`Maugan came out smiling'

Maugan Brown was born with a wide smile on her face and beautifully smooth skin, none of the usual newborn wrinkles

Maugan Brown was born with a wide smile on her face and beautifully smooth skin, none of the usual newborn wrinkles. A content, placid child, she was the first baby born in the UCHG pilot scheme and is the perfect advertisement for any home birth project.

First-time mother Mandy (33) attributes her baby's happy nature and the fact that she did not cry at all during her first day and night in the world to the fact that her birth was a relatively trauma-free experience. "I really dreaded too much intervention and felt if I was in my own home, I would be more in control of my own labour. I don't see the birth of a baby as a medical procedure that should take place in a hospital environment," Mandy explained.

Within an hour of her waters breaking at 4 a.m. on March 9th, the project midwife had arrived at Mandy's home in Corrundulla, Co Galway. A second midwife arrived some hours later and they stayed with her until the birth of baby Maugan at midnight.

Although Mandy did have some gas and air towards the end of her labour, she found natural techniques such as acupuncture and the use of a birthing pool were very effective in relieving the pain of the contractions.

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She says: "Maugan came out smiling and making happy chatting noises which is very unusual and I think that was because of the environment she was born into. Babies tend to lose their natural instincts when drugs are used during labour, but she attached to the breast immediately and suckled. Because I was in control, I could feel every sensation and this helped with the pushing. I had no tearing and no pain afterwards."