About Us
First time around, living in Auckland, surrounded by medical heads, we had a very straight forward birth at hospital with our son Abe. I thought it was a great experience.... in hindsight, three more births later, it was a totally average experience!
We moved back to our roots in N.P. and made 'improvements' for our second birthing experience, resulting in a beautiful water birth with Toby, at home in 2001. I was subsequently determined to ensure that all the women around me could have the same opportunity to benefit from having a pool at home. I was soon responsible for the hiring and maintenance of the 2 birth pools for Active Birth Taranaki (Formerly the Taranaki Homebirth Association).

I absolutely loved meeting so many people who were so committed to giving their unborn child the very best start to life. I also loved collecting the feedback forms, revealing trends about the benefits of using water in labour and birth - e.g. low intervention rates, limited usage of pain relief, calm mothers, healthy, alert babies and an overall satisfying and empowering birthing experience which women want to repeat and tell others about!

The pools were being used half in hospital and half at home, giving a lot of women a chance to keep birth normal, in an environment where that was not always the norm. But... the pools were old and needing replacement. They were set to increase in price, leaving the birthing families with nothing to keep, other than the bond money being returned. Women were left hoping they could:

• get a pool at all; and
• retain the pool for the duration of their labour, without another woman in labour needing it.

Women were missing out!

Epidural and Caesarian rates continued to increase.

A solution was necessary! H2 Oh Baby! is it!

In June 2005 our 3rd little angel swam into the world at home also - with the new H2 Oh Baby! trial pool arriving 2 weeks after her birth. This meant we were also exposed to the fear of heading into birth without a pool, as we juggled dates with the 4 other couples due around the same time. This served to reaffirm our new business venture was bang on and needed more than ever!

The trial inflatable pool was received from the U.K. with recommendations from many users over many years. The great success of this pool, leaving both the parents and the midwife astounded with its comfort, support and convenience, lead to the purchase of another 40 and the sourcing of the remainder of the kit got under way.

It was with great pleasure, excitement and anticipation that we became pregnant with our no. 4, intending this to be the completion of our family. Of course, this was going to be the perfect chance to put everyone's comments and our own endorsements thus far to the test. I had to remind myself that this was a whole new experience and as much as I wanted and needed to have a fabulous birthing experience in the pool at home, anything could happen on the day.

After a month of 'false labours' (filling the pool each time - there were even more dry runs where I decided to wait until my contractions remained strong and consistent for over and hour before telling anyone - wondering of course if it might all be too quick to get in the pool if I waited too long....) In the end, my labour was the furtherest possible from the quick one I had anticipated!

I used the pool like never before - this was the birth I didn't want to leave the pool! Because my contractions seemed to be huge but not getting me too far, I thought I should perhaps get out for a while and see if this would help. However, one contraction out of the water and I was right back in there - they were bigger than me when I was out of the water! Without the pool and my fear-free view of birth, I think that my 15 hours of hard work may well have ended differently. I knew I could do it, but I was aware I was beginning to get tired. Completely relaxing between contractions supported over the soft edge and floating in the water and using the grooves and padding on the floor when it came time to 'work' was invaluable.

Monty Oliver Moore Larsen decided to come out at 1.20pm on June 4th, 9lbs 7oz. My husband Deano, Abe(8) and Toby(6), our 2 nieces, Flossie(11) and Maisie (7), our nephew Eliot (9), my sister, Sally and our midwife Debbie were all in the welcoming committee. (The courier man nearly made it as well!!! - luckily he got scared off by my sign saying 'baby action happening- enter property at your own risk' !!) Annie (10 days off being 2years) came with gran about 5 minutes after he was born, after having been passing me marbles and toys over the side of the pool for much of the labour.

While Monty's birth filled me with the amazing feelings of 'wow', that my previous births also have, for me, this birth was about providing credibility and affirmation for my business and more importantly was a special gift to the children. They will not only have a special relationship with Monty, but they will carry a picture of a birth without fear , drama and intervention into their adulthood - this could be a rare piece of history if statistics continue to climb like they are now...don't get me started!!

I have been really lucky to have my friend, Katy Quest on board as 'Admin Queen'. She is the perfect balance for me - helping me to complete something before flying off to my next idea, having a fabulous ability to see what needs to be done, and get the processes and systems in place to ensure things run smoothly and are sustainable.

Along with Katy, my husband, Deano (rural business manager for ASB), and our four gorgeous little people, we are running the business from home. We look forward to watching it expand as the word spreads, consciousness grows, and birth returns to being a normal life event - being relaxed, free of fear, safe and intervention free.

May your birthing experience be something to look forward to, and joyfully reflect on. We look forward to getting your feedback and being able to share your stories to inspire others.
... Carla

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