Home Birth Canterbury

23/12/2025

A blessing for your postpartum
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May you be safe.
May you feel held.
May all the tears you cry today be happy ones.

May you be loved.
May you feel known.
As you journey into the unknown unchartered waters of a shifting identity as mum to this new person.

May your days be slow enough for all the joys to be savored.
May your days pass fast enough for the challenges to be left behind.

May you feel content.
May you feel at peace.
May you somehow find the night wakings to be sacred and precious to you.

May your courage grow.
May your capacity expand.
May your love for this beautiful little baby stretch and grow and burst beyond the horizons of your heart.

May you have grace.
May you hold compassion.
And may this grace and compassion be used with yourself as you move through motherhood.

May today be a delight.
May your baby's snuggly head smell like heaven.
And may you find many moments of sunshine scattered across the coming weeks.

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Tag a pregnant or postpartum mum in the comments!

- love from Bonnie
Home Birth Canterbury

17/12/2025

"To be born in the house is quite nice because on this occasion one does not yet have major aesthetic needs; instead one cries at his beloved ones without worrying much about reasons and conditions."
- Albert Einstein
(Who was born at home!)

Did you know Einstein was a home birth baby?
I heard somewhere he weighed 2 pounds at birth (but have not been able to verify that).
- Bonnie

14/12/2025

If you had to describe your home birth with one word, what would that be?

09/12/2025

Did you know we hire out birth pool equipment at Home Birth Canterbury? We have great rates for our hire equipment because our mission is to support home births here in Otautahi.

Hire items & costs:
- Birth pool & liner for just $90 if your midwife is a member of Home Birth Canterbury
- Califont (gas hot water heater) for $65
- Pool liner alone for $45

Contact Hannah at poolhire@canterburyhomebirth.org.nz to enquire or click the link below to read more on our website!

Home Birth Canterbury has two birth pools and pumps available to hire. These are both 'Birth Pool in a Box' pools which are inflatable. For more information about the pools, contact us.

03/12/2025

Our Home Birth Story
Shared by Christchurch home birth mum Chinnu 🩵

Coming from India, where home birth is rarely encouraged, choosing to birth at home felt courageous — but it was deeply on my heart. I dreamed of a peaceful, natural birth surrounded by my husband, my midwife, and God’s presence.

There were moments when fear and pressure pushed me toward a hospital birth, but my midwife brought so much calm and confidence back into my journey. With her support, I surrendered the rest to God and trusted His timing.

Labor unfolded gently at home — worship music playing, my husband beside me, and prayer carrying me through every wave. No bright lights, no rushing, just peace.

At 2:10 a.m., at 40+2 weeks, our baby arrived through the most beautiful water birth. It was calm, sacred, and everything I had prayed for.

Coming from a culture where home birth is uncommon, this experience changed me. It showed me strength I didn’t know I had and reminded me how faithful God is when we release our fears.

I would choose home birth again in a heartbeat.“As for God, His way is perfect…” — Psalm 18:30

- Chinnu

03/12/2025

Drop your best *actually helpful* baby shower gift idea for a new mum in the comments 👇

29/11/2025

6 years ago today I gave birth to my first baby. My daughter.
I went from maiden to mother.
That shellshocked look on my face comes from having a freight train 4 hr labour, and then birthing the baby in my bath with only my husband next to me. The midwife arrived a few minutes after my baby did. 🤣
I couldn't quite believe I had given birth!
I love that that's our story, and I am so grateful for the gift of my daughter with whom I began the journey of motherhood.
It has been most empowering moment of my entire life!

- Bonnie

27/11/2025

“Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic.”
- Ina May Gaskin

24/11/2025

Just as a woman's heart knows how to pump, her lungs to fill with air, and her hand to pull back from fire, so her body knows how to birth.
Virginia Di Orio

20/11/2025

How did your mum talk about birth when you were growing up, or even when you were an adult?

Our families of origin influence us so much.

Our feelings and attitudes towards pregnancy and birth are influenced by our friends, the media we take in, the internet, and others in our lives.

I also think our mothers can heavily influence us in this area.
All through our childhoods we have heard (or not heard! - which is also an influence!) our mums (or the mother figure in our lives) talking about pregnancy and birth. They may have shared their experiences giving birth to us. They may have talked about pregnancy super positively or really negatively.

I wonder how many of us felt we had to combat that influence when heading in the direction of a home birth.

Maybe you had experienced negative things spoken about birth from your mother. Maybe you continued to hear these things while you were pregnant.

Maybe your mother spoke about pregnancy with glowing reviews! Perhaps you felt disappointed if your pregnancy didnt turn out to be as easy as hers sounded.

Or maybe you felt like you really aligned with your mum's feelings on these things.

How did your mum's attitude towards pregnancy, birth and postpartum affect you?
Have you thought about it consciously?
How will you speak about pregnancy and birth to your children?

15/11/2025

15/11/2025