Jade Tonge

Being the nervy, worried person that I am, Helensville birthing unit was not where I first planned to birth my baby girl. However, the further my pregnancy progressed, the more I grew to absolutely love my midwife Michelle Nasey and most importantly trust her whole heartedly. Consequently, I ended up choosing to give birth at Helensville birthing unit and I am so grateful I did. From the start of my labour to the time I left 3 days post- birth, my partner and I received nothing but full guidance and support from every single member of the team there. Being first time parents, we didn’t quite know what to expect, especially when it came to breastfeeding. I had herd it was a beautiful experience, that it was the best for your child, that it was time consuming and sometimes challenging, but nothing prepared me for how hard it really was going to be. The pain, the cracked and bleeding nipples and the feeling of failure when I realised it was in fact, not just popping my baby on the breast. It would have been much easier to throw in the towel, however with the reassurance from the midwifes at the birthing unit, I knew that with a bit of time and support we could get there in the end. Day and night, I was able to ask for help whenever I needed, I was shown lots of different techniques, I was recommended lots of remedies to help with the pain and when it all became a little too much I was reassured of how much progress we had made and the wonderful job I was doing. After plenty of persistence, lots of tears, an amazing effort from my little girl and over flowing support from the team at the Helensville Birthing Centre, we got there in the end. With their endless smiles, professionalism, guidance and reassuring words , the ladies there made me feel like I was doing an amazing job the whole time and got me threw a very hard time. For this, I am so very thankful and even more grateful that we have such an amazing place in our community.x 🙂