Pacha’s Water Freebirth
Our beautiful son, Pacha, was freebirthed at home at dawn on Monday, the 23rd of June.
His birth was just perfect — I truly enjoyed it and loved every part of it.
On Sunday, the 22nd of June, I was spontaneously invited to an art expo by a local artist at our community yoga studio. She mentioned there would be a didgeridoo (an Australian Aboriginal instrument) performance — which turned out to be more of a powerful healing session. It gave me a deep sense of belonging and blessings from the earth.
I came home around 9:30 pm and went to bed, starting to feel some very mild sensations. I also noticed my belly had fully dropped and thought it would be a good idea to get some rest.
Around 11 pm, I decided I didn’t want this birth to be too long. I went for a wee, lost my mucus plug, and then woke up my husband, asking him to light the fire. I had always envisioned giving birth with our indoor fire on, especially as it’s winter here in Australia.
I put on my birth playlist, set up my crystal grid — using crystals that friends had brought with special blessings during my mama blessing — and wore the necklace that my family created during my mother blessing back in Peru when I visited in March.
I arranged my vision board and lit many candles. Every time a sensation came, I bounced on my exercise ball and welcomed it with a smile. It felt really comfortable.
I asked Joel to inflate the birth pool and start filling it with water. While he did that, I stepped outside onto our balcony to stargaze — it was a beautiful, clear night.
During my next surge, I saw a massive shooting star. I cried with happiness and went back inside to get into the pool, where I became so relaxed I almost fell asleep!
Eventually, it got a little cold, so I got out of the pool as things slowed down and put on a birth meditation.
Suddenly, I felt a powerful sensation that made me jump back into the pool — I knew the baby was coming soon. About 10 minutes later, our son was born. I picked him up and brought him into my arms. We stayed in the pool for around 45 minutes, simply loving his presence and admiring his gorgeous little self.
Afterwards, I got out of the pool and moved around a little to see if my placenta would come out. At that moment, our almost 3-year-old son, Inti, woke up and arrived just in time for the placenta’s birth. He exclaimed, “Wow! That’s a big placenta!” and came to admire his little brother.
Joel cut the cord, and baby Pacha and I stayed skin-to-skin, then moved into bed together for some snuggles and much-needed rest.
On Monday, the 14th of July, when Pacha was three weeks old, we buried his placenta in our backyard and planted a small avocado tree over it — a beautiful gift that had arrived the day before.
I’m loving this postpartum bubble and staying present with all the downloads and integration it’s bringing.
Thank you for reading and witnessing me here.
I am so, so grateful for the trust in myself, in my baby, and for the love of Spirit that supported us all along.
Ana Flavia
