When I was expecting my daughter Violet four years ago, I was truly hoping to be able to experience a pleasant natural birth. It was important for me to feel safe and not to be disturbed during the process of labour and birth. With this in mind, I chose to give birth in Vrchlabi hospital, one of the very few hospitals in the Czech Republic that specializes in natural birth.

 

When the time came and I arrived at the hospital, I was greeted by Lenka who accompanied me throughout the birth. I couldn’t have wished for a better midwife to walk with me on the journey - Lenka is an incredible woman, a beautiful soul who can make you feel at ease with a single word. I had an absolute trust in her.

 

Lenka would come check in on me at regular intervals to listen to Violet’s heart rate and she would ask me in a calm and comforting voice if I had all I needed. I found her presence and the way she would just be there smiling at me whilst listening to my daughter’s heart beating incredibly soothing and reassuring. She showed me how to listen to my own body and experience the birth with a complete freedom, which I’m just enormously grateful for.

 

The experience of this birth couldn’t have been more different from my first birth in a traditional hospital where I was constantly disturbed and told what to do irrespective of my needs. This birth was completely different and unique. This was not a sterile surgical procedure as is usually the case of births in the Czech Republic but a deep and beautiful experience of bringing a new life to this world.

 

Lenka doesn’t intervene unnecessarily but at the same time she gives one the reassurance that everything is running smoothly. She gives one the inner strength without even realizing it. Her simple presence makes one at peace with herself.

 

During the labour itself, Lenka helped me to choose the position I was feeling best in. Intuitevely I wanted to give birth standing up and whilst Violet was finding her way to this world Lenka was there standing behind me so silently that I didn’t even know about her. To every single woman out there I wish that she could experience giving birth in this way – having full control over the process of labour and birth and at the same time knowing that there is someone with them whom they can fully trust and rely upon.

 

Should I ever be pregnant again and needed someone to accompany me during the birth, I truly hope Lenka would be there again and it would be her who would walk with me on the journey.

 

“Thanks so much Lenka, you can’t imagine the strength you and the experience has given me as a woman and how grateful I am to you for this.”