Living in Sai Kung meant I chose a private, yet Chinese run hospital in Sha Tin for the delivery of my first son. My plan was to give birth naturally and I felt that I would need some additional support at home and especially once at the hospital in an effort to reduce intervention. I had asked for special permission for both Hulda and my husband to be present and although permission for more than one person was initially denied, Hulda ended up staying with us from beginning to end. Sometimes rules can be bent..
As it was, I ended up having a very long ‘stop-start’ labour which would have no doubt ended in a c-section (which was mentioned several times by the attending staff throughout the labour) without consistent resistance. Although I did end up accepting some pain relief, Hulda’s non-stop support and advocacy over a 36 hour period and really effective coaching in the 2nd stage made it possible for me to focus on the job in hand and give birth to my son Cassius naturally and without any technical assistance. My obstetrician performed the delivery but it would be fair to say that both Hulda and my Dr worked in partnership at that final stage. I think that my obstetrician was surprised at the trouble free outcome after such a long labour and there was positive interest in the concept of a ‘doula’ service amongst the local nurses once my baby was delivered safely. They were also especially interested and impressed with the ‘Final Push’ massage oil kit! R. Berges – 2007 Full-time working mum who wanted to be up and running straight away.