Celeste Maritz Birth Story

When we decided to start a family I fell pregnant much sooner than expected and it was while on a holiday in Europe that I realized something strange is happening to me- after returning to SA, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. I always wanted to give birth naturally so after some research and a good friends recommendation we decided to give birth at Genesis Maternity Clinic. 

After attending a Genesis open day and meeting both Sarah & Elrika from Great Expectations, we were very happy to choose them as our midwives. I had a very easy/healthy pregnancy and was very active throughout the 40 weeks.  At 39 weeks I started to feel quite uncomfortable and impatient, little did I know that I would carry her until 41 weeks and 3 days. 

At 4AM on 7 March 2020, I got up for a routine bathroom break accompanied with my water breaking, about 25 minutes later I felt my first contraction and pretty soon, yet again sooner than I anticipated, they got stronger and more frequent. We arrived at Genesis at 7am and I got into the water bath soon after arriving.

 The warm temperature of the water made me uncomfortable so my midwife, Elrika, suggested I get out and after some time outside the water we ended up on the bed. At 9:05 I was fully dilated and our beautiful baby girl was born at 9:21 weighing 3.51kg and measuring 49cm. 

Opting to give birth naturally, without any pain medication was by far the best choice I could have made and thinking back to the whole experience only brings a smile to my face. I worked with THE BEST team I could have asked for and was amazed by the confidence and calming environment Elrika created for me. Natural birth doesn’t hurt, it does the opposite, it gives you a feeling of empowerment and satisfaction far beyond anything else this world might offer- choosing the right midwife/doula is critical in ensuring a positive experience and I couldn’t be happier with my choices as I had the BEST EXPERIENCE of my life.

Looking back at my 10 month journey it was filled with lots of gifts, the greatest being my daughter but beyond that I learned that I am stronger than what I believe and that I can achieve anything I set my mind to, I received the gift of friendship through my birth team and created a bond and unity amongst a group of strong women.

As I look at my perfect and healthy little girl i am beyond satisfied but sometimes I miss being pregnant and knowing that my birth story is at it’s end leaves me with a feeling of loss as I basically loved every second of it, from start to end. Parenthood has luckily filled that void to it’s brim.

Thank you to the best birth team that I believe exist on this earth, I couldn’t ask for anyone better and thanks to you, wouldn’t change a single thing.