushing. Only moments before I started pushing my waters broke – at last Pippa was ready to enter the world. I pushed in forward lean over the head of the bed moving into child’s pose as each surge came, doing my best to keep my knees in and ankles wide to open my pelvis. I was grateful to have Rams (midwife) to help and encourage me as Pippa’s head came down for crowning. I continued to visualise the coffee plunger analogy that I had practiced in the lead up to birth, allowing my pelvic floor to relax and release with each surge. Fortunately, Pippa maintained a steady heart rate the whole time. We moved into side lying for my final pushes and as my perineum got tighter, he suggested we get the obstetrician as an episiotomy might be needed. Hayden reminded me that this wasn’t what I wanted, and as I felt another contraction coming, I told them to hold off and with one final burst of energy Pippa was here, crying and in our arms.
With a 39-minute second stage, I’m fortunate to have avoided any tears, just urethral grazes, and I agreed to syntocinon to deliver my placenta which the adrenaline basically delivered itself. After delayed cord clamping, Hayden cut the umbilical cord and enjoyed learning from Rams the anatomy of my placenta.
Hayden and I spent our protected skin to skin time in the birthing suite meeting our healthy, lively, long (55cm), and big (4.16kg) baby girl Pippa. With tired eyes and happy hearts, we finally made our way back to the ward, and Hayden drove home to recover what was a marathon birth.
I was fortunate to have the support of the MGP midwives for care at home in the days and weeks following our birth, and from Krista when she had recovered from her extended hospital stay. We were met with lovely post-partum treats and meals, and time to debrief Pippa’s birth with Krista. I’m so grateful for the care we received in this post-partum period.
I am so thankful for all those who helped me both during my pregnancy and birth, and so lucky to bring home a happy and healthy baby for us to love and nurture for the rest of our lives.