Birth stories · Episode 14

A full toolbox and a speedy second birth: a home birth in Ericeira

Giulia's first birth in Paris left her with one tool: water. For her second, a home birth in Ericeira, she built a full toolbox, and Charles caught the baby.

Born to be Wild · 2026-09-28

Listen to the episode

Giulia and Charles are French entrepreneurs who moved to Ericeira, on Portugal's surf coast, with their first baby, two horses, a pony and a dog. On episode 14 of the Born to be Wild podcast, they told Aviva Markowicz and Irene Jaspers about two very different births: a long, exhausting first birth in a Paris hospital, and a second birth at home that lasted barely an hour and a half.

First birth: a single tool

For her first baby, Giulia chose a renowned Paris maternity unit known for supporting physiological birth. She wanted to labour in a birth pool, without an epidural. It didn't go as planned. Looking back, Giulia sees several reasons:

Using the hot shower too early. Water was her main pain relief, and she used it long before labour got intense, standing, with nowhere to sit.
Resting in bed in early labour, watching a movie, rather than moving to help the baby descend.
A full maternity ward. When they arrived at midnight, there was no birth pool available, only a tiny bathtub in a dark room, where she laboured lying down for eight hours, screaming more than singing.
Very little support. The midwives were overwhelmed and could only check in occasionally.

At 8 a.m. she felt ready to push, but the baby wasn't yet well positioned. Exhausted after twelve hours, Giulia asked for an epidural, although Charles, briefed on the "despair phase", tried to remind her of her plan. She fell asleep, labour slowed, synthetic oxytocin was started, and when the baby's heart rate dropped, they were told: push within 15 minutes or it will be a caesarean. Their daughter Bianca was born with the help of forceps, healthy, and breastfed straight away.

"In my toolbox, I only had water and one song. Not enough at all."

Her lesson: fill your toolbox, and in a hospital birth, have a doula with you the whole way, because midwives are often too busy to stay by your side. Continuous support during labour, for example from a doula, is associated with more spontaneous births and fewer caesareans (Cochrane, 2017).

A surprise second pregnancy, and a home birth plan

Bianca was nine months old when Giulia found out she was pregnant again. This time she researched the options in Portugal. There are no birth centres like the French maisons de naissance. After hearing a friend's difficult experience in a hospital, and not yet speaking enough Portuguese to stand up for herself, she wanted a home birth. In Ericeira, it's quite common.

When your partner says no

Charles's first answer was a clear no. Home birth isn't common in France, and they lived 30 to 40 minutes from the nearest hospital.

Giulia started with data. Her argument: a cascade of interventions often begins with an induction or synthetic oxytocin, and home birth midwives are trained to spot when labour isn't progressing and transfer before it becomes an emergency. It wasn't enough. So she asked what was really behind his refusal. The honest answer: he wasn't comfortable with blood, and didn't know how he'd react.

Rather than override him, Giulia adapted the plan:

Two midwives would handle everything medical.
Charles's role would be logistics: looking after Bianca and the dog, the food, keeping the pool warm.
The midwives met him without judgement, and he came to every appointment.

"I wanted this moment to be good for both of us. No resentment."

Building a real toolbox

This time, Giulia prepared for several scenarios:

Movement: positions on the bed and a birth ball, practised until they became automatic.
Hypnobirthing tracks, a TENS machine lent by a local mum, a birth playlist, candles and yoga mats.
Visual support on the walls: mantras, drawings of the baby's descent and rotation, and the typical length of each phase of labour.
A community: Ericeira's mothers' WhatsApp groups helped her find her midwives, Sónia Ferreira and Verónica Figueiredo, and an obstetrician supportive of home birth.

At 36 weeks her baby was breech, and the midwives weren't comfortable with a breech home birth. A public hospital appointment immediately raised the prospect of an induction. Giulia tried moxibustion with an acupuncturist for about ten days, and the baby turned head down. The evidence on moxibustion is limited and of low certainty (Cochrane, 2023), so discuss it with your care team. Her obstetrician later mentioned he was also known for turning breech babies.

Looking for a home birth midwife? Browse the midwives in our directory, with reviews from other parents.

"Fast and intense": a birth in 80 minutes

A week after the due date, Giulia woke at 11:30 p.m. with contractions. She let Charles sleep and messaged the midwives. Within half an hour, her waters broke, and she told Charles: "I think it's going to be fast and intense."

Charles took his time inflating the pool. Their first birth had taken 17 hours. Then Giulia's screams changed, and he knew instantly the baby was coming. In the bathroom, the head was born. With no push, the baby slid out, and Charles caught him.

The baby was born before 1 a.m., barely 80 minutes after the first contraction, and before the midwives arrived. They guided Charles by video until they got there about an hour later, delivered the placenta and checked everyone. By 4 a.m. the whole family was asleep in a clean house. Bianca never woke up.

If a birth happens before your midwife arrives, call 112, keep the baby warm and skin to skin with the mother, and follow the instructions you're given.

What they learned

Know yourself, and your partner. Giulia needs to over-prepare to relax. Charles needed a role he was comfortable with. Respecting that made him more present, not less.
Don't push, let the body do it. A friend's advice, practising not pushing on the toilet, turned out to be exactly what happened.
The real superpower isn't endurance, but trust:

"When you trust and let it flow, everything goes so smoothly. It's the superpower of nature, and of how the body is built."

Frequently asked questions

Can a breech baby be turned before birth? Sometimes. The main medical option is an external cephalic version by an experienced obstetrician, which reduces the number of breech births and caesareans (Cochrane, 2015). Some women also try moxibustion, for which evidence is limited (Cochrane, 2023). Discuss options with your care team from around 36 weeks.

What's a TENS machine for in labour? A small battery device with pads on the lower back that sends mild pulses. Evidence that it reduces labour pain is limited, but many women who use it say they would use it again (Cochrane, 2009).

How can a hesitant partner be included in a home birth? Ask about the real fears behind the "no", and give them a role they feel comfortable with, whether that's logistics, siblings or food. Meeting the midwives together also helps.

Sources

What our guests share comes from their own experience and practice. The medical and legal information in this article is based on the sources below. It doesn't replace advice from your care team.

Listen to the full episode

This article is based on episode 14 of Born to be Wild, the podcast: Giulia & Charles, a full toolbox, partner preparation, speedy second birth. Listen on Spotify.