Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara

Kayla Aki was just 19 when she had her first child in her home city of Auckland in New Zealand.  And while there were no complications, she didn’t have particularly fond memories of the hospital experience.

“They had my legs in stirrups and I had to push with all my strength. I felt I had a lot of orders thrown at me – you can’t move, you need to monitor baby, you do what you’re told even if it doesn’t feel right,” she recalled.

When she was pregnant with her second child in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in her adopted home in Oranmore, she was determined to have a homebirth, surrounded by her family, including husband Bundee Aki, Ireland Rugby International and Connacht centre.

“I had a real fear of being separated from Bundee and being in hospital alone. Once I researched it, I found there was an option of being comfortable at home, being relaxed, being safe.”

Private Midwives Ireland is a UK not-for-profit agency with midwives all across Ireland who deliver babies at home, usually in birthing pools. Covering Galway, Mayo, Clare and Limerick is midwife Ann Bargh, who lives in Dunmore after relocating from Liverpool three years ago.

Ann delivered son Andronikas 18 months ago and their new baby daughter Ailbhe on August 5 in the dining room.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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